3IS threatens entire region: Iraqi speaker

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TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015 RAMADAN 27, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net

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Kuwait establishes new anti-terror committee

Panel will work to drain sources of terror funding

Muslim’s journey through life

Ramadan Kareem

By Teresa Lesher

Our journey in life is never alone. Each of us hasparents, and each is born into a family. In Islam,the journey through life is intrinsically woven

into family life. It is within the family structure that thejourney of life takes shape. And it is in the holy Quranand prophetic traditions that the Muslim finds guidancefor family life. The holy Quran, which outlines moral andlegal rights and responsibilities among family members,presents a methodology for safeguarding the familygroup and, within it, each family member.

The Muslim’s journey begins before he is born. As afetus, he is protected from the dangers of intoxicantsand harmful food substances (as prohibited for allMuslims in the holy Quran). In addition, his mother isentitled by her husband for full maintenance and finan-cial support, which protects her from the exhaustion ofworking long hours outside of the home unnecessarily.

Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: The Gulf state of Kuwait, hit by the worst sui-cide attack in its history last month, decided yesterdayto set up a permanent committee to fight “terrorism”and extremism.

At its weekly meeting, the cabinet “decided to form apermanent committee to coordinate between variousbodies to ensure security and fight against all forms ofterrorism... and extremism,” a statement said.

A Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosquein Kuwait City on June 26, killing 26 worshippers andwounding 227 others in an attack claimed by theIslamic State jihadist group.

The interior ministry has arrested more than 40 peo-ple in connection with the attack and referred them tothe public prosecution for legal action. The cabinetstatement said the new committee will also work todrain sources of “terror” funding and intensify aware-ness programs.

It said the move came after the recent surge in “ter-rorism”. The interior ministry has said two Saudi brothersarrested by police in Saudi Arabia transported theexplosives into Kuwait. It said they delivered the explo-sives to Abdulrahman Sabah Eidan Saud, a statelessArab who passed them on to the suicide bomber anddrove him to the mosque. An IS-affiliated group callingitself Najd Province claimed the Kuwait bombing andalso said it carried out two suicide attacks at Shiitemosques in neighboring Saudi Arabia in May. — AFP

SANAA: A Yemeni vendor arranges nuts at a market in the capital Sanaa, during the final week of the holyfasting month of Ramadan. — AFP

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior ’sdepartment of public relations andmedia security yesterday announcedthat the residency (Iqama) directoratedecided to limit the validity of visit visasto one month. The new rule takes effectas of today (July 14). According to thenew rule, the visit visa will be cancelled

if the person fails to enter the countrywithin a month of issue as against theprevious rule of three-month period.Similarly, duration of the stay of the visi-tor has also been restricted to onemonth in the new rule. However, chil-dren and wives of applicants may begranted a three-month visit visa.

Visit visa validity a month as of issue

VIENNA: Disputes over attempts toprobe Tehran’s alleged work on nuclearweapons unexpectedly persisted yester-day, diplomats said, threatening plans towrap up an Iran nuclear deal by midnight- the latest in a series of deadlines for thenegotiations.

The diplomats said at least two otherissues still needed final agreement:Iranian demands that a UN arms embar-go be lifted and that any UN SecurityCouncil resolution approving the nucleardeal no longer describe Iran’s nuclearactivities as illegal. They demandedanonymity because they are not author-ized to discuss the negotiations publicly.

With few signs that Iranian or USnegotiators were prepared to giveground, the high-stakes game of brinks-manship looked set to force a fourthextension of talks since the current roundbegan 17 days ago. A temporary nucleardeal between world powers and Iran wasset to expire at midnight yesterdayVienna time (6 pm EDT), and diplomatshad hoped to complete and announce afinal agreement before day’s end. Butthey warned there was no guarantee, andsome said the talks could stretch intoTuesday despite little appetite from any-one for another extension.

Continued on Page 13

Iran talks hit final stage but deal remains elusive

VIENNA: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif waves to journalistsfrom a balcony of the Palais Coburg where closed-door nuclear talks with Irancontinue in Vienna yesterday. — AP

TEHRAN: A reporter (from left) questions Yeganeh Salehi, wife of detainedWashington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, as Jason’s mother Mary Rezaianlistens to other media’s questions after a hearing in Jason’s trial at theRevolutionary Court in Tehran yesterday. — AP

TEHRAN: The mother of WashingtonPost journalist Jason Rezaian, on trial inIran for espionage, told reporters outsidea Tehran court yesterday that she hopeshe will be freed on bail. Rezaian, thenewspaper’s Tehran Correspondent, wasdetained in the capital almost one yearago in a case that has paralleled withIran’s nuclear talks with world powers ledby the United States.

The diplomacy is now approaching itsendgame in Vienna. Rezaian, a dualIranian-American citizen, is accused of spy-ing for the United States by collecting con-fidential information, cooperating withhostile governments and disseminatingpropaganda against Iran.

The 39-year-old reporter’s family hassaid he is being used as a pawn in an inter-nal political power struggle related to thenuclear talks. His mother Mary, as at pasthearings, was not allowed into the trial’sthird session but she was quoted by theISNA news agency as saying she believedthe reporter could be granted bail. She didnot know when the trial would resume,according to the brief media report. A judi-ciary spokesman said a date would beannounced later.

Rezaian denies the spying accusations.His lawyer, Leila Ahsan, has said there is“no proof” in the case file but her pastrequests for bail have been refused.

The journalist’s fate has been shroudedin secrecy since he was arrested alongwith his wife Yeganeh Salehi, also a jour-nalist, at home in Tehran on July 22 lastyear. Salehi was released on bail after two-and-a-half months in custody and she waspresent alongside Rezaian’s mother out-side court yesterday.

During the last session of the trial onJune 8, the journalist was given his firstopportunity to defend himself. The US hascriticized the trial’s “complete lack of trans-parency”, and says Tehran should drop the“absurd” spying charges that Rezaian’sbrother called “laughable”. However, Irandoes not recognize dual nationality andsays the case is purely a matter for theTehran judiciary.

Rezaian’s relatives have frequentlyexpressed fears for his health, citing hisneed for medication to combat high bloodpressure. The California-born journalist-hislate father was Iranian-is one of fourAmericans that President Barack Obamahas urged Iran to return home. — AFP

Mother of Washington Post reporter speaks of bail hope

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates car-ried out a rare execution yesterday, putting todeath by firing squad an Emirati woman con-victed of the jihadist-inspired murder of a USschool teacher, media reported. Alaa BaderAl-Hashemi, 30, was executed at dawn afterPresident Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyanapproved the death sentence against her,said the official WAM news agency, citingprosecutors.

The National, an English-language daily,said Hashemi had been put to death by firingsquad. Hashemi was sentenced to death lastmonth for stabbing to death mother of threeIbolya Ryan, 47, in a toilet of an Abu Dhabishopping mall on December 1, 2014.

Dubbed the “Reem Island Ghost” after thelocation of the mall, Hashemi was also con-victed of placing a handmade pipe bomboutside an Egyptian-American doctor’s homein Abu Dhabi. The device failed to explode.

In the verdicts issued in June, the FederalSupreme Court in Abu Dhabi said Hashemihad used an Internet account to spread infor-mation that was likely to “jeopardize” theUnited Arab Emirates. She was also foundguilty of having sent funds to Al-Qaeda inYemen, knowing that this money would beused for “terrorist acts”.

UAE law allows for capital punishment butexecutions are rare and death sentences areusually commuted to life in prison. Hashemi’sexecution is the first in the oil-rich Muslimfederation since January 2014 when a SriLankan was put to death by firing squad infor murdering an Emirati man eight years ear-lier.

Before his sentence was carried out, rightswatchdog Amnesty International had report-ed last year that a dozen people had beenexecuted in the UAE since 1997.

Hashemi was arrested 48 hours after the

attacks in Abu Dhabi. Security forces trackedher down using CCTV footage of her goinginto and out of the restroom where the mur-der occurred and near the doctor’s building.She was dressed in black from head-to-toe.

Hashemi was taken into custody at herhome where her car was found with blood onthe steering wheel and bomb-making materi-als inside. During her trial, Hashemi hadasked the court to provide her with psycho-logical help, saying she had “unreal visions”and would see “ghost-like people” due to achronic mental illness.

The court ordered psychiatric tests whichit said showed she was aware of her actions.In March, Attorney General Salem SaeedKubaish said investigators found she had “lis-tened to lectures by late Al-Qaeda leadersOsama bin Laden and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi,watched video clips of killings and behead-ings,” among other similar activities. — AFP

UAE executes woman for killing teacher

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia appointed a housing ministerwith a background as a real estate developer yester-day, strengthening a trend towards giving top gov-ernment jobs to people from the private sector asthe kingdom grapples with economic and socialwelfare issues. Majed Al-Hogail, former managingdirector of Rafal Real Estate Development Co, a pri-vate firm owned by Saudi family interests, was cho-sen to head the housing ministry by King Salman,an official decree said.

Hogail will lead efforts to ease a shortage ofaffordable housing for millions of Saudis. The gov-ernment has pledged tens of billions of dollarstowards the problem but red tape and difficultiesobtaining land have slowed disbursement of theaid and actual construction of homes.

Salman relieved the previous housing minister,Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi, of his post in March - part of aseries of shake-ups since Salman took the throne inJanuary. Since then, there have been two majorcabinet reshuffles and the health minister has alsobeen replaced.

Saudi kings have appointed former businessmento government jobs in the past, choosing the headsof top merchant families for the post of trade minis-ter, for example. But there are more business lead-ers serving in government now than in previouscabinets, analysts say, an indication that Salmanwants to use private sector experience as Riyadhseeks to avoid public discontent by improvingsocial welfare and creating more jobs for Saudis.

Continued on Page 13

King Salmanreshuffles

Saudi cabinet

L O C A LTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

KUWAIT: Sheikha Dr Shamael Ahmad Al-Khaled Al-Sabah presents a copy of her PhDthesis to His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah meets head ofthe Public Anti-Corruption Authority Abdulrahman Al-Nimash. —KUNA photos

K U WA I T: H is H ighness the CrownPrince Sheik h Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Seif Palaceyesterday Chief of the Nat ionalSecurity Apparatus Sheikh Thamer AliSabah Al -Sa lem Al -Sabah. H isH ighness the Crown Pr ince a lso

received Sheikha Dr Shamael AhmadAl-Khaled Al-Sabah who presentedhim a copy of her PhD on emergencybusiness administration.

His Highness the Crown Prince alsoreceived Assistant General Secretaryof the National Council for Culture,

Arts and Letters Dr Tahani Saud Al-Adwani , who presented to H isHighness the Crown Prince a copy ofher PhD thesis on Is lamic bank ingservices in Kuwait.

Meanwhile, His Highness the PrimeMinister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-

Hamad Al-Sabah received Sheikha DrShamael Al-Sabah, who also presentedhim with a copy of her PhD thesis. HisHighness Sheikh Jaber also receivedthe head of the Public Anti-CorruptionAuthority Adviser Abdulrahman Al-Nimash. —KUNA

Crown Prince receives Sheikh

Thamer, Sheikha Shamael

KUWAIT: In preparation for the 2015 Paris ClimateConference (COP21) and in view of the constant cli-mate change, rise in sea water levels, natural disas-ters and threats to food production because ofhuman activities, the French Embassy in Kuwait(@francekoweit) cooperates with Kuwait to highlightthe importance of the conference due to be held inDecember under the patronage of the UnitedNations.

The conference aims to achieve a new interna-tional agreement on climate applicable to all coun-tries with the aim of keeping global warming below2degreesC because of the hazards predicted if itgoes any higher, explaining how the $100 billionbudget would be spent until 2020 to win members’trust, reducing subsidies to fossil fuel and paying thecost related to global warming consequences.

Paris Climate

Conference to be

held next December

KUWAIT: Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan received Malaysia’s Ambassador to Kuwait AhmadRozian Abd Ghani at his office yesterday, and they discussed topics of mutual concern. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

JEDDAH: Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem and his accompaning parliamentary delegationoffered condolences Sunday evening to Governor of Makkah Prince Khaled bin Faisal Bin Abdulaziz and his broth-ers on the death of Prince Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait Society for Human Rights(KSHR) announced yesterday the launch ofa civilian alliance project to bolster peace-ful coexistence and deplore violence, whichis an initiative of civil society organizationsin the State of Kuwait to promote cohesionand national unity.

KSHR Director Mohammad Al-Humaidisaid in a press conference the civilian coali-tion came to confront hate speech andcondemn violence, noting that it ’s analliance of civil society organizations withlocal media.

Humaidi added that the alliance aims tounify efforts, as “voices of peace” seek tospread a culture of tolerance, forgivenessand contribute to a national doctrine toreduce hate speech, stressing importanceof boosting community awareness inaddressing violence as a phenomenon.

Meanwhile, President of NationalAssociation of Domestic Security DrKhadija Al-Mahmeed said that on thenational unity has been powerful since thecountry’s establishment, regardless of therecent bombing of Imam Sadiq Mosque,which disappointed those who wanted toachieve division of society and who servean external agenda.

Mahmeed reiterated the importance ofcivil society organizations’ partnership toprevent dangers and contribute to theintellectual development of society in apositive way. She added that theAssociation has cooperated with KSHR incalling for a civil alliance to achieve thisgoal, affirming on the need of such coali-tion of civil society organizations and themedia to promote peaceful coexistencereject extremism. — KUNA

Civilian alliance launched to

boost peaceful coexistence

Subaih stresses supporting

int’l development agendaADDIS ABABA: Minister of Social Affairsand Labor and Minister of State forPlanning and Development Affairs Hind Al-Subaih stressed the importance of cooper-ating to support international develop-ment agenda beyond 2015.

The official’s statement was made yes-terday during her participation in the 3rdInternational Conference on Financing forDevelopment, held in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia from July 13 to 16. The conferenceaims to discuss international cooperation insupporting the post-2015 developmentagenda, resolving current issues and facingdifferent challenges, she noted.

The conference is expected to completethe final document on the development

agenda which will be approved by the UNin New York next September, she added.The event gathers about 5000 people ofhigh-level political representatives, Headsof State and Government, Ministers ofFinance, Foreign Affairs and DevelopmentCooperation, as well as all relevant institu-tional stakeholders, non-governmentalorganizations and business sector entities.

The Conference, held in the headquar-ters of the UN Economic Commission forAfrica (UNECA), will result in an intergov-ernmentally-negotiated and agreed out-come, which should constitute an impor-tant contribution to and support the imple-mentation of post-2015 developmentagenda. — KUNA

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) con-cluded the second session of Summer InternshipProgram 2015. A two-week course custom-madefor high school and college students agedbetween 15 and 20 years. The session ended bya visit to the Kuwait Red Crescent Society tolearn more about this association, the volun-teers, the processes and particular emergencies.

The Summer Internship Program this year ismade up of different sessions, five-hour daily

over two weeks each. The program features amixture of theoretical and practical training ded-icated to provide the interns with valuableknowledge on a variety of subjects such as:teamwork, creative thinking, the means of self-expression and modern banking, in addition tohelping them having a greater exposure to dailybanking work procedures.

This annual program demonstrates NBK’slong-standing social involvement as well as its

national commitment towards providing younggenerations with the appropriate opportunitiesto experience how the actual professional bank-ing issues and transactions are handled andprocessed.

It has been 14 years since the establishmentof this program. NBK views the SummerInternship Program as an extension to its educa-tive initiatives and as part of its corporate socialresponsibility.

NBK concludes second session of

Summer Internship Program 2015

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Army Chief ofStaff Lieutenant GeneralMohammad Khaled Al-Khederreceived Commander of the USAir Force Central CommandLieutenant General CharlesBrown yesterday. The two sidesdiscussed several topics ofmutual concern, and addresseddeveloping military cooperationbetween the two countries, theMinistry of Defense said in astatement. Deputy Chief of Stafffor Operations and PlansAuthority Major General AhmadAbdulwahab Al-Omairi attend-ed the meeting. —KUNA

Army Chief meets US Air Force Commander

KUWAIT: Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mohammad Al-Kheder is pictured with Commander of the USAir Force Central Command Lieutenant General Charles Brown. — KUNA

The students pictured during their visit to Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society.

L O C A LTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

KUWAIT VOICES

By Faten Omar

This Ramadan, Kuwait Times wants to shift theconversation to the ordinary folks that makeup the majority of this country. By listening to

their stories and recognizing their humanity, we canremind ourselves and hopefully our readers of theties that bind us all together as a species.

Twenty-nine year old Mohammad Khader is aman of business. With his serious look and dark suit,Mohammad was on a break, sitting, drinking his cof-fee, when Kuwait Times approached him to discoverthe man behind the mysterious look.

Kuwait Times (KT): If you could be someone orsomething? Who or what would you be, and why?

Khader: I would choose to be Omar Bin Al-Khattab (the Second Muslim Caliph) and the reasonis because he was an amazing man who was knownas a person of justice, a protector and had a strongpersonality.

KT: Can you describe yourself?Khader: I’m a moody, logical and practical per-

son; even I hate that I care about work a lot and haveno emotions. I care about details a lot in everythingand I believe in “personal experiences,” not in “experi-ences through others.”

KT: Tell me about someone who had a greateffect on your life.

Khader: In a good way, Amro Khaled had affect-ed my life, not only in a religious way, but becausehe knows how to talk to people in a simple way andmake us connect again with God in love, not fear.

In a bad and negative way, when I was teenager, Ihad a friend who made me do things that I regretnow.

KT: What are you most proud of?Khader: I am proud of how much I love my fami-

ly; I am also proud of who I am and my special placein my society.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: A citizen and a bedoon(stateless) were recently arrested inrelation to multiple cooking gas cylin-der robberies reported in differentareas around Kuwait. Police have beenmonitoring the suspects for a whilebefore arresting them, the InteriorMinistry said in a statement, addingthat the two had admitted to theircrimes.

Fake dinarsMeanwhile, a citizen and a stateless

person were recently arrested withpossession of fake Kuwaiti banknotes,said security sources. Case papers indi-cate that a police patrol noticed avehicle being driven in a slalomcourse, which was hindering trafficflow. Stopping it and searching thedriver, policemen found KD 280 infake KD 20 bills. The suspect then ledpolice to his accomplice’s housewhere they found the photocopying

machine used in producing the KD 20bills.

Drivers deportedThe Interior Ministry ’s General

Traffic Department recentlyannounced that traffic inspectioncampaigns in various governoratesfrom July 5 to 11 resulted in thedeportation of seven expatriates fordriving without a driver ’s license,arrest of 57 people for traffic viola-tions, impoundment of a vehiclewanted in relation to robbery andimpoundment of 1,715 vehicles forsevere traffic violations, as well as theimpoundment of five motorcycles.

Fake printer inks confiscatedCriminal investigators recently

raided a store in downtown KuwaitCity where fake printer inks werebeing manufactured and sold, saidsecurity sources, noting that the con-fiscated inks’ market value was around$30,000 (around KD 9,000). Detectives

said that the store belonged to themain importer who distributes thefake inks to other retailers aroundKuwait.

Bootleggers arrestedFarwaniya detectives recently

a r r e s t e d f o u r e x p a t r i a t e s w i t ht h e p o s s e s s i o n o f h o m e m a d e

liquor, said security sources. Casep a p e r s i n d i c a t e t h a t a p a t r o lnoticed a mini bus parked in ano p e n y a r d i n J l e e b w i t h t h r e eIndians and a Bangladeshi inside.Searching the vehicle, detectivesfo u n d b o t t l e s a n d p l a s t i c b a g sfi l led with l iquor, in addition tosome cash.

Citizen dead in suspected overdose The body of a 26-year-old citizen was

referred to forensic medicine when his twobrothers brought him to Adan hospitalalready dead, said security sources. Thetwo said that their brother suddenly col-lapsed at their family house in Qosour andthat they do not know the reason. Doctors,however, suspected drug overdose.

DrugsA citizen wielded a cleaver to

policemen after authorities tried toarrest him and his friend for the pos-session of drugs. The suspect, who wasalso found to be wanted for a KD26,000 financial claim, was alsocharged for resisting arrest and forattacking the officers.

Cooking gas cylinder thieves in police net

The two suspects arrested for stealing cooking gas cylinders around Kuwait. The suspects arrested with possession of fake Kuwaiti banknotes.

By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: The Islamic State (IS) terrorist groupposes a threat not only to Iraq, but the entireregion as well, the visiting Iraqi parliamentspeaker warned yesterday. “We believe thatIraq’s problems are related to the regional situa-tion, and this is why we decided to visit Kuwait,Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan and Turkey to try tocooperate with other countries to resolve theproblems of Iraq and other countries and send aclear message to leaders around the world thatwe have to be in harmony and compatibility,”Saleem Al-Jabouri said during a press confer-ence in Kuwait City Sunday night. “The IslamicParliaments Summit will be held in 2016, and wewant to make sure that all Islamic countries will

attend the conference in Baghdad,” he added.

Mosque attackJabouri condemned the terrorist attack on

Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait that left 26people dead and 227 wounded. He praised thewisdom of His Highness the Amir Sheikh SabahAl-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who visited the site of themosque minutes after the bombing, adding thatKuwait has faced the attack with firm securitymeasures, and Kuwaitis have exhibited thebest example of national unity and standingbehind their leadership in confronting terror-ism.

CooperationJabouri said all countries are studying the

dangers of IS, and there will be cooperationbetween Iraq and Kuwait to develop wellthought out plans to counter the threat toArab countries in the framework of securityand political cooperation. “The internationalsociety should know the importance of coop-erating with Iraq to face terrorism to serve notonly the local society, but also the region toachieve security and stability,” Jabouri said. Henoted that the visit is on behalf of all Arabcountries concerned with Iraq’s stability andwelfare, adding that countering challenges inIraq is the responsibility of the entire world.

Iraq’s divisions“ I t is not true that I raq’s divis ions wil l

destroy Iraq - Iraqis are strong and trying hardto resolve problems through meetings andconferences, and there are still a lot of optionsfor reconciliation of all parties. We are focusingon the necessity to achieve Iraqi unity. Iraq hastwo parties - one believes in weapons and ter-rorism, while the other party wants to buildthe country by laws. These are the ones whoshould be supported,” the Iraqi speaker said.

Sectarian groups“I cannot deny the presence of sectarian

groups in Iraq that are trying to create a riftbetween Iraqis, but we are watching them. Wehave to create a countr y that believes inSunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Turkmen and otherminorities to make them live in harmony, andthis is the main goal that we are trying toreach, because there are some people in Iraqwho want the country to end up with groupslike IS and those who bear weapons,” Jabourisaid.

IS threatens entire

region: Iraqi speakerKuwaiti-Iraqi cooperation to develop counter terror plans

KUWAIT: Iraqi parliament speaker Saleem Al-Jabouri (left) speaks during a press conferencewith Iraqi Ambassador to Kuwait Mohammad Bahr Al-Uloom. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: First Deputy Speaker of the Tunisian National Assembly AbdelfattahMourou (left) is seen during a joint press conference with Kuwaiti National AssemblyDeputy Speaker Mubarak Al-Khurainej. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The visiting First Deputy Speaker ofthe Tunisian National Assembly AbdelfattahMourou yesterday underlined the “coura-geous stance” of the Kuwaiti people, assem-bling around their leadership after the recentmosque attack. Mourou was addressing ajoint press conference with NationalAssembly Deputy Speaker Mubarak Al-Khurainej, when he ruled out that the cow-ardly attack could impact “Kuwait’s humani-tarian march.”

The Tunisian lawmaker is visiting Kuwaitto offer condolences over the victims of thesuicide blast the hit the Imam Al-Sadiqmosque in downtown Kuwait city duringFriday noon prayer on 26 June killing 26 andwounding 227 others. Kuwait has overcomethe danger and demonstrated to the worldthat it “is a country of safety, security andnational unity.” He noted that this same

Friday, a terrorist attack targeted a beachhotel in Tunisia’s city of Soussa claiming thelives of 38 people, mostly British, andwounding 39 others. Mourou stressedKuwait’s support to his country in the after-math of a March terrorist attack outside theBardo museum in Tunis that killed severalpeople. During his visit to Kuwait, Mouroumet with His Highness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HisHighness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National AssemblySpeaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim, His HighnessSheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and His Highness the Prime MinisterSheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.Meanwhile, Khurainej said the ties betweenthe two countries are ‘historical,’ reiteratingKuwait’s support to the country in happinessand misfortune. — KUNA

Tunisian lawmaker lauds

Kuwait’s unity after attack

Companies to bid offers to

reconstruct damaged mosque

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Public Worksinvited eight companies to bid financialand technical offers to reconstruct theImam Al-Sadiq Mosque, Ministr yUndersecretary Awatif Al-Ghunaim saidin a statement. This comes in imple-mentation of His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s instructions, Ghunaim said,adding that a preliminary meeting willbe held tomorrow to receive the offers.On June 26, 2015, a terrorist attack onthe Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque left 26 peo-ple dead and 227 people injured.

Co-educationMP Humoud Al-Hamdan said that

the Minister of Education and HigherEducation Dr Bader Al-Essa’s recent

statements to the press revealed thathis intentions were against the conser-vative Kuwaiti society’s values and tra-ditions. Hamdan said that Essa’s state-ments showed that he was after co-education and changing Islamic educa-tion and Arabic curriculums. “This is aredline because the Holy Quran andhadith call for moderation,” Hamdansaid, accusing the committee MinisterEssa assigned to change the curricu-lums of not being specialized nor quali-fied to do so.

KU spokesperson Kuwait University (KU) announced

that the deans committee had agreedto appoint Dr Bader Al-Hajji, media pro-fessor at the faculty of arts and the edi-tor-in-chief of KU’s Afaq magazine, asthe university’s official spokesperson.

More ‘Fintas Group’

suspects releasedBy Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: The public prosecution recent-ly released lawyer Abdulmohsen Al-Ateiqi and citizen Jarrah Al-Thefieri, whohad been detained in relation to the‘Fintas Group’ Case. The two werereleased on KD 10,000 bail and KD 2,000bail respectively. They join four otherswho were released on KD 10,000 bailSunday. Thirteen members are accusedof spreading false news about the coun-try’s internal situation in social media,taking part in a group on What’sApp thatmade corruption accusations againstmembers of the judiciary in addition tothe misuse of mobiles.

Coop boardThe appeal court recently rejected a

case filed by former Omariya and RabiyaCo-op Society ’s board of directors,annulling the first instance court rulingwhich had ordered them back to office.The new verdict also annuls the separa-tion of the society into two, with one ineach area.

Illegal photographyThe Interior Ministry recently warned

that any person who takes photos orvideo footage for others without theirknowledge or approval, in addition tosending indecent text messages wouldbe subjected to criminal accountability.

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Kuwait Times is publishing dailyreviews of three Kuwaiti soap operas aired on AlRai TV. Here are the reviews of the 25th episodes:

‘Qabil lil Kaser’ When Wed told Rakan that Jinan is in love

with Ali and they will marry soon, Rakan asks Aliif he has decided to execute the plan of Hadeel.He admits and says he has no choice as hedoesn’t want to lose Hadeel. Rakan warns himnot to do so as Jinan is now a member of his fam-ily, but Ali insists and says that he in fact startingto love her. So Rakan goes to Yousef and tells himabout the plan.

Sulaiman blames Raja for not telling him thatJinan loves Ali, but she says this is what Jinan toldher, that she hates Ali. Hiba tells Yousef that Jinanis crazy as she wants to marry Ali, who wants tosteal her money and that he must stop her.

Ali tells Hadeel that Rakan threatened himthat he will tell Yousef about the plan, but hebelieves Rakan won’t do so. Yousef goes toJinan’s store and tells Ali that he rejects the mar-riage and tells him to leave work, as he knowseverything from Rakan. Yousef also tells Jinanabout Ali’s plan and that he wants to get hermoney, saying it’s not the first time for her to givemoney to somebody as she did previously didwhen she gave Sulaiman KD 6 million.

Hadeel tells Zahra about what happened withAli and that Rakan is the one who told Yousef.She asks Zahra if the plan is over, but she givesHadeel hope that he can deny everything, and ifJinan loves him, she won’t believe what they say.Wed was behind the shelf in the school andhears their conversation. Hadeel’s mother takesthe money and gold and deposits it in the bank.

‘Ummina Rwehit Al Jannah’When Fatma does not find her glasses in her

house, she goes to Nooriya to look for it as shestayed there overnight. Nooriya asks why she haschanged, as before her personality was verystrong. So Fatma comes up with a plan to changethe insulting behavior of her children and showthem her strong personality.

She wakes up in the morning pretending shehas amnesia again and starts shouting at themand breaking plates and cups, warning them toget out of her house as she doesn’t know themor she will call the police. She calls the police,who take them to the police station. There theysay she is mentally ill, but when the investigator

asks for their IDs or the medical report of Fatma’scondition, they did not have them. Fatma asksher grandchildren to take the IDs from their par-ents. When Taiba asks her daughter to bring thenail file from her bag, she finds a mobile and asksher mother to take it. Farouq asks about thephone and she does not want him to see it, so hesuspects she is hiding something and is cheatingon him, so she tells him it is Ghada’s phone thatshe found the day when he was visiting Faisal inthe hospital and was sitting outside talking toGhada and she forgot it there and left. She tellshim she knows it was Ghada and Farouq apolo-gizes for his relationship with Ghada.

‘Thakira min Waraq’ Mashael tells Noora she will marry Nawaf, and

Najd tells Shouq. When Shouq sees Nawaf at theuniversity, she congratulates him on his upcom-ing marriage with Mashael. Nawaf blamesMashael for speaking about the marriage whenit’s not yet sure. So Mashael goes to Shouq andfights with her. Then she calls Fawaz, telling himthat his sister Shouq has relationships with menand her behavior is bad.

Fawaz calls Shouq and asks for the number ofMashael’s parents, then goes to visit her mother.He tells her that he was planning to marry herdaughter, but now he found out that she is in arelationship with Nawaf, who is a bad personcheating girls. He also tells her he wants Mashaelto stay far from his sister. Mashael forces Hamadto call Fawaz to know what he did, and he tellshim that he told her mother everything and thatshe is upset. She calls Mashael then and tells hershe doesn’t agree that she marries Nawaf, butMashael insist on marrying him, so her mothertells her they won’t send her money.

Mashael tells Nawaf that Fawaz told her moth-er about them and that her mother rejected theirmarriage. He said they may wait for some time,but she insists they get married soon. The moth-er tells the father about what Fawaz told her andthat he has to stop sending Mashael any money.Mashael comes home and tells Najd she andNawaf will get married soon. Fawaz calls Shouqto ask if Mashael abused her again, and she tellshim that Mashael will soon marry Nawaf. SoFawaz again calls Mashael’s mother to tell her shewill get married without their approval. Still,Mashael tells Nawaf she wants to get marriedsoon.

When Jassem goes with Diana and the kidsoutside, his first wife Marwa sprays his room andthe clothes of Diana with pesticide.

Ramadan soap operas’ review

‘I am proud of who I am’

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

27. How many Chapters (Surahs) are there in theHoly Quran?

1436 - 2015

Photoo f t h e d a y

114

115

116

A photograph from the book ‘Faces of Kuwait’ by Jack Wozniak (researched by Mahmoud Zakariya) shows two men playing dominoes inside a coffee shop.

KUWAIT: Noor Capital Markets, a subsidiary of AmwalInternational Investment and MENA Co specialized in projectsdevelopment and financial services, held its annual ghabqafor the employees and their families, amidst a fascinating,warm and friendly Ramadan ambiance which aims to reflectNoor’s breaking business routine and ensures joy, fun andgood mood.

Led by Vice Chairman Nasser Al-Marri, Noor Executives wel-comed their guests inside the elegant Al-Thuraya Ballroom ofJW Marriott hotel.

Commenting on the occasion, Marri said, “To begin with, Iwould like to wish you all a Ramadan Mubarak and May AllahAlmighty Reward your worship. In fact, we are very keen tocelebrate this Holy Month and annual event, which in turnprovides an opportunity to meet with our staff and consoli-date our both relationships.” He added, “Our employees areour partners in success, they always contribute to our strive

for growth, excellence and sustainability.” He concluded bysaying, “I would like to extend my appreciation for all ourguests thanking them for their presence and wishing them apleasant evening.”

Noor Capital Marketshosts Ramadan ghabqa

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

KUWAIT: Argana Resorts and Hotels invited children at Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice to a ‘gergean’ event it hosted recently at Movenpick Hotel and Resort Al Bida’a. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

F r o m t he A r a bic pr e s sTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

Al-Jarida

Nigeria used to export crops making use of the abun-dance of rain in that country that used to producemany bounties and good things. Now, in the age of

oil, Nigeria almost imports everything and suffers from whatis known as the ‘wealth curse’, which means that the stateproduces natural wealth and resources like oil without hav-ing institutions that would guarantee utilizing suchresources for the good of the people. Oil revenues go intorulers’ pockets before they are pumped back into the budg-et. These revenues are then distributed according to howclose a circle orbiting the regime is.

The authority is formed of a group of ‘godfathers’ andmafias that devour wealth and spreads corruption and injus-tice. Corruption mainly spreads within security forces.Motorcycles are used as taxis in many Nigerian areas. Bothtaxi ‘riders’ and passengers are mandated by police to wearhelmets not for the sake of their safety, but only to blackmailthem and make policemen richer. Those riders either have topay fines for not wearing helmets or bribe policemen. That ishow the seeds of Boko Haram started developing and grow-ing in reaction and revenge against security forces.

A word like ‘kleptocracy’, which means a ruling minoritythat controls the state’s wealth, and the word ‘siphon’, whichmeans pouring water to flush away human waste, are veryoften used in Sarah Chayes’ book ‘Thieves of State’ - thosegroups who loot natural resources only because those inpower ‘wash away’ their crimes by enacting some custom-tailored laws and rules. The author also warns that followingthe World Bank’s recommendations about recommending

privatizing public establishments, the benefits of such priva-tizations did not go to the people as they were supposed to.

These benefits only went to mafia minority groups whoimposed themselves as natural disasters on state wealth andresources. This disastrous privatization in Nigeria also hap-pened in Egypt in 1974. It also happened in some Arab gov-ernments like in pre-revolution Tunisia, currently inAfghanistan, Uzbekistan and many developing countriesplagued with such mafias.

Corruption is not only restricted to politicians. It alsoinvolves the public administrative bodies. Bribery, abuse ofpowers and favoritism and many other forms of corruptionprevail in many of those countries where people aredepressed and find their only resort and savior in religionbecause imposing Islamic sharia means cutting off thieves’hands, bans looting and sets profound ethical values. So,with their cultural heritage and awareness, Arab and Muslimpeoples have nothing to do but to seek religious salvationfrom rulers and mafia atrocities.

Is this phenomena only known with Arab and Muslimpeoples or did Europe also experience long decades of cor-rupt rulers and officials, which eventually led to religiousreform movements there? Well, the answer is yes, they didand that is another story...however, let us agree now thatfinancial corruption is the cause of extremism, mutiny andrevolutions we are witnessing nowadays. This nation is reallygoing through its darkest ages amidst revolutions andcounter-revolutions from outcast corruption groups tryingto reclaim power! — Translated by Kuwait Times

Thieves of state

Al-Jarida

By Hassan Al-Essa

The radio is one medium that is abandoned bymany listeners during the year and only a few con-centrate on it. When the holy month of Ramadan

arrives, the majority of the society stops work or otheractivities.

During this month, the driver prefers to listen to theradio; just maybe, there’s a program that has beneficialinformation or a meaningful radio show or a religiousprogram from which he can learn about the rules ofIslam. Yet, we find that the majority of what is presentedon our radio during the month of Ramadan is only a ‘dis-tortion’ of the meaning of radio.

In the past, our criticisms of the radio during theordinary months was the pronunciation of some pre-senter, the type of programs on radio and the accuracyof the information presented to the listener, but today,what we hear from among the majority is that what isbeing presented over Kuwait radio is only a meaninglessmaterial and not targeted for the holy month.

We will not generalize, but most in radio works onsabotaging this sector. Take for example the entertain-ment programs, their type and how they are presented,we find programs that have empty moulds that aremade to wipe society’s brains, bearing in mind that theradio is a tool to strengthen the formation of the indi-vidual and not his destruction, as what we are hearing is

only silly clowning be it from some presenters and somelisteners and the result is a ‘distortion’ of the society’sbrains.

What astonished me and confirms this sector beganworking on distorting the individual is when the June26 massacre at Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque took place, wefound radio did not carry out its information role ratherit carried out ‘radio distortion.’ More clearly, after theincident, we did not find a program that works onstrengthening national unity and enriching Kuwaitiidentity; we did not see a change in the way programsare prepared.

One example is when the editor and presenter of aprogram asked a listener how harees (a Middle Easterndish) is prepared just a few days after the attack. Itwould have been better to have changed the questionto go along with the circumstances facing the countrysuch as a question about the history of the Al-Jabriyaaircraft hijacking, or ask when the air bombardmentduring Kuwait’s invasion took place. I believe such infor-mation enriches and develops the Kuwaiti identity andreminds the individual and the society of Kuwait’s histo-ry instead of asking how to prepare harees and distortthe society’s brains with idiotic questions and work ondistorting the society.

—Translated by Kuwait Times

Radio distortion

Al-Anbaa

By Nermin Al-Hooti

Ihave always said that Kuwait is a different story. Thissmall nation was built on openness, diversity of bothopinion and race. Ever since its inception, Kuwait was

never subject to one group or opinion. Different groupshave always co-existed here in order to survive. To knowhow unique Kuwait is, one only has to know that Kuwaithad elected its first ruler long before the US elected its firstpresident.

People living in this country had no other choice but tobe open. Their only source of income was trading by travel-ling to other countries and receiving people from othercultures. Kuwait had to be open and handle all differentthings, and these made the Kuwaiti individual more opento the world and accepting of others.

Openness is, of course, the basic seed of creativity,which produced so many creative Kuwaitis in various linesof life such as Fahad Boresli, Abdullah Fadhalah, SamiMohammed, Mohammed Al-Sharekh, Fatima Hussein,Thoraya Al-Baqsami, Abdul Hussein Abdul Redha, FathieKameel, Hayat Al-Fahad, Laila Al-Othman and Faisal Al-Dekheel. Institutions such as the National Bank of Kuwait,Kuwait Television, Kuwait Airways, TEC, KTC, playgrounds,sports centers, huge theatres and various facilities werealso involved and contributed to enhancing creativity.

This went on until we decided to shut down creativityin all fields and settle for only one thing: religion. We nowsettled for one kind of fruit when we once had a basket fullof various kinds. We stopped building playgrounds, closedparks and shut down the activities they used to house. Wepulled down Andalus Theatre and Cinema House, wherethe most magnificent concerts used to be held. Arts andMusic are no longer active on school timetables; they arebeing borrowed by teachers of other subjects such asArabic and Islamic Education; school theatres are now usedas student canteens.

Because they are creative by nature, Kuwaitis were cre-ative in the only line left: religion. Kuwait gave the worldiconic scholars like Khalid Al-Mathkour, Meshari Al-Efassi,the late Abdul Rahman Al-Sumaitt and many others.However, the lack of venues available to express creativitymade many stardom seekers choose odd and strange waysto show their distinctiveness and brought people whooperate using religion, people who ridicule religion andtumult promoters to surface. Others, who have no interestin all that, impatiently await weekends to seek self-satisfac-tion in neighboring countries and this led to deteriorationin many fields: our sport experienced repeated losses,music and arts deteriorated and literature faded away.

Kuwait used to be like a running river full of benevo-lence from all sides and streams, its running water carriesaway all wastes and maintains the water’s constant creativ-ity, until we decided to build a dam preventing water fromflowing; and thus, we ended up in a pond where good andbad, corrupt and pure, mixed.

To revive the good old days, we have to return all fruitsback to the basket in order to revive Al-Nafisi’s art, Al-Anberi’s mastery of football, Ghannam Al-Daikan’s music,Faeq Abdul Jaleel’s poetry and Ali Al-Jassar’s religion.

—Translated by Kuwait Times

Revive the

good old days

Al-Jarida

By Ali Khajah

CrimeR e p o r t

Father fears twin sons

joined terrorist groups

KUWAIT: A citizen expressed his fears that his 18-year-oldtwin sons may have been brainwashed and may have leftKuwait to join terrorist groups. The father told Fahaheel policethat the two left home Saturday and did not return since.

Fake maid agency busted

Residency Affairs Department detectives raided abogus domestic help office that uses a private apart-ment in Khaitan. Five expats, all in violation of residen-cy regulations, were arrested and sent to concernedauthorities for deportation.

Kidnapped by friend

A citizen accused his friend of kidnapping him and forcinghim to sign a promissory note. A security source said thecitizen told Fahad Al-Ahmed police that a friend withwhom he has a financial dispute kidnapped and took himto a mutual friend’s diwaniya and forced him to sign apromissory note, then threatened to take it to police.Investigations are underway.

Co-op robbery

An unknown thief broke into a cooperative society’sbranch and took a cash register containing KD 150,but escaped as soon as the alarm sounded. A securitysource said the branch’s manager told Sulaibikhatpolice that the main gate was broken into and a cashregister with KD 150 cash was missing. Investigationsare underway. In another incident, a citizen accused aroaming taxi driver of stealing KD 680 from her purse,when she asked him to wait for her and entered amedical health center and left her purse behind.

Education

Fight

Hawally police ended a fight between three expatriates ata Salmiya cafÈ. The men are being questioned over the rea-son of their fight. —Al-Rai and Al-Anbaa

KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) announced Abdulrahman Al-Terkit as the winner of thesixth and final draw in the Base account promotional campaign for employees. Terkit chose a monthlysalary of KD 1,000 for a year - one of three prizes that CBK offers and also include a 2015 Lexus 250 ISand a trip to Dubai on a private jet and a stay at Atlantis hotel.

Gitmo detainee sad for

Al-Sadeq Mosque victims

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainee Fayez Al-Kandariexpressed grief and pain for those killed and injured in theImam Al-Sadiq mosque explosion, and prayed to AlmightyAllah to save Kuwait and its people from all evils.

Speaking to his family through Skype last Friday as arrangedby the Red Cross International Committee in Jabriya, Kanadarimanaged to make audio-visual contact with his family in aprocess that would be made every two months.

The chatting session lasted over an hour during whichfamily members congratulated Fayez on the advent ofRamadan and the Eid because they only be able to talk to himlong after the Eid, Kandari’s brother Abdullah said. “Fayez triedto control his tears when his siblings told him how their par-ents were so optimistic about his return,” Abdullah said, not-ing that Fayez shared the same optimism. —Al-Rai

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

High-profile Tibetanmonk dies in prison in China

Page 12

Walker enters Republican race for president in 2016Page 9

VILLENEUVE-LA-GARENNE: Frenchpolice yesterday were hunting armed rob-bers who escaped after holding up a storein a shopping mall near Paris, promptingspecial forces to intervene and seal off thearea.

The three men-one of whom wasthought to be an employee of the shop-burst into the Primark store in Villeneuve-la-Garenne early yesterday, said a policesource who wished to remain anonymous.An employee first alerted her boyfriend tothe hold-up at around 7:00 am (0500 GMT)

when she sent him a text message sayingthey had been taken hostage by twoarmed men, another source said.

The area around the Qwartz mall wasshut down, all traffic stopped and otherstores in the vicinity closed up as specialforces rushed to the scene. The mall waspromptly evacuated but according topolice, 18 employees had remained inside-some were told to stay put by the gunmenand others had managed to hide on theirown.

They “were evacuated around 10:30

am, one of them was unwell but no-onewas injured,” police said.

But while security forces initiallythought the gunmen were still inside themall, they realised after searching thepremises that the men had escaped. Thesuspects “appear to have run away, and thesearch continues outside the mall,” asource close to the probe said.

‘This is a hold-up’ Memories of attacks in January by

Islamic extremists who gunned down 17

people in and near Paris-including severalwho were held hostage in a Jewish super-market-are still fresh in many minds inFrance. France, and the Paris area in partic-ular, is still on high alert and some 7,000soldiers are deployed around the countryto help police in countering any furtherattack.

But so far pol ice have indicatedMonday’s attack was a common armedrobbery. “I saw two robbers, dressedin black, hooded. They were calm, notin a hurry,” said Bruno Jahin, a 20-year-

old witness.“The tallest... had a gun, I think it was a

pump-action shotgun. The other man wassmaller.

“I was at the store’s stockroom door,they passed in front of me... They went tothe offices,” he said.

“I heard ‘this is a hold-up, you must go’several times... I turned around and tookthe lift.

“They were definitely looking for mon-ey, it’s a store that is doing very well.”

A London-based spokesman for

Primark, a low-cost clothing store that hasbeen a huge success in Britain, confirmedthere had been an “incident” at its store,which is located just north of Paris.

“Police are in attendance... We will do allwe can to support our staff and their fami-lies,” he said.

The incident comes on the eve of thetraditional Bastille Day military parade.

This year, special forces will marchdown the Champs-Elysees for the first timein recognition of the role they played incountering the January attacks. —AFP

France hunts armed robbers after hostage scareVILLENEUVE-LA-GARENNE: French police officers stand outside the Qwartz mall in Villeneuve-La-Garenne after a robbery attempt yesterday. Special forces evacuated 18 people from a mall near Paris todayafter gunmen attacked a Primark store inside, in what was thought to be an attempt to rob the shop, police said. —AFP

MOSCOW: Twenty-three Russian soldiers werecrushed to death after their military barracks col-lapsed in Siberia, the latest disaster to hit a coun-try known for shoddy construction work and laxsafety standards. An entire section of militarybarracks, including parts of the roof and walls,collapsed on Sunday evening just outside theSiberian city of Omsk as paratroopers were rest-ing, the defence ministry said. “As a result of thecollapse, more than 40 servicemen were injured,”Investigative Committee spokesman VladimirMarkin said on Monday. “Twenty three con-scripts died, the others were hospitalised withvarious injuries.”

Defence Ministry spokesman IgorKonashenkov said 19 servicemen had been hos-pitalised. The barracks-built in 1975 and renovat-ed in 2013 — belong to the 242nd training cen-tre that prepares junior officers and armouredinfantry vehicle drivers, among others. PresidentVladimir Putin has been informed of the incident,which occurred in the village of Svetly just out-side Omsk, some 2,200 kilometres (1,400 miles)east of Moscow, a Kremlin spokesman said. “Thepresident expressed condolences to the familiesof the victims of the accident at the Omsk train-ing centre,” the Kremlin said. Putin was regularlybeing briefed by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu,who has been tasked with providing all neces-sary assistance to the victims, the Kremlin added.

In footage shown on Russian television, sol-diers formed a human chain to pass bricks andother debris from one to another as they clearedthe mountain of rubble from the collapse. “Half ofthe heap has been cleared now,” acting com-mander of Russian paratroopers Nikolai Ignatovsaid in televised remarks. Nearly 350 rescueworkers and search dogs have been dispatchedto the scene, along with military prosecutors.“Rescue works lasted through the night,” aspokeswoman for the governor of the Omskregion told AFP. “The governor was there allnight.”

‘Paratroopers’ mass grave’The first 10 injured men have been airlifted to

top hospitals in Moscow, the defence ministry

said. “Another specially equipped plane of theDefence Ministry with seven servicemen of theAirborne Forces’ training centre will fly out toMoscow in the coming hours,” the ministry said.About 50 relatives of the injured or dead soldiershave already arrived in Omsk. Authorities tied thecollapse of the barracks to negligence on the partof construction workers. The InvestigativeCommittee, which reports directly to Putin,

opened a probe into negligence, violation ofsafety rules and abuse of power, adding thatthose found guilty would face up to 10 years inprison. Markin, the committee’s spokesman, saidinvestigators were probing several explanationsfor the tragedy, including possible violations dur-ing renovations in 2013.

Building collapses and other infrastructureaccidents are fairly frequent in Russia, especially

outside Moscow and Saint Petersburg, where theenforcement of safety regulations is lax and cor-ruption rampant. On Saturday a section of a resi-dential building collapsed in the Urals city ofPerm, killing two.

The latest tragedy represents a major blowto Putin who has made reviving the army afteryears of post-Soviet neglect a cornerstone of hispolicies. —AFP

23 killed in Russian military barracks collapse Fire engulfs cargo ships along

Dubai waterwayDUBAI: Firefighters rushed to contain a blaze thatbroke out yesterday aboard cargo vessels dockedalongside the main waterway that runs throughthe heart of Dubai.

The fire began in the afternoon along theDubai Creek, sending thick black smoke billowingabove the Mideast commercial hub’s denselypacked Deira district, which is home to hotels,office buildings and gold and spice bazaars popu-lar with tourists.

Dubai’s government media office said the firewas brought under control within three hours,and that one minor injury was reported.

It was not immediately clear what sparked theblaze, which spread to boxes and crates of mer-chandise stacked up along the quay.

Bank employee Khurram Kabir fromBangladesh, who saw the fire on his way homefrom work, said multiple boats were burning andothers were trying to escape the flames as thicksmoke filled the air.

“I have never seen this kind of smoke before,”he said.

Another witness, Tariq Rajput, an accountantwho works in an office in Deira, said the flamesappeared to rise 10 to 15 feet in the air and thatthe smell and appearance of the fire suggestedrubber or oil was fueling the blaze.

The Dubai Creek is a saltwater inlet of thePersian Gulf coursing through the old core of thecity that remains an active trading port. It ismainly used by traditional wooden boats knownas dhows that ferry goods ranging from tires andcooking oil to refrigerators and televisions toIran and other destinations.

Larger cargo container ships dock at biggerharbors elsewhere in Dubai, including thesprawling Jebel Ali Port, the region’s busiest sea-port. —AP

OMSK: A military barrack with collapsed ceiling is seen at a base in Omsk, Russia, yesterday. The ceiling collapsedyesterday, causing four stories to crumble. Rescuers searched for hours for victims trapped under the debris of anairborne troops training center following the collapse that occurred in the early hours of the morning. —AP

I N T E R N AT ION A LTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

JERUSALEM: A thief struck by misfor-tune since stealing two artefacts 20years ago has returned them along withan appeal to others to refrain from plun-dering antiquities, the Israel AntiquitiesAuthority said yesterday.

The 2,000-year-old sling stones,

which were taken from the ancient cityof Gamla on the Golan Heights, wereleft last week in a bag in the courtyardof the Museum of Islamic and NearEastern Cultures in Israel’s southern cityof Beersheba, said the IAA.

“These are two Roman ballista balls

from Gamla, from a residential quarterat the foot of the summit,” the thiefwrote in a note distributed by theAuthority.

“I stole them in July 1995, and sincethen they have brought me nothing buttrouble. Please, do not steal antiquities!”

said the note written in Hebrew.The thief did not detail the nature of

his or her misfortune.The Antiquities Authority said nearly

2,000 such stones were found in Gamla.They were used by the Romans againstthe Jews attempting to prevent the con-

quest of the hilltop city.This was not the first plundered

antiquity to be returned, said theAuthority, noting that a Tel Aviv residenthad held an ancient coffin in his bed-room before realising its “morbidnature”. —AFP

Thief struck by misfortune returns loot 20 years on

BAGHDAD: Iraqis clear up the aftermath the day after a car bomb explosion in a residential area of the capital, Baghdad, yesterday. A string ofbomb explosions, including two suicide attacks, killed at least 21 people and wounded 62 in Shiite-dominated neighbourhoods of Baghdad,Iraqi police and medical sources said. — AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraqi troops and Shi’ite Muslim mili-tia forces attacked Islamic State fighters on sev-eral fronts in the country’s largest province yes-terday, saying the battle to drive the hardlinemilitants out of Anbar was under way.

A spokesman for the joint operations com-mand said the offensive, which began at dawn,brought together the army, mainly Shi’ite HashidShaabi militias, special forces, police and localSunni Muslim tribal fighters.

Military sources in Anbar said they met fierceresistance from the insurgents, who deployedfive suicide car bombs and fired rockets to repeltheir advance on the city of Falluja, about 50 km(30 miles) west of Baghdad.

There were also reports of fighting aroundthe provincial capital Ramadi, captured byIslamic State two months ago.

“At 5 o’clock this morning operations to liber-ate Anbar were launched,” the militaryspokesman said.

Islamic State’s capture of Ramadi two monthsago marked the biggest defeat for the Baghdadgovernment since the militants swept throughthe north of the country last June and declared acaliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq straddling theborder.

Until Ramadi’s fall, Iraqi troops and HashidShaabi forces, backed by US-led air strikes, hadbeen pushing Islamic State back, recapturing theeastern province of Diyala and former leaderSaddam Hussein’s home town of Tikrit, with theultimate target of retaking the northern city ofMosul.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, angered atthe army’s withdrawal from Ramadi in mid-May,initially promised a swift counter-attack.

Although Ramadi remains the strategic tar-get, military sources and Shi’ite militia leadershave said the initial focus will be on Falluja,which was the first city in Iraq to fall under mili-tant control 18 months ago.

FIRST JETS ARRIVE FROM USA US-led coalition of Western and Arab air

forces has been bombing Islamic State positionsacross Iraq, supporting Baghdad’s ground forcesand its poorly equipped air force.

Iraq has sought to redress its own lack of airpower by purchasing F-16 fighter jets from theUnited States, but deliveries of the 36 aircraftwere delayed because of security concerns afterthe Islamic State offensive last summer.

Yesterday, a first batch of four F-16s landed at

Balad air base north of Baghdad, an Iraqi airforce officer said.

It was not clear whether the planes wouldtake an immediate role in the operations inAnbar.

Hadi al-Ameri, commander of the largestShi’ite force, the Badr Organisation, told Iraqi tel-evision on Sunday he expected the main assaulton Falluja to take place after the Eid holidaywhich starts later this week.

Residents in Falluja and Ramadi reportedheavy bombardment of both cities early yester-day. Falluja saw the fiercest fighting of the USoccupation which followed Washington’s 2003invasion to topple Saddam, and has also been acentre of Sunni hostility to the Shi’ite-led gov-ernment in Baghdad.

Abadi initially sought to keep Shi’ite militiason the sidelines in Anbar for fear of inflamingsectarian sensitivities, but the fall of Ramadi inMay undermined his position.

In Baghdad on Sunday at least 35 peoplewere killed in a series of car bombs and sui-cide attacks in mainly Shi’ite districts. A state-ment in the name of Islamic State, issued yes-terday, claimed responsibility for some of theblasts. —Reuters

Iraq launches military assault

on Islamic State in Anbar

Forces face heavy resistance around Falluja

JERUSALEM: A Canadian-Israeli who wasthe first foreign woman to help Syria’sKurds fight Islamic State has left the frontlines and returned to Israel, citing thespread of Iranian influence in the war zonesamong her reasons.

After eight months in which she wasoften incommunicado, stirring rumoursthat she had fallen captive, Israeli mediafeted Gill Rosenberg’s sudden return onSunday. But she may still face a legal reck-oning for her unauthorised travels.

The 31-year-old former Israeli army vol-unteer said the lessons of the Holocaustdrove her to help protect the Kurds andother Middle East minorities menaced byIslamic State advances.

“I think we as Jews, we say ‘never again’for the Shoah, and I take it to mean not justfor Jewish people, but for anyone, for anyhuman being, especially a helpless womanor child in Syria or Iraq,” Rosenberg toldIsrael’s Army Radio on Monday.

“But in the past few weeks I think a lot ofthe dynamics have changed there, in termsof what’s going on in the war. The Iranianinvolvement is a lot more pronounced.Things changed enough that I felt that itwas time to come home.”

Rosenberg started out with Kurdish YPGguerrillas in Syria before moving to theDwekh Nawsha, a Christian militia in Iraq.Both countries are formally at war withIsrael, which bars its citizens from travellingthere. Iran is among regional powers send-ing forces to battle Islamic State in Iraq.

The Israeli internal security agency ShinBet said it questioned Rosenberg after shelanded in Tel Aviv. It did not elaborate onwhether she would face criminal charges,but an Israeli justice official told Reuters it

appeared unlikely.Rosenberg’s native Canada, from which

she emigrated alone to Israel, had alsourged her to get out of Syria. The Canadianembassy in Israel did not immediately com-ment on her return.

US authorities could pose more of achallenge, however. In 2009, Rosenbergwas arrested in Israel over an internationalphone scam and extradited to the UnitedStates, where she served time in prison.Yahel Ben-Oved, one of her lawyers, saidRosenberg won early release in 2013 oncondition that she remain paroled eitheron US or Israeli soil.

“I believe she may have violated this bygoing to Syria,” Ben-Oved told Reuters.“This could be a problem for her.”

US officials said they were looking intothe case. Rosenberg declined a Reutersrequest for an interview, saying she wouldspeak to foreign media later in the week.

Reuters sources familiar with the YPGand Dwekh Nawsha confirmed thatRosenberg had served with both.

“We were, like, under 2 km (1 miles)from Daesh (Islamic State) the whole time,for the most part,” Rosenberg told ArmyRadio. “There were some pretty major fire-fights, but, you know, a lot of it was justholding lines.”

She said she was ordered to keep quietabout her Israeli citizenship while with theYPG, a militia with a historically pro-Palestinian leaning.

“ Th e Ku rd s l ove I s r a e l . Th e y l oveIsrael and they love the Jewish people.But among the ranks of the YPG there’salso local Arabs and other people thatmight not be such big fans of Israel,”she said. —Reuters

Jewish woman who helped

Kurds fight IS returns to Israel

Russia blocks atheist webpage

over ‘insulting’ believersMOSCOW: A Russian atheist social net-working page was blocked yesterday onthe back of a court ruling that it insultedthe feelings of religious believers.

The group called “There is no God” onthe VKontakte networking site-which hadover 26,000 followers-went offline for usersacross the whole country.

A moderator’s message on the blockedwebpage said that the move was due to aruling by a court in the mainly MuslimNorth Caucasus region of Chechnya in May2015.

“The community has been blocked dueto the possible violation of the site’s rules,”it said.

VKontakte, Russia’s largest social net-working site, did not respond to a requestfor comment. A scan of the court decisionpublished by Russian media accused thepage of publishing materials that can“insult the feelings of Orthodox Christians”,based on an inspection of the page byprosecutors on April 6.

A cached version of the group’s websiteshowed posts with pictures making fun ofreligion, mostly focusing on the Russian

Orthodox Chuch. It was not clear which exact posts were

deemed insulting and administrators of thepage could not be reached for comment.

A spokeswoman at Roskomnadzor, theRussian media regulator which compiles aregister of blocked websites, told AFP thatthey were merely carrying out the courtruling by ordering VKontakte to block thepage

The prosecutor’s office in Chechnya, aconservative Muslim republic that is ruledwith an iron fist by Ramzan Kadyrov, saidon its website in early May that it “uncov-ered materials during monitoring of theInternet which insult the feelings of thefaithful.”

Kadyrov has overseen increasingly con-servative policies in the region and calledtogether a massive rally of hundreds ofthousands in January against French maga-zine Charlie Hebdo, which published car-toons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

The influence of Russia’s OrthodoxChurch in official circles has grown dramati-cally under the leadership of ex-KGB agentPresident Vladimir Putin. —AFP

ASHKELON: In this Thursday, July 9, 2015 file photo, the mother of Ethiopian-IsraeliAvraham Mengistu, cries after a family press conference in the costal city ofAshkelon, Israel. An Israeli security official said Thursday the Hamas militant grouphas been holding Mengistu in the Gaza Strip for nearly a year. — AP

ADEN: Frustrated by the UN’s failure to deliverdesperately needed aid, residents of Aden inwar-torn Yemen have started to vent their angerat the world body and at rebels besieging theircity. A UN-declared truce aimed at rushing aidto millions of Yemenis threatened with famineformally took effect late Friday, but Saudi-led airstrikes and clashes have raged on.

Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels aided bytroops loyal to former president Ali AbdullahSaleh have for months besieged several areas ofthe port city of Aden held by fighters loyal toexiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.“Aden is on the verge of famine,” said localactivist Mohammed Mossaed. “We don”t needthe truce of (UN envoy) Ismail Ould CheikhAhmed. We want an end to the siege so that aidenters the city by land and sea,” he said, in a bit-ter tone.

Ships carrying aid from UN relief agencieswaiting off Aden have not been able to dockbecause of security risks. The rebels have alsoprevented a convoy carrying aid from Hodeidaport from entering Aden, local activist Adnan al-Kaf said.

‘No fundamental change’ “Frankly, there has not be a fundamental

change on the ground that would allow aid dis-embarkment in Aden,” said Abeer Etefa, aspokeswoman of the UN’s World FoodProgramme. Three aid-loaded ships continue towait off Aden, she said yesterday.

On Friday, she told AFP the truce was “ourfinal hope” to reach the needy. The UN hadhoped that the six-day truce would last until theend of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

But just hours after it formally went intoeffect, the Saudi-led coalition resumed raids andfresh clashes broke out between rebels and pro-Hadi fighters. The coalition brushed aside theceasefire, saying it did not receive a request fromHadi’s government to halt attacks, while the

leader of the Huthi rebels said he did not expectthe truce to take hold. “What truce is the UNtalking about... when we are being bombed bythe Huthis and the prices of tomatoes and pota-toes have gone up six fold?” said resident YasserMubrarak.

He summed up the feeling of Aden inhabi-tants who find themselves trapped in the middleof a fierce conflict where they barely findenough to eat. “The truce only benefits theHuthis. This is what also happened during thefirst truce when no aid reached Aden and it wasall carried to Hodeida,” a rebel-held western port,said Anis Obbad, another resident of Aden. Hewas referring to a five-day truce in May declaredby the Saudi-led coalition to allow aid deliveries.

“The only solution for Aden is a Huthi pulloutand lifting of the blockade,” said Obbad.

A local official even accused the UnitedNations of “collusion” with the Huthis.

Nayef al-Bakri, vice governor of Aden andwho now heads its Resistance Council, yesterdaycondemned “the inability of the organisation toprovide protection” for aid-loaded ships.

He also slammed the UN’s delivery of 38 lor-ries carrying aid to Aden neighbourhoods thatare held by the rebels, while it failed to bring aidinto areas controlled by the other side. Therebels for their part have accused the UnitedNations of not exerting enough pressure to endthe Saudi air strikes.

“The UN and international community shouldassume their responsibility to end the aggres-sion and the blockade imposed on the Yemenipeople,” said Saleh al-Sammad, who heads therebels’ politburo. —AFP

Aden residents angry at UN

for failing to deliver aid

SANAA: People gather at the site of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, yes-terday. Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition targeting Shiite rebels and their allies struck sever-al Yemeni cities on Sunday, with combat raging near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait despitea declared truce, military and security officials said. — AP

I N T E R N AT ION A LTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

LOS ANGELES: The fatal police shootingof an unarmed man in a Los Angelessuburb two years ago followed an erro-neous police dispatch after a bicycle wasstolen.

Ricardo Diaz-Zeferino was drunk andtrying to help his brother find the bikewhen police, told to be on the lookoutfor two robbers, opened fire when hewouldn’t obey orders as they stoppedhim and two friends, according to aninvestigative review of the killing.

Video of the shooting captured oncameras in three police cars is at the cen-ter of a court fight yesterday overwhether the footage should be made

public.A lawyer for The Associated Press and

two other news outlets says the publichas a right to view the video that wassealed in a federal lawsuit that the city ofGardena, California, settled for $4.7 mil-lion with Diaz-Zeferino’s family andanother man who was wounded in theshooting.

“The burden is theirs to show they’reentitled to an ongoing sealing,” saidRochelle Wilcox, an attorney for AP, theLos Angeles Times and Bloomberg. “Wethink they haven’t even come close tomeeting their burden. ... The public poli-cy strongly supports disclosure of this

video, which was taken on a publicstreet.”

The hearing comes at a time ofheightened scrutiny in shootings by offi-cers and amid an ongoing debate overwhether footage shot on an increasingnumber of police cameras should bemade public.

More officers and patrol cars arebeing outfitted with cameras to recordevidence. The devices are promoted as atool for holding officers accountable andhelping them defend themselves.

In fact, the cameras that recorded theJune 2, 2013, shooting supported testi-mony that Diaz-Zeferino wouldn’t obey

officers’ orders to stand still and keep hishands in the air. He was shot eight timesafter repeatedly reaching for his pants,according to a report by the Los Angelesdistrict attorney.

Prosecutors found the shooting justi-fied and declined to charge the four offi-cers. Lawyers for Gardena said releasingthe video could lead to a “rush to judg-ment” against those officers, and itwould make law enforcement agenciesthink twice about using cameras.

“Public agencies will be forced towrestle with the issue of whether theywish to deploy dashboard cameras andbody-worn cameras for fear that this

information could be obtained, releasedin a distorted and sensationalistic man-ner, and misinterpreted, leading to actsof civil disobedience, damage to proper-ty, and the potential loss of life,” accord-ing to court papers filed by the city.

Organizations of police chiefs andofficers around the state have filedpapers to keep the videos sealed.

A lawyer for Diaz-Zeferino’s familysaid they want the video released so thepublic can see that the men did nothingwrong before being shot. “As long as thevideo is not released, the city of Gardenawill continue to spin the facts,” attorneySonia Mercado said. — AP

News media seek videos of police killing unarmed man

DENVER: In this June 27, 2015, file photo, Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks at the Western Conservative Summit, hosted by theCentennial Institute, Colorado Christian University’s think tank, in Denver. Walker, entered the 2016 Republican presidential contest yesterday. — AP

MADISON: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkerannounced on social media yesterday morningthat he’s running for president, tweeting “I’m in.”

Walker is a Republican who built a nationalprofile largely due to his clashes with laborunions. He enacted policies weakening theirpolitical power and became the first governor inU.S. history to defeat a recall election.

Now, on the eve of his campaign launch,Walker’s task is to remind Republican votersabout lesser-known triumphs he says set himapart from the crowded Republican field.

Walker cut income and corporate taxes bynearly $2 billion, lowered property taxes, legal-ized the carrying of concealed weapons, madeabortions more difficult to obtain, required pho-to identification when voting and madeWisconsin a right-to-work state.

His budget this year, which plugged a $2.2billion shortfall when he signed it into lawSunday, requires drug screenings for publicbenefit recipients, freezes tuition at theUniversity of Wisconsin while cutting funding by$250 million and removing tenure protectionsfrom state law.

Such achievements may appeal to conserva-tives who hold outsized sway in Republican pri-maries, yet some could create challenges in ageneral election should Walker ultimatelybecome the party’s nominee.

“Ultimately Walker has to show all these vic-tories and political successes have shown realresults,” said Democratic pollster Paul Maslin.

The labor dispute helped give him a signifi-cant head start in the 2016 money race. Walker’sthree governor’s races left him with a far-reach-ing donor database of more than 300,000names. He shattered state fundraising records,collecting $83 million for his three Wisconsinelections, much of it coming from outside thestate.

He begins his 2016 presidential bid with atleast $20 million to spread his message, raisedby two outside groups not subject to campaignfinance donation limits, according to sourceswith direct knowledge of the fundraising opera-tion. They spoke on the condition of anonymityto publicly discuss private fundraising strategy.

Walker talks about how the 2011 union lawsaved taxpayers $3 billion as of late 2014. Whileit’s true that the state and local governmentshave saved roughly that amount, the costs havebeen shifted to the employees who have to paymore for those benefits.

Income equality Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton put

the fight for higher wages for everydayAmericans at the heart of her economic agendayesterday, in the first major policy speech of herWhite House bid.

Clinton said the US economy will only run atfull steam when middle-class wages rise steadilyalong with executive salaries and company prof-its.

“I believe we have to build a growth and fair-

ness economy. You can’t have one without theother,” she said at The New School university inManhattan’s Greenwich Village, a bastion of lib-eral education.

With one eye on the growing support forVermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist who is also seeking theDemocratic Party nomination, Clinton laid out avision of economic equality.

“Corporate profits are at near-record highsand Americans are working as hard as ever butpaychecks have barely budged in real terms.Families today are stretched in so many direc-tions and so are their budgets,” Clinton said.

The former secretary of state promised topush for a broader reform of the U.S. corporatetax code.

Clinton is the favorite to win the Democraticnomination for the November 2016 presidentialelection but Sanders has drawn large crowds atcampaign events.

She will unveil more specifics of her econom-ic policy in a series of speeches in the comingweeks as Democrats seek more details of herplans on increasing the minimum wage, creatinguniversal preschool and investing in infrastruc-ture.

Putting some meat on the bones of her eco-nomic policy could divert the focus away fromissues that are dragging on Clinton’s popularity,including a controversy over her use of a privateemail account while she was President BarackObama’s secretary of state. — Agencies

Walker enters Republican race for president in 2016

Clinton calls for greater US income equality

Immigrants re-arrested after detainers declined

LOS ANGELES: More than 1,800 immi-grants that the federal government wantedto deport were nevertheless released fromlocal jails and later re-arrested for variouscrimes, according to a government reportreleased yesterday.

The Immigration and CustomsEnforcement report - obtained by anorganization that actively opposes illegalimmigration - said the re-arrested immi-grants were among 8,145 people who werefreed between January and August 2014,despite requests from federal agents thatthey be held for deportation.

The report provided by the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies saysabout 23 percent were eventually takeninto custody again on a variety of charges.

Many jurisdictions have stopped honor-ing so-called immigration detainers, sayingthey can’t hold arrestees without probablecause. In a case drawing national attentionto the issue, authorities say a woman wasshot to death in San Francisco July 1 by asuspect who was released from jail despitean immigration detainer. In the report, thetop crimes for which immigrants were re-arrested were drug violations and drunkendriving.

The report also cited six examplesinvolving more serious offenses, includinga San Mateo County case where an individ-ual was arrested for investigation of fivefelony sex crimes involving a child under 14after a detainer had been declined.

“This is a genuine safety problem, andalso a crisis for immigration enforcement,”said Jessica Vaughan, the center’s directorof policy studies. She added that the vic-tims of what may appear to others to beless serious crimes still want to see the per-petrators held accountable.

DetainersMore than 250 jurisdictions across the

country have stopped fully honoring so-called immigration detainers, saying theycan’t hold arrestees beyond their sched-uled release dates without probable cause.California and Connecticut have passedstate laws to limit the use of immigrationdetainers and jails in states from Oregon toIowa also refuse to honor the requests.

The controversy surrounding immigra-tion detainers has re-entered the nationalspotlight since the shooting death of 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle on a San Franciscopier. Suspect Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchezwas released from jail in April even thoughimmigration officials had lodged a detainerto try to deport him from the country for asixth time.

In the last two weeks, a number ofpoliticians and lawmakers have questionedthe limits on the use of detainers. SanFrancisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi has arguedhe was upholding local law and thatdetainers are not a legal way to keep some-one in custody and have been proven toerode police relations with immigrant com-munities.

Immigrant advocates said federal immi-gration agents already have informationabout who is in local jails, and they canmake the arrests on their own.

“It is not correct to point to the detain-ers as the reason why people are gettingre-arrested,” said Jennie Pasquarella, a staffattorney at the American Civil LibertiesUnion of Southern California. “ICE has had,and continues to have and develop its toolsto be able to prioritize people who itbelieves are priority for removal, and topick up those people.”

Following the pushback on detainers,ICE has said it will focus on more seriouscriminals and ask law enforcement agen-cies to notify them when they’re releasingimmigrants from custody, if not actuallyhold them. — AP

ALMOLOYA DE JUAREZ: Handout picture released by the Attorney General of Mexico(PGR) showing Mexico’s Attorney General, Arely Gomez (2-R) looking at the allegedend of the tunnel through which Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmancould have escaped from the Altiplano prison, at a house in Almoloya de Juarez,Mexico, on Sunday. — AFP

Mexico hunts drug kingpin, probes prison guards

MEXICO CITY: Mexican security forcesscrambled yesterday to save face andrecapture drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo”Guzman as authorities investigatedwhether guards helped him escape prisonthrough a tunnel under his cell.

For the second time in 14 years the headof the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel man-aged to flee a maximum-security prison,dealing an embarrassing setback toPresident Enrique Pena Nieto.

Troops and police were deployed tohunt down Guzman after he vanished lateSaturday from the Altiplano prison 90 kilo-meters (55 miles) west of Mexico City, afterjust 17 months behind bars.

Prosecutors questioned 30 prisonemployees of various rank, including thewarden, the attorney general’s office said,signaling suspicions of an inside job.

The guards in charge of the capo’s celland those who monitored the surveillancecameras that look into the room wereamong those interrogated, said an officialin the attorney general’s office.

Authorities had already investigated astrange prison visit to Guzman in Marchwhen a woman managed to see him byusing a fake ID to enter the jail. On a statevisit to Paris, Pena Nieto said Guzman’sescape was “an affront to the state” anddemanded an investigation into whetherprison guards helped him.

Guzman, 58, who nurtured a RobinHood image in his northwestern state ofSinaloa while running the most powerfuland one of the most ruthless cartels inMexico, was able to slip out even though

surveillance cameras were trained on hiscell. He went into his private shower andafter he failed to come out guards found ahole 10 meters (33 feet) deep with a ladderin it. The gap led to a 1.5-kilometer tunnelwith a ventilation and light system that wasapparently dug with the help of a motorcy-cle mounted on a rail to transport tools andremove earth.

The sophisticated tunnel led to a graybrick building on a hill surrounded by pas-tures in central Mexico State.

Prosecutors released a video showingthe hole inside the building’s dirt-coveredfloor. A bed and kitchen were in the facility,indicating that people had lived there.

Against the clock As investigators tried to figure out how

Guzman busted out again, police andtroops manned checkpoints and searchedcars and trucks on nearby roads. Mike Vigil,a retired US Drug EnforcementAdministration (DEA) international opera-tions chief, warned that if Guzman is notcaptured in the next day or so he will van-ish for good.

“If he is able to make his way to Sinaloa,his native state, and gets into that moun-tainous range, it’s going to be very difficultto capture him because he enjoys the pro-tection of local villagers,” Vigil told AFP.Several states, including Sinaloa, set upcheckpoints. Central Puebla state said itwas using X-ray technology at toll boothsto see through cars. Troops in Guatemalalaunched a special operation at the borderwith Mexico. —AFP

HAVANA: The Colombian governmentreached a major de-escalation agreementSunday with leftist FARC guerrillas, agreeingfor the first time to reduce anti-rebel opera-tions in the decades-long armed conflict,diplomats in Havana said.

The move marks a significant step in stop-start peace talks in the Cuban capital betweenthe two sides that began in November 2012but have been hampered in recent months byan uptick in violence.

On Wednesday, FARC said it had agreed to aone-month unilateral ceasefire starting July 20,and on Sunday the government committed tocurtailing its efforts against guerrillas for thefirst time since peace talks began.

“The national government, from July 20, willlaunch a process of de-escalation of militaryaction, in response to the suspension of offen-sive actions by the FARC,” said a joint statementread by Cuban and Norwegian diplomats, whohave been mediating the talks.

Both sides hailed the reset of the talks.“This is undoubtedly a strong, promising,

and hopeful re-launch of the dialogue process,”said chief FARC negotiator Ivan Marquez. Hisgovernment counterpart, Humberto de la Callesaid the agreement shows “the opportunity toend the conflict is alive.”

The FARC will decide within the month if itwill extend its ceasefire while both parties will

revisit the agreement in four months, media-tors and spokesmen said.

Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santoshailed the deal as an “important step” towardsa peace agreement, but warned his troopswere ready to fight if the deal is violated.

“With these new advances, we finally see aclear light at the end of the tunnel, this fills mewith confidence and hope. We will achievepeace, which has been elusive,” he said in anofficial address.

“But let it be understood: Our armed forcesare ready for a gradual de-escalation, but if theFARC does not fulfill its promise, we willrespond with determination and force.”

Havana talks Colombia’s civil strife dates back to 1964

and has drawn in left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs, killingmore than 220,000 people and uprooting asmany as six million. The landmark agreementseeks to improve negotiations between thegovernment and the Revolutionary ArmedForces of Colombia (FARC), the country ’slargest rebel force, after talks showed signs ofstalling.

The government and FARC “decided tomake every effort to reach without delay thesigning of a final agreement,” said Cuban diplo-mat Rodolfo Benitez. “In particular (the parties

have decided) to agree without delay on theterms of the ceasefire, an end of hostilities andsurrender of weapons including monitoringand a verification system,” Benitez said.

The government and FARC have also askedfor a UN delegate and representative from theUnion of South American Nations to help startdiscussions on monitoring the end of the half-century conflict. Talks in Havana have so farresulted in agreements on three topics of a six-point agenda, including ending drug traffick-ing that has fueled the conflict.

Cuba and Norway are acting as so-called“guarantor” countries in the peace talks.

A December FARC unilateral ceasefire hadfallen apart and clashes resumed in mid-April,following an ambush by the rebels that left 11soldiers dead. Each side blames the other forthe escalation. The fighters claim that govern-ment forces stepped up attacks on rebelcamps during its ceasefire.

Since the truce ended, about 30 rebels havebeen killed in army operations and recent sur-veys show the public is increasingly waryabout the peace process.

In recent months, there has been a spike inrebel attacks on infrastructure and militarypositions leading to numerous deaths, injuriesand damages. The FARC confirmed Friday itwas holding captive a lieutenant wounded in aclash with government forces. — AFP

Colombia, FARC rebels reach major de-escalation deal

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu isdue to begin coalition talks yesterday with the second-placed CHP party after last month’s elections where hisruling party lost its overall majority. Davutoglu’s rulingJustice and Development Party (AKP) failed to secureenough votes in the June 7 elections to form a govern-ment alone, for the first time since it came to power in2002. The AKP has 258 seats in the new parliament, theRepublican People’s Party (CHP) 132, and the Nationalist

Movement Party (MHP) and pro-Kurdish People’sDemocratic Party (HDP) hold 80 apiece.

Davutoglu will meet this week with each of the threeother parties in parliament, but no agreement is expect-ed this week during the Eid feast marking the end ofholy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Today, he will hold talks with CHP leader KemalKilicdaroglu at 1100 GMT at the CHP headquarters in thecapital Ankara. A coalition between the AKP and the

nationalist MHP is seen by far the most likely optionbecause both parties share a core conservative voterbase in the centre of the country. Both AKP and HDPhave excluded joining forces.

If efforts to form a coalition within the constitutionallimit of 45 days are unsuccessful, President Recep TayyipErdogan can call snap elections within 45 days.Erdogan’s authority is one of the tricky issues in coalitionnegotiations because opposition parties are contesting

his broad presidential powers.Davutoglu said discussing Erdogan’s authority was

out of the question. “Bringing our president’s legitimacyor prestige into question right now would sabotagecoalition talks from the first,” Davutoglu told the Hurriyetnewspaper. The June election was a blow not only tothe AKP’s authority but also to Erdogan, who had beenhoping the new parliament would agree on a new con-stitution to increase his powers. — AFP

Turkey prime minister to launch coalition talks

KIEV: President Petro Poroshenko confronteda fresh crisis yesterday as a deadly standoffcontinued between interior ministry unitsand armed Ukrainian ultranationalists in awestern enclave near Hungary.

The EU-backed leader planned to convenehis “military cabinet” of top generals yester-day to try and diffuse tensions between twoforces vital to his bid to stamp out a separatistinsurgency 1,000 kilometres (more than 600miles) away in eastern Ukraine.

The Pravy Sektor (Right Sector) national-ists played a small but instrumental role inthree months of pro-European protests thateventually toppled the Russian-backed lead-ership in February 2014.

They then formed the heart of some of thebest-equipped-and allegedly most ruthless-units to wage war against pro-Russian militiasthat overran parts of Ukraine’s eastern indus-trial heartland in the wake of the Kiev revolu-tion. Interior ministry battalions are also atthe forefront of the 15-month battle againstthe separatist fighters that has claimed morethan 6,500 lives.

But mistrust between volunteer units andUkraine’s armed forces has been building asPoroshenko tries to follow through on aFebruary peace deal whose terms-includingpartial self-rule for the insurgents-are anathe-ma to the nationalists.

Pravy Sektor members also cast them-selves as Robin Hood figures who defend thepublic against the corruption that has rav-aged Ukraine’s political establishment andpolice since the Soviet Union’s collapse in1991.

The weekend battles were sparked byPravy Sektor’s self-proclaimed attempt to pre-vent Hungary and Slovakia from being flood-ed with any more contraband cigarettes thathave already enriched local Ukrainian politi-cians and their security overlords.

Pravy Sektor reported the death of two ofits members in a shootout with whatappeared to be a mixture of security person-nel and armed local thugs.

The interior ministry-which backed uptroops with armoured personnel carriers andmilitary trucks-said one civilian had also diedin circumstances that were unclear.

The battle broke out after a dozen or soPravy Sektor members came to what wasmeant to be a round of negotiationsequipped with grenade launchers andmachine guns.

Both sides accuse the other of being thefirst to open fire. The Pravy Sektor groupsclaims to have slipped through a security cor-don and established new positions in the sur-rounding woods.

‘Order through force’ Pravy Sektor leader Dmytro Yarosh-a bom-

bastic parliament member who was wound-

ed in eastern Ukraine clashes and whomMoscow believes is associated with neo-Nazis-pleaded for calm.

“We are working with the UkrainianSecurity Service in order to stabilise the situa-tions,” he wrote yesterday on Facebook.

The gun battle erupted in Zakarpattia, aregion of 1.3 million people that is split fromthe rest of Ukraine by the CarpathianMountains and has ancient cultural ties toHungary.

The rural province developed a history ofvoting for parties backed by Russia becausemany of its residents also mistrust theUkrainian nationalists.Many Zakarpattia resi-dents carry Hungarian passports and havefew political links to either Moscow or Kiev.

The Ukrainian government’s near silenceon the crisis was broken Monday when PrimeMinister Arseniy Yatsenyuk appeared to come

out on Pravy Sektor’s side.Yatsenyuk has issued orders “to dismiss all

Zakarpattia customs service employees,” hisoffice said in a statement.

“In addition, Arseniy Yatsenyuk instructedthe interior ministry to conduct a fact-findinginquiry into contraband and abuse of powerby the Zakarpattian customs service.”

But a senior Ukrainian security servicesource told AFP that Pravy Sektor was far lessinnocent than it claimed.

Pravy Sektor “itself is trying to win a pieceof the contraband business,” the securitysource said.

“The problem for Ukraine is that there area lot of armed people who view themselvesas heroes and try to establish their brand oforder through force,” said the source.

“Something like this was bound to hap-pen-and it did.” — AFP

Poroshenko faces security

crisis in western Ukraine

President to convene his cabinet of top generals

KIEV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) and his Bulgarian counterpart RosenPlevneliev talk together in front of the guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony inKiev on July 7, 2015. — AFP

BUCHAREST: Romania’s Prime Minister Victor Pontawas charged yesterday with forging documents andserving as an accessory to tax evasion and moneylaundering, further tarnishing the image of the for-mer communist country as it struggles to shake off areputation for corruption.

Prosecutors said they had named the 42-year-oldprime minister as a defendant in a five-week longcriminal investigation, and temporarily seized controlof his assets. He denies wrongdoing, and says thecase is politically motivated.

Financial markets shrugged off the development,which for now stops short of a formal indictmentthat would send the case to trial. But it represents anew setback for Romania’s efforts to clean up poli-tics, business and the judiciary under pressure fromthe European Union, which it joined in 2007.

Its reputation for corruption has deterred foreigninvestment, and even its anti-graft efforts have hadthe unintended effect of slowing decision-makingand delaying important contracts.

Ponta said on Sunday he was stepping down asleader of his leftist PSD party until the investigationwas completed, but has made clear he will not resignas prime minister despite calls from President KlausIohannis for him to quit.

The investigation began on June 5 and focuses onPonta’s activities as a lawyer from 2007-2009.

“Prosecutors ordered a stepping-up of the penalaction against the defendant Ponta, a lawyer at thetime of the deeds ... on charges of forgery of docu-ments - 17 counts - accessory to tax evasion... andmoney laundering,” the DNA anti-corruption prose-cutors said in a statement.

PM on crutchesRomanian television showed Ponta, who

returned to Bucharest last week after nearly amonth in Turkey for knee surgery, leaving the DNAheadquarters on crutches.

He told reporters that the prosecutors hadaccepted expert accountants’ evidence in hisdefence. “We will meet again when this is finalisedin August,” he said.

Romania has the fastest-growing economy inthe region, with gross domestic product rising 4.3percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015.The Romanian leu did not react to Monday’s news,trading slightly firmer against the euro as news of athird bailout deal for Greece revived risk appetite inCentral European markets.

“The domestic political factor is just secondaryas long as there’s an unclear outcome regardingthe prime minister,” said Ciprian Dascalu, chiefeconomist at ING Bank in Bucharest.

Ponta has so far withstood intense politicalpressure from the opposition and from Iohannis, acentrist rival who defeated him in last November’spresidential election. Protected by a comfortablemajority in parliament, he has survived threeopposition censure motions, most recently lastmonth.

“Under no circumstances will the prime ministerresign,” said Gabriela Vranceanu-Firea, a vice-presi-dent in Ponta’s party. “The legitimacy of this partywas proven last time when the censure motion filedby the opposition was easily defeated in parliament.”Parliament also voted last month to block a separateinvestigation into Ponta over conflict of interest,awarding him immunity because he was in office atthe time of the alleged offence. He has no immunityover the charges brought yesterday, because theyrelate to a period before he became prime ministerin 2012. — Reuters

Romanian PM charged with tax

evasion and money laundering

BUCHAREST: Romanian Premier Victor Ponta is surrounded by media as he exits the national anti-corruption prosecutors office where he was questioned in Bucharest, Romania, yesterday.Romanian prosecutors indicted Prime Minister Victor Ponta yesterday as part of a wide-rangingcorruption investigation. — AP

JAKARTA: An Indonesian court yester-day sentenced three members of China’sethnic Uighur minority community to sixyears in prison after finding them guiltyof conspiring with Indonesian militants,including a fugitive who is on thenation’s most-wanted list.

A panel of judges at the NorthJakarta District Court ruled that AhmetMahmud, 20, Abdulbasit Tuzer, 24, and28-year-old Abdullah - who also goes byAltinci Bayyram - guilty of violating thenation’s anti-terrorism and immigrationlaws.

The men were arrested in September,along with another Uighur (WEE-gur)named Ahmet Bozoglan and threeIndonesian men, while they allegedlywere trying to meet Indonesia’s most-wanted militant, Abu Wardah Santoso, inCentral Sulawesi province.

Santoso, the leader of a group calledthe East Indonesia Mujahideen, isaccused of killing several Indonesianpolicemen and has pledged allegianceto the Islamic State group. Indonesia hasoutlawed membership in the group.

Presiding Judge Kun Marioso said thepanel of three judges found the defen-dants had conspired with a Santoso-ledterrorist group in Poso in CentralSulawesi and used fake Turkish pass-ports. Poso was the site of violencebetween Christians and Muslims in 2001

and 2002 in which more than 1,000 peo-ple died.

The defendants were also ordered topay $7,535 each or spend six additionalmonths in custody.

Bozoglan and the three Indonesianmen are being tried separately, with ver-dicts expected later this month.

Indonesian authorities initiallythought the four Uighurs were fromTurkey, which has linguistic and ethnicties with the Uighur homeland ofXinjiang, a region in northwesternChina.

Starting in around 2009, groups ofUighurs have traveled across SoutheastAsia from China hoping to reach Turkeyto claim asylum from what they say per-secution by Chinese authorities.

China has alleged that members ofthe Muslim Uighur minority have in thepast joined the Islamic State group andreturned home to engage in terroristplots.

Indonesia, the world’s most populousMuslim nation, has been hit by a seriesof deadly attacks by members of theJemaah Islamiyah network, includingthe 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202people, mostly foreign tourists.However, in recent years, smaller andless deadly strikes have targeted gov-ernment authorities, mainly police andanti-terrorism forces. — AP

3 Chinese Uighurs get 6 years

over terrorism in Indonesia

JAKARTA: Three members of China’s Uighur minority (L-R) Ahmet Mahmut, AltinciBayram and Tuzer Abdul Basit, walk to the court room in Jakarta ahead of their ver-dicts over terrorism charges yesterday. An Indonesian court jailed three UighurMuslims from China for six years each after they were caught attempting to join anIslamic extremist group led by the country’s most wanted militant Santoso, whopledged allegiance to the Islamic State. — AFP

LONDON: Prince William started his new job asan air ambulance pilot yesterday and was swiftlyin the air on an emergency mission. The Duke ofCambridge, 33, second in line to the throne, saidhe hoped he could juggle fatherhood, royalduties and his new role in the skies.

“It’s my first day and I’m feeling the nerves,”he said at a drizzle-soaked Cambridge Airport.

“I’m really looking forward to getting started.”

Two months into becoming a father of two afterthe birth of Princess Charlotte, William began hisfirst shift with the East Anglian Air Ambulance(EAAA), a charity providing emergency helicop-ter cover across eastern England.

William, who spent three years as a militarysearch and rescue helicopter pilot, has gonethrough months of exams and training to con-vert to his new civilian role.

Two hours after clocking in for duty, theprince and his crew-mates were dispatched onhis first emergency call-out.

“Doing a job like this really helps me to begrounded and that’s the core of what I’m tryingto become,” he said. “I’m trying to be a good guy,to do what I can and trying to be a decent indi-vidual.” He suggested there was no reason whyhe could not carry on flying helicopters until hebecomes king.

“There’s nothing to say I couldn’t do it for therest of my life,” the duke said. “Inevitably downthe line, things will probably become a little bitmore difficult for me to do that. “At the momentI’m juggling it and enjoying it.

“While I’m still relatively young, I will managethe two jobs the best I can.” The prince will workfour days on, four days off.

Prince George a ‘little monkey’ William, his wife Kate and their young chil-

dren Prince George and Charlotte split their timebetween their Kensington Palace apartment inLondon and Anmer Hall, a country mansion onQueen Elizabeth II’s private Sandringham estatein Norfolk, eastern England.

Cambridge lies between the two.George, third in line to the throne, turns two

on July 22, while Charlotte was born on May 2this year. She was christened on July 5.

Asked about the birth of Charlotte, he said:“It’s been fantastic, she’s been a little joy of heav-en. “At the same time it is more responsibilitylooking after two little ones, especially whenGeorge is around-he’s a little monkey.”

But he added: “It’s no more difficult thanwhat everyone else has to do.” Employed byBond Air Services helicopter operators, he isdonating his £40,000 ($62,000, 56,000-euro)salary in full to charity. Road traffic crashes makeup the majority of the air ambulance’s call-outsbut they also have to respond to sportinginjuries and other accidents. — AFP

Prince William takes off in

new air ambulance job

CAMBRIDGE: Britain’s Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge (C) checks an air ambulance as hebegins his new job with the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) at Cambridge Airport yesterday.The former RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot will work as a co-pilot transporting patients tohospital from emergencies ranging from road accidents to heart attacks. — AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

SINGAPORE: Singapore has launched areview of electoral constituency bound-aries, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong toldparliament yesterday, in an announcementlikely to raise speculation of an early elec-tion. The next general election must beheld by January 2017, but there has beenspeculation in the media and political blogsthat it could be held as early as late thisyear, after celebrations for the 50th anniver-

sary of independence in August. ThePeople’s Action Party, founded by Lee’sfather, the late Lee Kuan Yew, has ruledSingapore since independence but it wonits lowest ever share of the vote in the lastpolls in 2011, with many people unhappyabout the cost of living and immigration.

The prime minister said the governmenthas formed an electoral boundaries reviewcommittee to redraw constituencies and

said the publication of its findings wouldnot determine the timing of the next elec-tion.

“The committee will publish its reportand, to the maximum extent possible, wewill make sure that ... enough time elapsesso that everybody can read the report,understand it, and know where they standbefore the elections are called,” he said.“But I don’t think it is possible to say that we

promise a certain minimum period, such assix months, because it depends very muchon the exigencies of the situation, anddepends on when elections become nec-essary.” Analysts have speculated the gov-ernment might want to take advantage ofa feel-good factor over the 50th anniver-sary of independence on Aug. 9 which willbe marked with much fanfare. The legacyof Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime

minister, who died on March 23, is alsofresh in the minds of voters. Lee oversawthe city-state’s rapid rise from a British colo-nial backwater to a global trade and finan-cial centre and his death triggered a floodof tributes. In his lifetime, the elder Leedrew praise for his market-friendly policies,but also criticism at home and abroad forhis strict controls over the press, publicprotest and political opponents. —Reuters

Singapore electoral boundary review could point to early polls

BONDOWOSO: In this photograph taken on July 12, 2015 a farmer inspects conditions of vegetable plantation while in the back-ground the 3,300-metre (10,800-foot) Mount Raung volcano emits a column of ash and steam as seen from Bondowoso disctrict,located in eastern Java island. Indonesian authorities at Bali’s international airport yesterday were fighting to clear a backlog afteralmost 900 flights were cancelled or delayed in recent days due to a volcanic eruption, causing travel chaos during the peak holi-day season. —AFP

KHOST: The death toll from a sui-cide attack at a military base ineastern Afghanistan rose to 33 yes-terday, as casualties from theTaleban’s insurgency continue tomount despite nascent peacetalks.

The Sunday evening bombingcame at a military roadblock nearCamp Chapman in Khost province,where both Afghan and foreigntroops are stationed, shor tlybefore iftar, the meal breaking theRamadan fast.

Mubarez Zadran, a spokesmanfor the provincial governor, and asenior police official confirmed thenew toll, which included 27 civil-ians and six Afghan security per-sonnel-up from 18 reported killedearlier.

“ Twelve children and threewomen are among the dead,” saidZadran.

There was no immediate claimof responsibility, but the Taleban-who last week held their first face-to-face peace talks with theAfghan government-have oftentargeted Afghan and foreigntroops.

At least 12 civilians were alsokilled in twin roadside bomb blastsover the weekend, officials said,blaming the attacks on the Taliban.

The insurgents launched acountrywide offensive in late April,stepping up attacks on govern-ment and foreign targets despitethe nascent peace talks in what isexpected to be the bloodiest fight-ing season in a decade.

The UN mission in the countryhas said almost 1,000 civil ianswere killed during the first fourmonths of this year, a sharp jumpfrom the same period last year.

In 2009, Camp Chapman was

the target of a spectacular suicideattack claimed by Al-Qaeda. SevenCIA American officials were killedin the deadliest assault on the USagency since 1983, when eightofficers died in an attack on a mili-tary base in Beirut.

In 2010, 24 Taleban militants,some wearing US uniforms, werekilled when they tried to storm

Camp Chapman and another near-by US base, Camp Salerno.

The base was hit again by a sui-cide car bomb in 2012 that killedthree Afghans in a blast powerfulenough to rattle windows fourkilometres (two miles) away.

Camp Chapman is located lessthan four kilometres from the cityof Khost, which is near the

Pakistani border, a volatile regionwhere the Taleban, but also a mul-titude of armed Islamist groups,hold sway.

NATO ended its combat missionin Afghanistan in December, leav-ing local forces to battle theTaleban alone, but a residual forceremains for training and counter-terrorism operations. —AFP

Toll from suicide attack on Afghan base rises to 33

Twelve children, three women among the dead

KABUL: An Afghan man lies on a bed at a hospital after being injured at a suicide attack at Khostprovince eastern of Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday. A suicide car bombing near a military base ineastern Afghanistan that once hosted CIA employees killed at least 17 civilians Sunday, local offi-cials said, the latest insurgent attack after foreign forces ended their combat mission there. —AP

DENPASAR: Indonesian authorities at Bali’sinternational airport were fighting yesterdayto clear a backlog after almost 900 flightswere cancelled or delayed in recent daysdue to a volcanic eruption, causing travelchaos during the peak holiday season.

Mount Raung on Indonesia’s main islandof Java, which has been rumbling for weeks,sent an ash cloud floating over Bali onThursday, forcing the airport to close for twodays.

Thousands of tourists who were visitingthe resort island famed for its palm-fringedbeaches found themselves stuck at NgurahRai airport, near Bali’s capital Denpasar, anx-iously watching departure boards, sittingand sleeping on the floor.

The airport closed again on Sunday asthe ash returned but reopened severalhours later after authorities gave the all-clear.

Officials said the clouds of ash continuedto drift away from Bali Monday, giving air-port authorities a chance to clear the back-log, which they said would take about threedays.

“We are doing this as quickly as possibleas the ash could come back any time,” air-port official Yulfiadi, who like manyIndonesians goes by one name, told AFP.

Between Thursday and Sunday, a total of873 flights were cancelled or delayed,Yulfiadi said.

Most airlines resumed flights Sundayevening after the airport reopened, butAustralian carriers Virgin Australia andJetstar decided to keep services to and fromBali on hold. Many Australians are stuck inBali after spending the school break on theisland.

Virgin Australia also cancelled its flightsto and from Bali yesterday, saying their fore-casters had warned that conditions were not

suitable, while Jetstar resumed services dur-ing daylight hours.

Airport manager Trikora Harjo said theairport was operating normally again,adding: “The weather is good so I am notsure why one or two airlines have chosennot to fly.”

Holiday travel chaos The disruption also came at a bad time

for Indonesians, as millions set off on holi-day ahead of the Muslim celebration of Eidthis week. The airport is providing buses forIndonesians seeking to leave Bali for theholy festival.

Authorities raised the alert status ofMount Raung late last month to the secondhighest level, after it began to spew lava andash high into the air.

Indonesian government vulcanologistGede Suantika said the wind was not blow-ing ash towards Bali Monday and he expect-ed conditions to remain the same until atleast the evening.

Besides Bali, two airports on Lombokisland, also a popular holiday destination,and two small airports on Java servingdomestic routes were closed by the ashcloud Thursday. All were now open exceptfor one on Java.

Air traffic is regularly disrupted by vol-canic eruptions in Indonesia, which sits on abelt of seismic activity running around thebasin of the Pacific Ocean and is home tothe highest number of active volcanoes inthe world, around 130.

The main concern for airlines regardingvolcanic ash is not that it can affect visibilitybut rather that it could damage jet engines,according to experts.

Ash turns into molten glass when it issucked into aircraft engines and in extremecases can cause them to shut down. —AFP

Bali tackles backlog after volcano hits 900 flights

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s former leaderMahinda Rajapakse was yesterday for-mally accepted as a candidate to standin upcoming parliamentary elections sixmonths after losing a presidential vote,officials said.

Rajapakse, 69, entered the fray fromthe north-central district of Kurunegalaafter abandoning his home constituen-cy of sparsely populated Hambantota inthe island’s deep south, officials said.

“The former president is topping thelist of candidates from Kurunegala,” anelection official said. “He was not pres-ent, but another candidate submittedhis nomination which was accepted.”

He secured a ticket to represent hisUnited People’s Freedom All iance(UPFA) for a seat in the 225-memberassembly.

Some 15 million people are eligibleto vote at the August 17 election heldunder a system of proportional repre-sentation.

Rajapakse received 47.58 percent ofthe vote in January elections that helost to his former al ly MaithripalaSirisena who was supported by thethen opposition United National Party(UNP).

President Sirisena, who is actually amember of the UPFA, made the thenopposit ion leader RanilWickremesinghe the prime minister of aminority government. Wickremesingheis the prime ministerial candidate fromthe UNP which has also secured thesuppor t of a broad coal it ion thatbacked Sirisena in January.

Rajapakse, an ethnic Sinhalese,remains popular among big sections ofthe island’s largest community for over-seeing the defeat of the Tamil Tiger sep-aratists in 2009.

However, Sirisena’s office announcedearlier this month that he will not allowRajapakse to be the UPFA’s prime minis-terial candidate. —AFP

Sri Lanka’s Rajapakse gets parliament elections nod

DHAKA: Bangladesh police were hunting agroup of attackers yesterday who lashed a 13-year-old boy to a stake and then beat him todeath, filming the onslaught on a smart phone.

The 28-minute video, in which the boy isseen begging for water as he lay dying in thenortheastern city of Sylhet, has sparked hugeprotests in Bangladesh since it went viral onsocial media over the weekend.

Police said an autopsy on the boy who hasbeen named Samiul Alam Rajon had revealedscores of injuries all over his body, including onthe head and chest. He died due to internalbleeding.

“Samiul Alam Rajon died on July 8 as a resultof merciless beating,” local police chief AlamgirHossain told AFP. “His body had at least 64injuries including in the head.”

Junior home minister Asaduzzaman Khan

Kamal said police had arrested two people inconnection with the killing and were lookingfor four others. “They will be arrested and giventough punishment,” Kamal told reporters.

The chief suspect, Muhit Alam, was remand-ed into custody for five days by a court inSylhet yesterday after police pressed murdercharges.

Police said the attackers tied Samiul, a part-time vegetable seller who dropped out ofschool to help his impoverished family, to apole for allegedly committing a burglary-acharge his family vehemently denies.

“My son is not a thief. Everyone knows it. Iwant justice for my child’s murder,” Samiul’smother Lubna Aktar told reporters.

In the video, the terrified youngster can beheard screaming in pain and saying repeatedly:“Please don’t beat me like this, I will die.”

Samiul’s attackers can be heard on the videotrying to force him to confess his involvementin the burglary, according to an AFP journalist.

He was at one stage told to walk away but ashe tried to get to his feet, one of the attackersshouted: “His bones are okay. Beat him somemore.”

When the youngster begged for water, hewas mocked and told to “drink your sweat” byhis attackers who can be heard discussing theidea of posting the video on Facebook so“everyone can see the fate of a thief”.

Alam was arrested as he was seen trying todump the body in an isolated area of the city.

Hundreds of people formed a human chainearlier yesterday outside Samiul’s home toprotest over the killing which prompted wide-spread soul-searching on social media aboutthe prevalence of violence in Bangladesh. —AP

Bangladeshi youngster’s fatal beating goes viral

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

COLOMBO: Supporters of Sri Lanka’s United National Party cheer theircandidate Bernadine Rose Senanayake, center, after filing her nomina-tions for parliamentary elections in Colombo, Sri Lanka, yesterday.Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Aug 2015. —AP

NEW DELHI: India’s top court extended anItalian marine’s medical leave yesterday foranother six months, allowing him to stay inItaly and continue receiving medical treat-ment before he and a fellow marine are for-mally charged in the fatal shooting of twoIndian fishermen in 2012.

Meanwhile, Italy recently moved for inter-national arbitration in the case, after nearlythree years of unsuccessful negotiations, andhas asked that the Indian case be put on holduntil the arbitration process is complete.

India has said it wants to charge the twomarines, Massimiliano Latorre and SalvatoreGirone, with murder for killing two Indianfishermen while guarding an Italian cargo

ship against pirates off southwestern India.Latorre yesterday was given permission to

stay in Italy beyond Wednesday, when hisleave was set to expire, after he developedcomplications following heart surgery inJanuary.”Italy now prepares to activate allnecessary measures to allow the return” ofGirone to Italy, the Italian Foreign Ministrysaid in a statement Monday, without describ-ing those steps. Italy objects to the fact thatthe two men have been detained since 2012without being formally

charged. It also insists India has no juris-diction in the case, saying the shootingoccurred in international waters and the fish-ermen were mistaken for pirates. —AP

India court allows Italian marine to extend visit home

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

SEOUL: North Korea has proposed aninter-Korean border meeting this weekover the proposed repatriation of its citi-zens rescued from a drifting fishingboat, officials in the South said yester-day.

A South Korean coastguard vesselpicked up five North Koreans on July 4after their boat was found driftingacross the sea border off the easterncoast.

Three of them expressed a desire tolive in the South while the two others

wanted to return home.The North has rejected the South’s

offer to return the two who called forrepatriation through the border trucevillage of Panmunjom, insisting all fiveshould be sent home and warning oth-erwise of unspecified “stern counter-measures” last week.

Yesterday, the North suggested anunspecified number of officials and fam-ily members would visit PanmunjomTuesday to get all five handed over, theSouth’s unification ministry said.

The ministry said South Korean offi-cials would go to Panmunjom for therepatriation of only two North Koreans.

“A meeting is expected to be held inPanmunjom tommorrow, but it’s notclear whether the North will accept therepatriation of the two,” a ministry offi-cial told AFP.

Seoul has also rejected Pyongyang’srequest to reveal the identities of thethree defectors.

South Korea’s policy is to allow strayNorth Korean fishermen to decide

whether or not to return to the North.Seoul repatriated two North Korean

fishermen rescued off the east coast inFebruary and five others last monthafter investigators confirmed their wishto return home.

The North usually sends home SouthKorean fishermen rescued in its waters,although some have been held there,apparently against their will.

Most North Koreans who flee repres-sion and poverty at home cross theporous frontier with China first before

travelling through a Southeast Asiannation and eventually arriving in SouthKorea.

So far about 28,000 North Koreanshave resettled in the South since theend of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Panmunjom is the only point for dia-logue and contact inside the demili-tarised zone separating the Koreanpeninsula. But meetings there havebeen rare this year due to high cross-border tensions which have flared atregular intervals. —AFP

Koreas to hold border meeting over rescued fishermen

WANG KELIAN: This file photo of May 25, 2015, shows Malaysian NationalPolice Chief Khalid Abu Bakar speaking at press conference in Wang Kelian,Malaysia. Malaysian police say they are investigating the leak of confidentialdocuments that allegedly show millions of dollars were funneled to PrimeMinister Najib Razak’s account. —AP

BEIJING: A Tibetan monk whowas one of China’s most promi-nent political prisoners has died injail, a relative said yesterday, and arights group said security forceswere deployed after protestersgathered near a governmentoffice in his home region. TheUnited States, the EuropeanUnion and international rightsgroups had called for the releaseof Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, 65, whowas serving a 20-year sentence oncharges of “crimes of terror and

incitement of separatism”.He died on Sunday in

Chuandong prison in the south-western city of Chengdu, hiscousin, Geshe Nyima, told Reutersby telephone from India. TheTibetan government-in-exile, theCentral Tibetan Administration,also confirmed his death.

“The fact that he was not evenallowed medical parole and lastwish of followers to see himreflects continuing hardline poli-cies of the Chinese government,”

said Lobsang Sangay, who headsthe India-based administration.

“Such mistreatment will onlygenerate more resentmentamong Tibetans.”

Rights group Free Tibet saidsecurity forces had beendeployed in Tenzin Delek’s homecounty in China’s SichuanProvince, where thousands ofTibetans had gathered outside agovernment office near hismonastery. Reuters could notindependently verify the protest

and security response.Authorities in the area were notavailable for comment.

Cause of death not clearThe cause of Tenzin Delek’s

death was not clear, his cousinsaid, but rights groups had saidhe was suffering from a heartcondition. Authorities notified hissisters about his death onSunday, the cousin said.Telephone calls seeking com-ment from officials inChuandong prison went unan-swered.

Tenzin Delek was sentenced todeath with a two-year reprieve in2002, according to Students for aFree Tibet, a rights group that hascampaigned for his release. Thesentence was later commuted tolife imprisonment and reduced toa term of 20 years.

“He is one of the most respect-ed leaders,” said Dorjee Tseten,Asia director of Students for a FreeTibet. “His death is a shock for allof us.” Tenzin Delek was also a sup-porter of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’sspiritual leader whom China saysis seeking to use violent means toestablish an independent Tibet.

The Dalai Lama, who has beenliving in exile in India since 1959after an abortive uprising againstChinese rule, says he wants gen-uine autonomy for Tibet anddenies espousing violence.

On Monday, China’s foreignministry said it “firmly opposed”the participation of US WhiteHouse adviser Valerie Jarrett in abir thday celebration for theDalai Lama in New York on July10. —Reuters

High-profile Tibetan monk

dies in prison in China

China policy will stir resentment

DHARMSALA: In this April 7, 2014 file photo, exile Tibetans hold a banner to demand the releaseof a Tibetan Buddhist leader Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who has been in a Chinese prison since2002, during a protest in Dharmsala, India. Tibetan lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has died inprison 13 years into serving a sentence for what human rights groups say were false chargesthat he was involved in a bombing in a public park. —AP

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police saidyesterday they are investigating the leak ofconfidential documents that allegedly showmillions of dollars were funneled to PrimeMinister Najib Razak’s account, an explosivedisclosure that has shaken the ruling coali-tion in power since 1957 to the core.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakarsaid the leak of the documents, allegedlyfrom a Malaysian government investigationinto state investment fund 1MDB, couldconstitute as “economic sabotage” againstthe country and be part of a conspiracy totopple Najib.

Police “have not eliminated the possibili-ty of a conspiracy to subvert Malaysia’sdemocratic process and topple the primeminister,” Khalid said in a statement.

Najib has not disputed the existence ofthe accounts or the receipt of the funds. Hehas only said that he has never used gov-ernment funds for personal gains, andcalled the allegations a political sabotage.Najib has also rejected repeated calls by theopposition and civil society groups to go onleave while the investigation is going on.

Many senior members of his UnitedMalays National Organization party havebacked him, at least publicly.

Khalid said all members of the taskforceinvestigating 1MDB, including central bank

personnel, will be questioned to identifywho leaked the documents and whetherthe documents are genuine or have beendoctored.

The country’s attorney general con-firmed earlier this month that he hadreceived documents from investigatorsthat linked Najib and 1MDB.

The existence of the documents, whichallegedly show $700 million was wiredfrom entities linked to 1MDB into Najib’saccounts, were first reported by The WallStreet Journal. The newspaper said fivedeposits were made into Najib’s accountsand that the two largest transactions,worth $620 million and $61 millionoccurred in March 2013 ahead of a generalelection.

The documents sent to the attorneygeneral pave the way for possible criminalcharges, and have embroiled Najib in thebiggest crisis of his political career.

If charged, Najib would be the firstMalaysian prime minister to face a criminalprosecution.His ruling National Front coali-tion has been in power since independ-ence from Britain in 1957. However, sup-port for the coalition has eroded in the lasttwo general elections. In 2013, it won thepolls but lost the popular vote for the firsttime. —AP

Malaysian police probe

conspiracy to topple PM

MANILA: Torrential monsoon rainsk i l led at least eight people in thePhilippines, the country’s disaster reliefagency said yesterday, and the toll wasexpected to rise as two tropical stormsbattered nor thern Luzon, the mainisland in the archipelago.

Th e d e l u g e ove r t h e p a s t we e kforced the c losure of governmentoffices and schools in Manila, andc a u s e d w i d e s p r e a d f l o o d i n g o nmajor roads and landslides outsidethe capital.

About 40,000 people across Luzonwere affected by the monsoon rain andnearly 4,000 were in temporary sheltersdue to floods and landslides.

Four fishermen were missing afterstrong winds and giant wavesdestroyed their fishing boats and sixsmaller boats in Bolinao town on thenorth coast.

“Nine other fishermen were rescuedby a passing ship,” Alexander Pama,executive director of the NationalDisaster R isk Reduction and

Management Council said.Pama said six people drowned and

two were crushed to death as flashfloods swept them in swollen river, andrampaging waters caused walls to col-lapse.

A South Korean diver died and twoothers were hospitalised after theywere swept by strong currents offMactan Island in the central Philippinesand were found hundreds of miles awaynear Camotes Island.

He said the agriculture ministry esti-mated initial losses in rice and corncrops at about 4 mil l ion pesos($90,000). Assessments on the damageto infrastructure damage, particularlyon roads and bridges, were still beingmade.

An average of 20 typhoons passthrough the Philippines every year. In2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the biggest-everstorm to make landfall, hit the centralPhilippines, killing more than 6,300people and leaving 14 million peoplehomeless. —Reuters

Monsoon rain kills

8 in Philippines

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’sNational Assembly approved acontroversial draft law yesterdaythat critics say gives authoritiessweeping powers to crack downon civil society groups that chal-lenge the government.

Riot police set up a barricadearound the lower house of parlia-ment to hold back hundreds ofprotesters there and oppositionparty lawmakers boycotted thevote entirely.

The Law on Associations andNon-Governmental Organizationstightly regulates all non-govern-mental organizations in the coun-

try and grants the governmentsweeping powers to clamp downon civil society activities it deemsto be a threat to national security.

A final draft of the bill has notbeen released to the public,another aspect that has drawncriticism.

But according to a copyobtained from lawmakers, itstates that local and foreign non-governmental organizationsmust register with the govern-ment, and that all NGOs must bepolitically neutral. It also gives thegovernment unchecked power toblock registrations and dissolve

groups in the name of nationalsecurity.

The law is the first of four inthe pipeline that critics say aredesigned to further restrict socialfreedoms in Cambodia, which hasbeen ruled since 1985 by PrimeMinister Hun Sen, an autocratwith little tolerance for dissent.

The opposition CambodianNational Rescue Party issued astatement ahead of the sessionsaying it “deeply regretted” thatthe bill did not include its inputor any input from the non-gov-ernmental groups it aims torestrict. The opposition’s 55 law-

makers boycotted Monday’sdebate.

All 68 lawmakers from the rul-ing Cambodian People’s Partyvoted unanimously to adopt thebill, an expected outcome in the123-seat lower house, where asimple majority was enough forthe vote to pass. The bill stillneeds to clear the Senate beforebecoming law, a step considereda formality in Cambodia.

The European Parliamentadopted a resolution last weekcalling on the Cambodian gov-ernment to withdraw the vote,warning that $700 million indevelopment aid could hang inthe balance, and AmnestyInternational has condemned thelaw as repressive.

“ This will create an atmos-phere of intimidation and self-censorship among NGOs who willrealize that the Cambodian gov-ernment will be able to shutthem down at any time,” said PhilRobertson, the deputy Asiandirector of Human Rights Watch.

The US ambassador toCambodia, William Todd, also crit-icized the lack of transparency,urging ruling party lawmakers topublicly release a copy of thedraft law to allow a full publicdebate. In 2014, the US gaveroughly $75 million in aid toCambodia.

Other laws in the pipeline arethe Trade Union Law, whichwould restrict labor union strikes;a cybercrime law that could crimi-nalize online communicationsdeemed to undermine the gov-ernment; and a telecommunica-tions law that would allow thegovernment to monitor onlinecommunication and mandateinformation on its critics fromInternet service providers. —AP

Cambodia’s ruling party

approve civil society bill

MANILA: Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines President Archbishop SocratesVillegas, center, prays the “Oratio Imperata” or mandatory prayers after meeting reporters inManila, Philippines yesterday. Roman Catholic church leaders in the Philippines have called onpredominantly Catholic Filipinos to offer mandatory prayers for the peaceful resolution of thecountryís territorial row with China in the South China Sea. —AP

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

BALI: People on motorcycles queue up for boarding a ferry boat for home-bound at Gilimanuk port, west Bali, Indonesia yesterday. A mass exodus out ofthe capital and other major cities in the world’s most populous Muslim countryis underway as millions are heading home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr holiday nextweek. The holiday marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. —AP

N E W STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

Continued from Page 1

Even the child’s right to exist is made clear in the holyQuran: “Do not kill your children because of poverty” (6:151) or“in dread of poverty” (17:31).

The new arrival is born pure and sinless, in a natural statethat is “hardwired to believe.” Upon birth, his father or some-one else attending his birth whispers his faith in his ear: “Thereis no god except One God, and Muhammad is His messenger.”His birth is festive occasion marked with charity from his familyand a communal meal sponsored by his father. Care of theinfant continues through the care of the mother, who is guar-anteed full maintenance throughout her marriage, and espe-cially in the period of breastfeeding, which extends up to twoyears. During this stage, parents should agree on major deci-sions regarding their children, such as weaning and day careoptions.

The first years of a Muslim’s life are characterized by affec-tion. Muhammad (p) said that “He does not belong to us whodoes not show mercy to our children...” (Tirmidi 1279).Education is also important, since Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)said that seeking knowledge is an obligation of every Muslim(Tirmidi 74). In addition to general education, the child’s spiritis trained through prayer, which he gradually learns and per-forms until it is a well-ingrained habit. His body is trainedthrough a gradual implementation of the fast of Ramadan,which develops self-discipline, willpower over temptation, andphysical fortitude. His mind is trained through memorizing theholy Quran, which not only gives him the foundations of faithand language, but also primes his mind for knowledge recalland retention. By the age of ten years, the child is prepared foradulthood - he is instructed to perform the five daily prayersregularly, he is separated from siblings to sleep and he isexpected to respect the privacy of family members by askingpermission before entering a closed room.

At puberty, the Muslim is considered an adult and bearsmoral responsibility for his deeds. At this time, he is responsi-ble for maintaining the prayer, fasting in Ramadan, beingmodest in his or her clothing, and increasing personalhygiene.

Soon he will be ready for marriage, which the holy Quranencourages: “[They should] marry...God will enrich them ofhis bounty. Those who can’t find the means to marry shouldbe abstinent until God enriches them...” (24:33) The holy

Quran describes husbands and wives: “they are your gar-ments and you are their garments” (2:187). Spouses are likegarments to each other because they provide one anotherwith protection, comfort, cover, support, and beautification.

The holy Quran mentions the age of 40 as an age of matu-rity: “... when he attains full maturity and reaches forty yearsof age...” (46:15) By this time, he would have experiencedmany challenges of life, which help to develop his character.The holy Quran says, “You will surely be tested in your pos-sessions and yourselves.” (3:186) The Muslim strives to followthe Quran’s guidance and Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH)example, knowing that “Whoever does good work, whethermale or female, while he is a believer, We will surely causehim to live a good life...” (16:97) “And whoever turns awayfrom My remembrance - indeed, he will have a difficult life...”(20:124).

When a person reaches old age, he has a special status inthe community. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said, “Hedoes not belong to us who does not show mercy to our chil-dren and respect to our elderly” (Tirmidi 1279). The Quran isparticular about the care of parents: “We have enjoinedeveryone to look after his parents...” (31:14) “We haveinstructed man to be kind to his parents...” (46:15) “... whenthey attain old age...never say to them ‘uff’ nor scold either ofthem. Speak to them gently. Serve them with tendernessand humility...” (17:23-25)

Old age is the harbinger of death. While on his deathbed,the Muslim’s family members help him to repeat his testimo-ny of faith: “There is no god except One God, andMuhammad is His messenger.” Burial is usually the same dayafter washing the body, wrapping it in cloth and saying thefuneral prayer. After debts are settled, wealth is automatical-ly divided among surviving family members according toQuranic law. However, up to one third of one’s wealth can bebequeathed to those not automatically covered in the inheri-tance laws. Even though his earthly life has ended, a new lifeis just beginning. The holy Quran says that “On (Judgment)Day, all people shall come from their graves in diverse multi-tudes to be shown their deeds. So whoever has done anatom’s weight of good shall see it, and whoever has done anatom’s weight of evil shall see it” (99:6-8). Everyone hopes foran easy reckoning, forgiveness, and the best reward.Ramadan is a good time to review ourselves and startpreparing for that momentous day.

Muslim’s journey through life

Continued from Page 1

“There should not be an extension in the talks,”Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said inremarks carried by Iran’s official IRNA news agency. Hecalled for diplomats to continue negotiating as long asnecessary. Grim-faced foreign ministers from the sixcountries negotiating with Iran declined to answerquestions about another possible prolongation of dis-cussions as they gathered for a group meeting at the19th-century Viennese palace hosting the talks.

One diplomat described the latest delay as unex-pected, saying negotiators expected to resolve theremaining disputes by late Sunday.

A deal would place long-term limits on Iran’s nuclearprogram. The United States also wants to ensure theUN’s International Atomic Energy Agency has wide-ranging authority to investigate nuclear arms allega-tions after being stalemated for a decade.

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano returned from Tehran andtalks with Iranian leaders early this month saying a newplan had been drawn up to aid his probe. And diplo-mats had cited progress within the Vienna negotiationson the issue. But the debate about how much accessUN experts should be given has publicly continued,with top Iranian officials saying military sites and Iraniannuclear scientists would be off limits to IAEA monitors.

Iran insists it never worked on such weapons. It maybe opposing any mention of concessions on the matterin the final, public documents describing the overallnuclear deal. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, AbbasAragchi, told reporters in Vienna that the talks are attheir “final breathtaking moments (but) certain issues

still remain.” He said he could not guarantee an agree-ment would be reached either Monday or today.

In Brussels, French President Francois Hollande saidthe sides are near agreement but “a gap” remains.

The foreign ministers of Russia and China, who hadleft the talks last week, both returned to the Austriancapital late Sunday. Most other foreign ministers of theseven nations at the table also were in Vienna by yester-day, in place for any announcement.

“The foreign ministers are gathered to bring negotia-tions to a conclusion,” said Wang Yi, China’s top diplo-mat. “We believe there could not be further delay.”

After more than two weeks of see-saw develop-ments, including threats from both the United Statesand Iran to walk away, senior officials at the talks beganto express optimism Sunday that a deal was withinreach.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said twice he was“hopeful” and met again with Zarif on Sunday evening.Afterward, foreign ministers and senior officials fromthe five permanent members of the UN Security Counciland Germany held a group dinner. A deal would culmi-nate nearly a decade of wearying negotiations. The pactwould impose verifiable limits on nuclear programs sothat Tehran cannot modify them to produce weapons.Iran, in return, would get tens of billions of dollars insanctions relief.

In the US, the Obama administration is under pres-sure from skeptical members of Congress and closeAmerican allies who feel the accord isn’t stringentenough. Yesterday, Israeli Defense Minister MosheYaalon said a nuclear deal would force the Jewish stateto “defend itself, by itself.” — AP

Iran talks hit final stage but deal remains...

Continued from Page 1

“It’s clearly a statement that appeals to a more prag-matic, practical paradigm, going away from the tradi-tional bureaucratic approach to problem-solving, espe-cially in sectors relating to services,” said HosseinShobokshi, a businessman and newspaper columnist.

Agriculture Minister Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli washead of Almarai, the Gulf’s biggest dairy producer, whileHealth Minister Khalid Al-Falih was chief executive ofstate energy company Saudi Aramco. Culture andInformation Minister Adel Al-Turaifi was general manag-er of the Al-Arabiya news channel and Economy andPlanning Minister Adel Fakieh, also previously labour

minister, had served as chairman of food companySavola.

Education Minister Azzam Al-Dakhil worked in thevoluntary sector for a development foundation set upby Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, andSocial Affairs Minister Majed Al-Qasabi once ran theJeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In addition, Saudi Central Bank Governor FahadAl-Mubarak was managing direc tor of MorganStanley Saudi Arabia, while Capital Market Authoritychief Mohammed Al-Jadaan headed a large law firmpartnered with Clifford Chance. Both those postswere always held by career civil servants until late2012. — Reuters

King Salman reshuffles Saudi cabinet

BRUSSELS: The euro was supposed to be “irreversible”,binding the EU ever closer, but the draconian termsdemanded of Greece for a new bailout may have destroyedthat illusion forever, analysts said yesterday.

After marathon talks in Brussels, Germany and otherhardline euro-zone states backed leftist Greek PrimeMinister Alexis Tsipras into a corner-take our offer, theysaid, complete with intrusive oversight of the economyand public finances, or you are on your own.

It was not supposed to be like that. At the height of thedebt crisis in 2012, European Central Bank chief MarioDraghi said anyone who thought the euro would not sur-vive, badly underestimated the “political capital our leadershave invested in this union and European support for it.”“The euro is irreversible,” Draghi said, coining a phraserepeated like a mantra, while on Monday EuropeanCommission head Jean-Claude Juncker claimed the accordmeant the ‘Grexit’ threat had disappeared.

But the talks belie that assertion. “In case no agreementcould be reached, Greece should be offered swift negotia-tions on a time-out from the euro area,” an earlier draft ofthe accord read earlier, incorporating a German proposal.

The provision did not make it into the final statementbut the damage has been done, analysts said.

Euro-zone now has ‘axe’ “The axe is well and truly there,” said Christopher

Dembik, an analyst with Saxo Bank. If the latest plan doesnot work-and it faces huge obstacles-then the pressure willincrease to kick Greece out of the 19-nation euro-zone.“There will be no other choice and we will have put inplace a punitive mechanism (for the euro). That is the realpolitical aim” for many countries, notably Germany,Dembik said. Erik Nielsen, chief economist at UniCredit,said the outcome marked a decisive turning point for theeuro-zone and Germany’s role in it as the bloc’s most pow-erful economy and paymaster.

“Germany has crossed the Rubicon for the first time andsaid that if a government cannot be trusted, it will need toleave the euro-zone,” Nielsen said. Analysts said that

prospect has much wider repercussions because if onecountry can leave, why not another?

“This must now crystallise the risk of a country leavingthe euro if they do not adhere to the rules of the monetaryunion,” said Azad Zangana, senior European economist atSchroders.

“Investors will take note and demand adequate com-pensation from riskier member states,” Zangana said, refer-ring to the possibility that weaker euro-zone states such asPortugal or Italy could run into trouble on the marketswhen they try to raise funds. The market response so far tothe latest Greek crisis has been very modest but all eyes areon the euro and the borrowing costs for its member states.

Greece pawn in euro-zone game Analysts said the Greek stand-off also highlighted

another worrying development-a clear split between hard-line Germany and a France which took a much more sym-pathetic line towards Athens and insisted from the startthat everything should be done to keep Greece in the sin-gle currency.

“Greece was a pawn in the game between France andGermany over the future direction of the euro-zone,” saidPawel Tokarski at the German Institute for InternationalRelations and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. Nielsen atUniCredit agreed, describing how with the former euro-zone “power-couple” were parting company.

“This is now about what type of Europe we’ll have in thefuture, and (its) relative powers-and this, ultimately, is abattle between Germany and France,” he said. The twohave increasingly different views of what the future shouldlook like, reflecting their different circumstances.

Germany is Europe’s most powerful economy and itspublic finances are in good order, so Chancellor AngelaMerkel champions the same tough austerity and fiscal pru-dence practiced at home as the only basis for long-termgrowth. France in comparison is struggling with weakgrowth and badly strained public finances, arguing that itneeds more flexibility to find the money to help boost theeconomy. — AFP

Greek debt accord dashes euro illusions

SANAA: A Yemeni woman cries over the death of relatives in a reported air-strike by the Saudi-led coalitionon the capital Sanaa yesterday. — AFP

By Guillermo Barros, Yemeli Ortega

Mexican President Enrique PenaNieto’s battle against drug cartelstook a massive hit with drug lord

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s escape, strip-ping him of his security strategy’s biggesttrophy. Pena Nieto’s nearly three years inoffice have been marked by a remarkablenumber of arrests of the country’s mostnotorious drug kingpins.

The captures of Sinaloa car tel bossGuzman and the chiefs of the Zetas, KnightsTemplar and Gulf criminal groups earnedpraise from the United States. But Guzman’ssecond prison break in 14 years has under-mined these achievements, while revivingaccusations of corruption and impunity thathave shadowed the government’s efforts. USprosecutors had wanted to extraditeGuzman but Mexico’s government insistedon putting him on trial first.

“In the best case, this escape is embarrass-ing,” said Alejandro Hope, a former Mexicanintelligence agency official. “It dents theimage of effectiveness that (the government)had projected and it forces a rethink of thatnarrative that we are doing well in terms ofsecurity,” said Hope, editor of the securityanalysis website ElDailyPost.com.

President ‘deeply troubled’ Following Guzman’s arrest in February

2014, Pena Nieto himself had acknowledgedin an inter view with the US channelUnivision that it would be “truly unforgiv-able” i f he escaped from prison again.Speaking during a visit to Paris on Sunday, a“deeply troubled” Pena Nieto demanded aninvestigation on whether guards helped theinmate flee through a secretly built tunnelunder his cell.

Prosecutors interrogated some 30 offi-cials from the Altiplano prison in centralMexico State.

Guzman and his Sinaloa cartel have givenheadaches to the last three Mexican presi-dents. It was during president Vicente Fox’s2000-2006 tenure that Guzman escaped byhiding a laundry cart in a maximum-securityprison in western Jalisco state in 2001. Hissuccessor, fel low conser vative FelipeCalderon, is notorious for launching the mili-tarized battle against cartels in 2006, whichled to an escalation of the drug war that has

killed tens of thousands of people.Then Pena Nieto came along in December

2012, and less than two years into his presi-dency, his security forces caught the biggestfish of them all. With Guzman’s capture, PenaNieto signaled that his administration wouldgo after the top leaders of the country’s crimi-nal groups.

Guzman was sent to what was until nowconsidered the country’s most impenetrablepenitentiaries, the Altiplano prison some 90kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital.

The attorney general at the time, JesusMurillo Karam, said Mexico would prosecuteGuzman first before authorities could consid-er a US extradition bid. “This leads to a bigproblem with the US government becausethey asked (for an extradition) and the

Mexican government did not deliver him,”said Raul Benitez Manaut, security expert atthe National Autonomous University ofMexico.

Instead of putting Guzman on trial,Mexican authorities were yet again scram-bling to find the country’s most powerfuldrug lord after he fled through a 1.5-kilome-ter tunnel under his cell’s shower. “There cer-tainly was corruption inside and outside theprison,” said Benitez Manaut.

Trump card The escape is another piece of bad news

for a president whose fortunes began to takea turn for the worse in the middle of last year.Once praised internationally for his sweepingreforms in the energy sector, the tax system

and education, Pena Nieto’s popularity nose-dived after local police in the southern city ofIguala seized 43 college students and deliv-ered them to a drug gang that allegedlyslaughtered them all.

Security analyst Javier Oliva predicted thatthe Guzman scandal could become a US pres-idential election topic given the anti-Mexicanstance taken by billionaire tycoon DonaldTrump. “What will Donald Trump say? This willbe fuel for his conservative candidacy,” Olivasaid, referring to Trump’s remarks last monththat Mexican migrants were bringing crimenorth of the border. Trump obliged hours lat-er, writing on Twitter: “Mexico’s biggest druglord escapes from jail. Unbelievable corrup-tion and USA is paying the price. I told youso!” —AFP

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A N A L Y S I STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza may find an electionvictory he is assured of this month swiftly overshadowed bythe emergence of an armed insurgency in a nation at the

heart of one of Africa’s most combustible regions. After weeks ofprotests against the president’s bid for a third term, a generalinvolved in a failed coup says he is mobilizing troops, grenadeattacks echo round the capital and armed clashes have erupted inthe north of a nation still scarred by civil war.

“We are heading for trouble,” said one senior Western diplomat,warning of a “slide back into a low-level conflict” after ethnicallycharged fighting ended just a decade ago.

Opponents say another five-year term is unconstitutional andare boycotting the July 21 vote, thereby assuring Nkurunziza ofvictory. Western donors and African neighbors have urged him tostep aside. Yet the rebel-turned-president has shrugged off thepressure, citing a court ruling saying he can run again. “Politicalintervention to influence Nkurunziza to end his campaign for athird term failed,” General Leonard Ngendakumana, a leader in theabortive May 13 putsch, told Reuters. “The only way to reach thisobjective is to use force.” In response, presidential spokesmanGervais Abayeho said any threat “will meet the full force ourdefence and security forces.”

A flare-up in Burundi risks repercussions well beyond the bor-ders of this tiny nation of 10 million people and will create freshinstability in a region with a history of ethnic conflict.

More than 145,000 Burundians - almost 1.5 percent of the pop-ulation - have already fled across borders. The crisis could drag inregional players, like Rwanda, a victim of a 1994 genocide that hasvowed not to let it happen again in the area. The crisis is escalating.Grenade blasts in Bujumbura have become frequent. GeneralNgendakumana said his loyalists were behind assaults that target-ed police, who opponents blamed for shooting and killing demon-strators. In the north of Burundi, regional officials said the army lastweek fought gunmen, who Ngendakumana said were loyal to thecoup leaders. A provincial governor said the group had crossedfrom Rwanda, a charge Kigali denied.

‘ONLY OPTION’“There is a clear move towards violent resistance,” Thierry

Vircoulon, an expert at International Crisis Group, said. “The opposi-tion considers now that armed resistance is the only option left.”Burundi had been making a slow recovery from civil war that hadpitted rebel groups from the Hutu majority against the army at thetime commanded by minority Tutsis. The 12-year conflict, whicherupted in 1993, killed about 300,000 people. Such a huge toll in asmall country might have made bigger headlines had it not beenfor a more brutal killing spree in 1994 in next door Rwanda that left800,000 mostly Tutsis as well moderate Hutus dead. Rwanda hasthe same ethnic mix as Burundi. “You can forget development,” saidthe Western diplomat said of Burundi’s crisis. “There will be lots ofrefugees and potentially the ethnic card could be taken up again.”

Till now, ethnic polarization has been avoided. Protesters havecome from both sides of the divide. The coup leader, GeneralGodefroid Niyombare, is a Hutu, while Nkurunziza, of mix parent-age, led a Hutu rebel force in the war. But General Ngendakumana,another Hutu who fought under Nkurunziza and later became atop intelligence officer before he was fired in February, accusedthe president of stoking ethnic divisions. In particular, he said theruling party’s youth wing Imbonerakure, widely seen as a Hutuforce, had been armed. “This situation can lead to a genocide,” hesaid in an interview. The ruling CNDD-FDD party denies this, accus-ing opponents of provoking violence because they cannot win atthe ballot box.

LACKING LEVERAGEYet reports of threats by Imbonerakure, often cited by those

fleeing Burundi, have alarmed Western powers. One diplomat hascalled it the “scariest” element of the crisis. Chastened by their fail-ure to halt the Rwandan genocide, the United States and EuropeanUnion have threatened sanctions on individuals behind Burundi’sviolence and have cut some aid to a nation that depends on donorsto fund about half its budget. Yet diplomats say they are strugglingto find pressure points to change the government’s course. “It isincredible, this leverage doesn’t seem to work, at least on the realpeople involved,” said one senior diplomat. African nations havealso failed to haul the nation back from the brink, even though theAfrican Union, often accused by critics of taking a timid line, bluntlyrefused to send monitors to the parliamentary poll in June, sayingthe vote would not be fair. A group of east African neighbors andSouth Africa have demanded the presidential election be delayedto July 30 to allow for mediation, and said Imbonerakure and anyother groups must be disarmed by military observers. The govern-ment pushed back the vote, but only to July 21, saying the constitu-tion would not allow a further delay, while the observers have yetto be deployed. “The region was not able to do conflict preventionand will have to do crisis management,” said Crisis Group’sVircoulon. “Managing the crisis will be more costly.” —Reuters

Issues

Burundi president faces rebellion as vote looms

Kingpin’s escape a blow to Mexico’s drug war

MEXICO CITY: A Federal Police officer stands guard outside the house at the end of the tunnel through which Mexicandrug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman could have escaped from the Altiplano prison, in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico, onSunday. —AFP

By Edmund Blair

By Ella Ide and Joe Sinclair

Greeks were bracing yesterday for the effects ofthe tough terms of an agreement that securedthe country’s third bailout in five years, with

many rejecting them while others said they were nec-essary to stay in the euro. Haralambos Rouliskos, a 60-year-old economist who was out walking in Athens,described the deal as “misery, humiliation and slavery”.Katerina Katsaba, a 52-year-old working for a pharma-ceutical company, said: “I am not in favor of this deal. Iknow they (the euro-zone creditors) are trying to black-mail us.”

But, Katsaba added: “I trust our prime minister-thedecisions he will take will be for the best interests of allof us.” The outline deal thrashed out between the 19euro-zone nations in strained overnight talks calls forGreece to push through a range of reforms to secure abailout worth up to 86 billion euros ($96 billion).Without it, the country’s economy will collapse.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will have to rush keymeasures on tax hikes, pension reforms, and a debtrepayment fund through parliament.

Life will be ‘very hard’ Many ordinary Greeks were skeptical that the deal

would bring about any improvement to their lives. “It

would be better not to have a deal than the way it wasdone because it will certainly be worse for the years tofollow,” said Lefteris Paboulidis, who owns a datingservice business.

“I would have preferred something else to happen,such as Grexit, where we would have starved in thebeginning but dealt with it ourselves,” the 35-year-oldsaid. Ilias, a 26-year-old civil servant, agreed. “Theimportant thing is for the country to be better off-notso much if we stay in Europe or not, that is the lastthing to think of,” he said. “If we stay in Europe and thecountry goes from bad to worse, I can’t see anythingpositive about that.”

Among the measures demanded that woulddirectly affect citizens are lifting a ban on Sunday trad-ing for shops, opening up ownership of pharmaciesand opening up closed professions such as ferry trans-port. “I think the terms agreed for the bailout are goingto make life very hard for all of us. But I agree with theidea of Sunday openings, it’s a measure that will allowthose who work all week to have more time to buy ourproducts, which can only help the economy,” saidMelina Petropoulou, 41, the manager of a women’sclothes shop.

Gianna Georgakopoulou, a 43-year-old office man-ager in a jewellery store, broadly welcomed the bailoutdeal, but said: “We may have no choice but to open

every Sunday, but that’s not going to mean we’ll behappy about it. Everyone thinks we Greeks are lazy butwe work hard. With Sunday gone, when are we sup-posed to rest?”

Hashtag hostility Others inside the country, and in other EU member

states, took to Twitter to express anger at the deal andperceived bullying of Greece by Germany. A hashtag,#ThisIsACoup, was trending widely in Greece, France,Germany and Britain as they claimed that Greece waseffectively being stripped of fiscal sovereignty.“Germany is destroying Europe once again,” tweeted@KostasKainakis, whose profile says he is a marketinglecturer in Athens.

“The Germans could not do it with tanks so nowthey try it with banks Trying to STEAL Greek assetsBrITS MUST vote to get out,” opined a tweet fromBritain by @AllanSkerratt, who said he was a non-parti-san retired soldier and ex-teacher. Prominent commen-tators such as Paul Krugman, the Nobel-winning econ-omist who writes for the New York Times, helped pro-pel the term into the mainstream. Krugman wrote: “Thetrending hashtag #ThisIsACoup is exactly right. Thisgoes beyond harsh into pure vindictiveness, completedestruction of national sovereignty, and no hope ofrelief.” —AFP

Greeks see ‘humiliation’ in harsh bailout terms

S P O RT STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

MUMBAI: The Indian cricket board suspended Mumbai batsman Hiken Shahwith immediate effect yesterday for offering money to a player to influencea game in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).

Shah, who does not play in IPL, made the approach to his unidentifiedfirst-class cricket team mate who represents Rajasthan Royals in the lucra-tive Twenty20 league, the Indian board (BCCI) said in a statement. The play-er, identified by local media as Mumbai leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, reportedthe approach to his team, who forwarded the case to BCCI’s Anti-Corruptionand Security Unit.

Shah’s long-term fate will now be decided by the board’s disciplinarycommittee. “His involvement in any form of cricket affiliated with the BCCIstands suspended till the time the disciplinary committee of the BCCI passesappropriate orders,” the board said. Shah, 30, has played 37 first-class match-es for Mumbai, averaging over 42 with six hundreds.

“BCCI has zero tolerance for corruption in the game of cricket,” boardpresident Jagmohan Dalmiya said. “We have and we will take swift actionagainst such incidents to set a precedent and control the menace of corrup-tion in the game.” Rajasthan is not alien to the threat of spot-fixing after for-mer India paceman S. Sreesanth and two other cricketers from the teamwere arrested in 2013 on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed num-ber of runs. Sreesanth, who denied any wrongdoing, was subsequentlybanned for life by the BCCI. — Reuters

India suspends cricket player

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s teenage fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman has beenrewarded for his strong limited overs performances with a call-up to thesquad for next week’s first test against South Africa.

The 19-year-old left-arm paceman made his international debut in thethree-match series against two-time world champions India in June and his 13wickets meant Bangladesh won their first series against their neighbours.

Mustafizur stunned the top Indian batsmen with his control and change ofpace, winning the man-of-the-series award, and on Sunday it was theSouth Africans who found themselves on the receiving end intheir second ODI.

He took 3-38 as South Africa were bundled out for 162,their lowest score against the hosts. Bangladesh went on tothrash the tourists by seven wickets and level the series at 1-1.

Mustafizur will replace Abul Hasan in the squad that wasnamed for last month’s drawn test against India. “He(Mustafizur) has shown already what he is capable of and possi-bly he has been the brightest find for us in recent times,”Bangladesh chairman of selectors Faruque Ahmed said.“He has also been playing all versions of cricket thisseason including four day games and we are confi-dent that he will adjust quickly to the demands oftest cricket. —Reuters

PAU: Former Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso withdrew from the Tour deFrance yesterday after revealing he has testicular cancer. “We discoverthis two hours ago, I have to stop,” the 37-year-old Italian told a newsconference on the first rest day of this year’s Tour.

“I crashed in the fifth stage and I felt pain in my left testicle and Iwent for checks,” said Basso, who was addressing the media ahead of hisTinkoff-Saxo team leader Alberto Contador.

Spain’s Contador, who is attempting a rare Giro/Tour deFrance double, would not discuss the race, in which he

sits fifth overall, one minute three seconds behindleader Chris Froome. “I have grown closer to Ivan inthe past weeks and this is terrible news,” saidContador. Basso looked on course for Tour glory

when he won the white jersey for the best Under-25rider in 2002, in an era dominated by the disgracedLance Armstrong, a testicular cancer survivor.

“Thinking about Ivan Basso and wishing him thevery best as he embarks on his cancer journey,”

Armstrong said on Twitter. He never won theworld’s greatest race, however, finishingthird and second overall in 2004 and 2005respectively. —Reuters

Italian Basso quits Tour Mustafizur earns Test call-up

NEW YORK: Kirk Nieuwenhuis homered threetimes to help the New York Mets beat the ArizonaDiamondbacks 5-3 on Sunday and complete athree-game sweep.

Nieuwenhuis homered twice offDiamondbacks starter Rubby De La Rosa (6-5), inthe second and third innings and once off relieverRandall Delgado in the fifth. His homer offDelgado rang off the right field foul ball and drewa curtain call from the cheering crowd of 28,259.

The Mets centerfielder ’s effort backedJonathon Niese, who was starting in place of theinjured Steven Matz. Niese (5-8) allowed threeruns and five hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Nieuwenhuis’ effort marked the first time anyMet had ever homered three times in a homegame. Nieuwenhuis is the 10th player in Mets his-tory with a three-homer game and the first sinceIke Davis accomplished the feat on July 28, 2012at Arizona.

ATHLETICS 2, INDIANS 0All-Star Sonny Gray allowe just two hits in a

shutout and allowed only three base runners,leading the Athletics to a win over the Indians onSunday. Gray, who lowered his AL-best ERA to2.04, walked one and struck out six. Only threeouts were recorded by outfielders in his thirdcareer shutout.

Gray (10-3) retired the first 10 hitters beforeFrancisco Lindor’s one-out single in the fourth.The right-hander walked David Murphy to lead offthe fifth and retired 11 in a row until GiovannyUrshela’s two-out single in the eighth.

Vogt, Oakland’s other All-Star, hit a two-runhomer to right in the fourth off Corey Kluber (4-10) after being robbed of a home run in the firstby Murphy.

PIRATES 6, CARDINALS 5Gregory Polanco capped another late rally,

driving in Jung Ho Kang with two outs in the 10thinning to lift the Pittsburgh past St. Louis.

The Cardinals took a 5-3 lead in the top of the10th on a two-run double by Randal Grichuk offArquimedes Caminero (1-1). Pittsburgh, whichwon in 14 innings on a homer by AndrewMcCutchen on Saturday, did it again 24 hours lat-er against St. Louis All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal(1-2). Starling Marte brought Pittsburgh within arun with an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.Francisco Cervelli tied it with a single and Polancofollowed two batters later with a looping single toright for his fourth hit of the game.

RAYS 4, ASTROS 3Matt Moore got his first win since elbow sur-

gery with help from the Tampa Bay bullpen as theRays completed a three game sweep by beatingthe Astros.

Moore (1-0) allowed three runs and five hitsover five innings to get his first victory since Sept.29, 2013 at Toronto. It was his third start after

missing almost 15 months due to the surgery.Rays relievers Brandon Gomes, Steve Geltz,

Kevin Jepsen and Brad Boxberger, who pitchedthe ninth for his 23rd save, gave up a combinedtwo hits over four scoreless innings.

Houston enters the All-Star break on a six-game losing streak. The Astros took over firstplace in the AL West on April 19, but startedSunday with just a half-game lead over the LosAngeles Angels, who were scheduled to playSeattle later Sunday.

Tampa Bay took a 4-3 lead in the fifth whenJohn Jaso walked with the bases loaded andGrady Sizemore had an RBI grounder off rookieLance McCullers (4-3).

MARLINS 8, REDS 1Dan Haren repeatedly pitched out of jams and

allowed only one run in six innings to help theMarlins beat the Reds. The Reds stranded sevenrunners in scoring position against Haren, and

threatened in all but one inning he worked. Theywent 1 for 11 with runners in scoring positionagainst the right-hander. The Reds’ defense wasno better, committing a pair of errors that resultedin three unearned runs. Justin Bour had three hitsand three RBIs for the Marlins, who scored 22 runsin the final two games of the series and won threeof four from the Reds. Casey McGehee, signedFriday for a second stint with Miami, drove in tworuns for the second game in a row. Haren (7-5)outpitched Johnny Cueto (6-6), who allowed fiveruns, three earned, in five innings.

YANKEES 8, RED SOX 6Alex Rodriguez doubled to break a sixth-

inning tie, move into the top 25 on baseball’scareer hits list and help the Yankees beat the RedSox. The win gave the Yankees the edge in thethree-game series and moved them 6 1/2 gamesin front of last-place Boston in the bunched-up ALEast. New York leads the division by 3 1/2 games

heading into the All-Star break.Yankees prospect Rob Refsnyder had his first

career hit with a single in the seventh inning andthen added a two-run homer in the ninth to makeit 8-4. The Red Sox cut it to 8-6 in the ninth thanksto two New York errors, but Andrew Miller gotShane Victorino on a pop-up to shallow left to endit. Brian McCann also had two hits, including atwo-run homer, and Nathan Eovaldi (9-2) pitchedfive innings for the Yankees.

NATIONALS 3, ORIOLES 2Max Scherzer ended his impressive first half

with another dominant performance, taking athree-hitter into the ninth inning to lead theNationals to a victory over the Orioles.

Yunel Escobar had three hits and scored a runfor the Nationals, who reached the All-Star breakin first place in the NL East after taking two ofthree from their neighboring rivals.

Scherzer was one out away from his fourth

complete game when Adam Jones hit his secondhomer of the game. Drew Storen entered andstruck out Chris Davis to earn his 27th save.Scherzer (10-7) allowed four hits, struck out sevenand walked none. He retired 14 straight afterallowing a first-inning homer to Jones.

TWINS 7, TIGERS 1Kyle Gibson won his fourth straight start,

throwing seven strong innings, and rookie MiguelSano hit a two-run homer to lead the Twins to awin over the Tigers. Gibson (8-6) allowed only anunearned run and four hits, while Sano hit his sec-ond home run since being recalled from Double-Aon July 2. Danny Santana added two hits, includ-ing a two-run triple, for Minnesota, which entersthe All-Star break having won six of seven. TheTwins are in second place in the AL Central andhold the top wild-card spot. Shane Greene (4-7)allowed seven runs on seven hits and three walksin just 4 2-3 innings for the Tigers after beingrecalled from Triple-A.

ROYALS 11, BLUE JAYS 10Paulo Orlando broke a deadlock with an

eighth inning homer and Kendrys Morales hit athree-run homer as the Royals defeated the BlueJays after blowing a seven-run advantage Sunday.

The Royals enter the All-Star break with anAmerican League-leading 52 victories. Orlando hita 2-1 Bo Schultz (0-1) pitch out to left to leadoffthe eight.

Kansas City led 7-0 after five innings, but theBlue Jays sent 12 men to the plate in an eight-runsixth. Danny Valencia and Jose Bautista con-tributed two-run doubles in the inning.

Seven of the runs were unearned after MikeMoustakas and Omar Infante committed errors.Royals reliever Wade Davis (5-1) got the windespite allowing his second run of the season.Greg Holland worked the ninth, logging his 20thsave in 22 opportunities.

CUBS 3, WHITE SOX 1Jake Arrieta pitched a two-hitter and also

homered to lead the Cubs to a win over the WhiteSox. Arrieta (10-5) struck out nine - including allthree batters in the ninth - in his second completegame win of the season. White Sox starter JoseQuintana (4-9) pitched well in the losing effort,also striking out nine. He gave up three runs andeight hits in 7 1-3 innings. The win broke a three-game losing streak for the Cubs, including lossesin the previous two games in the crosstown rival-ry. The Cubs opened the scoring in the first inningwhen Kris Bryant hit an RBI triple that scoredDexter Fowler and Jorge Soler followed with anRBI single that scored Bryant. Arrieta’s leadoffhome run in the fifth, which barely cleared thewall in left field, was his first in the majors.

PADRES 2, RANGERS 1Tyson Ross pitched 6 2-3 shutout innings as

the Padres edged the Rangers. Ross (6-7) extend-ed his homerless streak to 86 2-3 innings over 14starts, the current longest streak in the majors.

Craig Kimbrel recorded a four-out save, his23rd of the season. He allowed a ninth-inning runwhen Rougned Odor’s single to center scoredAdrian Beltre and left runners on first and second.

Will Venable scored San Diego’s first run in thesecond inning from third base on a throwing errorby second baseman Odor. Venable reached thirdwhen his sharp grounder caromed off the gloveoff first baseman Mitch Moreland into short rightfield. He sped to third before Odor could retrieve

it. Justin Upton got the other run in the seventhwhen he reached on a fielder’s choice and camehome on Jedd Gyorko’s two-out single.

GIANTS 4, PHILLIES 2Andrew Susac hit a three-run homer to back

Chris Heston’s superb start, and the Giants rolledpast the last-place Phillies. Heston (9-5) allowedone run and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struckout seven and walked none to help send thereigning World Series champions into the All-Starbreak on a high note. Santiago Casilla gave up arun in the ninth for his 23rd save in 27 chances.

Buster Posey and Angel Pagan each singledthree times, and Susac’s homer highlighted a four-run fourth against Chad Billingsley (1-3) thathanded Philadelphia its fifth consecutive defeat.

The Phillies (29-62) set the franchise record forthe most losses before the All-Star break, surpass-ing the previous mark of 61 in 1997.

ANGELS 10, MARINERS 3Chris Iannetta hit a two-run home run and

David Freese added a two-run double as part of asix-run sixth inning, as the Angels entered the All-Star break in first place in the American LeagueWest after a win over the Mariners.

The Angels won for the 11th time in 14 gamesand leaped past Houston into the AL West lead forthe first time since April 17 after the Astros losttheir sixth straight on Sunday. The Angels tookadvantage of three errors by Seattle and knockedaround starter Taijuan Walker (7-7) for his worstouting in two months. Freese just missed a homer,doubling off the top of the wall to end Walker’sday in the sixth. Iannetta followed with his fifth

homer of the season off reliever David Rollins toblow the game open.

DODGERS 4, BREWERS 3Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer to put the

Dodgers ahead in the eighth inning, as NL West-leading Los Angeles beat the last-place Brewers. TheDodgers took two out of three from the Brewers togo into the All Star break with a 51-39 record. PedroBaez (2-1) got the victory with a strikeout in oneinning of relief. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth toearn his 16th save in 17 chances, including his lastnine since June 12.

Howie Kendrick singled leading off the eighthon his 32nd birthday and advanced to second aftercenter fielder Carlos Gomez misplayed the ball foran error. Gonzalez followed with his 18th homer onan 0-2 pitch from Will Smith (4-1), giving theDodgers a 4-3 lead.

ROCKIES 11, BRAVES 3All-Star Troy Tulowitzki homered, Charlie

Blackmon had three hits and drove in four runs andthe Rockies beat the Braves to complete a four-game sweep. Drew Stubbs also went deep for theRockies, who took four from Atlanta for the firsttime in team history. Tulowitzki was chosen as aninjury replacement to the NL All-Star team onSaturday, right after his 21-game hitting streak end-ed. He started another one with a three-run homerin the sixth off reliever Dave Carpenter.

Blackmon did his damage against Atlanta starterAlex Wood (6-6). His two-run single in the secondgave Colorado a 3-0 lead and his second two-RBIsingle came two batters before Tulowitzki’s 10thhome run. Chad Bettis (5-4) got the win. — AP

Mets trounce D’backs, Indians fall

NEW YORK: Mets starting pitcher Jonathon Niese delivers in the first inning of a baseballgame against the Arizona Diamondbacks. — AP

MLB results/standings

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

American LeagueEastern Division

W L PCT GBNY Yankees 48 40 .545 - Tampa Bay 46 45 .505 3.5 Baltimore 44 44 .500 4 Toronto 45 46 .495 4.5 Boston 42 47 .472 6.5

Central DivisionKansas City 52 34 .605 - Minnesota 49 40 .551 4.5 Detroit 44 44 .500 9 Cleveland 42 46 .477 11 Chicago White Sox 41 45 .477 11

Western DivisionLA Angels 48 40 .545 - Houston 49 42 .538 0.5 Texas 42 46 .477 6 Seattle 41 48 .461 7.5 Oakland 41 50 .451 8.5

National LeagueEastern Division

Washington 48 39 .552 - NY Mets 47 42 .528 2 Atlanta 42 47 .472 7 Miami 38 51 .427 11 Philadelphia 29 62 .319 21

Central DivisionSt. Louis 56 33 .629 - Pittsburgh 53 35 .602 2.5 Chicago Cubs 47 40 .540 8 Cincinnati 39 47 .453 15.5 Milwaukee 38 52 .422 18.5

Western DivisionLA Dodgers 51 39 .567 - San Francisco 46 43 .517 4.5 Arizona 42 45 .483 7.5 San Diego 41 49 .456 10 Colorado 39 49 .443 11

PITTSBURGH: St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark Reynolds (left) lunges for home plate as Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli reaches to tag him out in the tenth inning of a baseball game. — AP

S P O RT STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS: Minnesota Lynx guard Seimone Augustus (33) drives the ball past San Antonio Stars forward Sophia Young-Malcolm (33) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game. — AP

ROSEMONT: Cappie Pondexter scored a sea-son-high 29 points as the Chicago Sky beatthe Connecticut Sun 96-76 on Sunday, theirsecond win in 11 days over the EasternConference leader.

Pondexter made her first seven shots for19 first-half points with her first miss on a 25-footer at the halftime buzzer. She finished 11for 14, including 5 for 6 from 3-point range.

The Sky (8-5) won their third straight over-all despite the Sun (7-4) again holding theWNBA’s scoring leader, Elena Delle Donne(26.9 ppg), to a season-low 12 points.

Jessica Breland added 12 points for the Skywho led 49-41 at the half and pulled away forgood with a 6-0 run to open the third.Breland’s jumper with 5:09 left in the fourth

gave the Sky their largest lead at 90-65. KelseyBone returned from her one-game suspen-sion to lead the Sun with 18 points and AlexBentley added 14.

MERCURY 70, STORM 60Brittney Griner scored 26 points as the

Mercury beat Seattle for their second victoryover the Storm in three days. Griner had 14straight points for Phoenix in the third quar-ter, extending a 10-point lead to 58-42. Fourfree throws by Alex Harden made it a 20-pointadvantage.

Seattle, which outscored Phoenix 15-8 inthe fourth quarter, rallied to within eight onRamu Tokashiki’s baseline jumper with 1:17left, but Noelle Quinn found Griner under-

neath for an easy basket to seal the victory.DeWanna Bonner added 11 points for theMercury (8-5), who won at Seattle 94-79 onFriday. Phoenix has won five straight gamesand has beaten the Storm eight consecutivetimes. Jewell Loyd led the Storm (3-12) with 16points. Angel Goodrich had eight assists inplace of veteran point guard Sue Bird, whorested. Seattle has lost five straight and 10 of11.

DREAM 84, LIBERTY 76Angel McCoughtry scored 32 points as

Atlanta survived a third-quarter collapse topull out a victory over the Liberty. The victorywas the first for Atlanta (6-7) in three meet-ings with the Liberty this season and the first

in six matchups against New York, which hada three-game winning streak end.

McCoughtry hit 12 of 19 free throws in agame that featured 70 attempts. McCoughtryhas scored in double figures in every gamethis season and 19 in a row overall. RookieCierra Burdick added 12 points, a career-high,as did Sydney Carter, making her first start.

After trailing since the first quarter, TinaCharles’ four straight points put the Liberty (7-5) in front 69-67 with 5:47 remaining. ButAtlanta bounced back and the Dream finishedwith a 9-2 run over the final three minutes tosecure the win.

LYNX 66, STARS 49Maya Moore scored 15 of her 20 points in

the first half as the WNBA-leading Lynx nevertrailed in a win over the Stars. SeimoneAugustus added 12 points and Moore hadnine rebounds for the Lynx (9-3) who built a50-28 lead after opening the third quarter onan 11-2 run.

The Stars (3-10) missed their first nine field-goal attempts of the game as Minnesotaopened on 15-2 run. The Lynx led by no lessthan 11 the rest of the way.

Dearica Hamby scored 13 points and KaylaAlexander grabbed 11 rebounds to lead SanAntonio, which has lost four of its last five.

The top-ranked Lynx defense’s 49 pointsallowed was a season best coming off a sea-son-worst effort in Friday’s 90-83 loss atChicago. — AP

Sky win, Mercury rise over Storm

ILLINOIS: Jordan Spieth sent a message tohis critics he had not made a mistake bywarming up for the British Open with a tour-nament in the United States and showed hewas ready to challenge for the title by claim-ing the John Deere Classic in a playoff onSunday. Spieth, already the winner of thisyear’s Masters and US Open, defeatedunheralded fellow-American Tom Gillis onthe second playoff hole at TPC Deere Run inSilvis, Illinois. “I came here for a reason andwe accomplished that reason and certainlyhave some momentum going into nextweek,” said Spieth after some had ques-tioned his returning to the site of his firstPGA Tour win in 2013 to play the weekbefore a major championship.

The victory was the world number two’sfourth of the season and the 21-year-oldmoved within one victory of tying TigerWoods for the most wins on the PGA Tourbefore age 22, the Tour said.

Playing the 18th hole for a third time in ahalf-hour, Spieth, who finished regulationwith a three-under 68, used a short par puttfor the victory over the 46-year-old Gillis,who was making his 172nd career PGA Tourstart. Gillis, who shot a 64 in regulation, sawhis chance for victory end when hisapproach shot on the second playoff hole

found water. He still earned the final qualify-ing place for the British Open, which startson Thursday at St. Andrews.

Spieth, who ovecame a poor start to theday, could have won the tournament in reg-ulation but missed a 30-foot putt. He hadanother putt narrowly miss on the first extrahole, which both players parred after endingregulation at 20-under-par.

“It’s extremely satisfying to have stretch-es where I played poorly and still came awaywith a win,” said Spieth. “Not the best start,but certainly OK with the outcome,” theovernight leader told CBS.

American Zach Johnson (65) and NewZealand’s Danny Lee (67) tied for third at 19-under 265. Spieth had gotten the round offto an inauspicious start when he bogeyedthe first and third holes before recovering tomake the turn at even par.

After a bogey on the 11th he birdied fourof the next five holes from 13th on to force aplayoff a day after a sizzling 61 put him atopthe leaderboard. Gillis surged into the leadwith five birdies in his first six holes andadded another at the eighth before giving astroke back with a bogey at the ninth. Headded more birdies at the 10th, 12th and15th before a bogey at 16 gave Spieth achance. — Reuters

LANCASTER: Young South KoreanChun In-gee showed championshipmaturity on Sunday as she won theUS Women’s Open in a thrilling fin-ish at Lancaster Country Club onSunday for her first major title. The20-year-old Chun, a seven-timescareer winner on the LPGA of KoreaTour playing her first US Open, shota brilliant four-under-par 66 in thefinal round for an eight-under totaland a one-stroke victory over com-patriot Amy Yang (71).

Chun’s 272 total in this 70th U.S.Open matched the lowest winningscore, previously registered byAnnika Sorenstam in 2006 and JuliInkster in 1999. It was her fourthwin of the year including three onthe Korean tour and once onJapan’s tour.

“This year I played four tourna-ments on the LPGA and I have greatexperience in those tournaments,”she told reporters through an inter-preter with the gleaming silverOpen trophy by her side. “And fromall those four wins this year, I got alot of confidence and that is why Icould enjoy every moment.”

World number one Park In-beeof South Korea (67) tied for third atfive under par with Stacy Lewis (70)on a steamy day on the hilly coursein the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amishcountry.

Chun began the round fourshots behind Yang, but the leaderfaltered on the back nine and by the14th hole there was a three-way tie

for the lead at six under par withworld number three Lewis joiningChun and Yang.

Chun seized the lead with anine-foot birdie putt at the 15thhole and the young Korean addedbirdies on the next two holes toreach nine-under for the tourna-ment. Lewis fell out after a double-bogey at the par-four 15th whereshe found the water in front of thegreen. But Yang, who posted back-to-back bogeys at 14 and 15, eagledthe driveable par-four 16th andbirdied 17 to move within onestroke as the championship camedown to the 72nd hole.

Chun opened the door a crackby hitting her tee shot into deeprough. After punching out, shepitched on to the green but misseda curling 12-foot par putt and madebogey. Yang needed par to force athree-hole playoff, but she alsofound the left rough off the tee,punched out and slid her 10-footpar putt by the cup on the left side.

While it was a thrill of a lifetimefor Chung, it was another heart-breaker for Yang. She played in thefinal Open group in 2010, eventual-ly finishing tied for fifth. Last year,she was paired with winnerMichelle Wie but shot 74 and tiedfor fourth. Yang was also the U.S.Open runner-up in 2012. “I learnedanother great lesson here and it’sgoing to make me a better player,”said the gracious Yang, who added:“She’s a great player.” — Reuters

Chun wins US Women’s thriller

Spieth captures ClassicILLIONIS: Jordan Spieth poses with the John Deere Classic trophy after winning thetournament by defeating Tom Gillis on the second playoff hole. — AP

LANCASTER: The golf coach resorted to scolding hisprized pupil, a putting lesson was finally learned,and on Sunday a beaming Chun In-gee was huggingthe silver trophy as U.S. Women’s Open champion. Itwas an uncharacteristic moment in the relationshipbetween 20-year-old Chun and Park Won, who oftenpreaches having fun. But it was an important step inthe building of South Korea’s latest major winner.

“Her putting was the only weak point up until thelast ANA Inspiration,” Park told Reuters about April’sfirst major of the year as he followed Chun outsidethe ropes at the start of Sunday’s final round atLancaster Country Club.

“She had some difficulty changing the style ofher backswing on her putting. She missed all theopportunities at the ANA Inspiration,” he said abouther one-over total that left her tied for 41st, 10 shots

behind winner Brittany Lincicome.“That was the only time that I pretended to be

mad at her,” the coach said. “And she cried a little bit,and it worked. That was when she decided tochange. That’s the only time I used (that tactic) sinceI met her four and a half years ago.”

Despite her reluctance, she made the changeand it started clicking, said Park. “When she saw theresults she was happy about it and she asked me toget mad when she really needs to listen,” he saidwith a gentle chuckle.

The putting change and a recent alteration in herbackswing to turn her decisive draw into a slightright-to-left shape, worked wonders. “Her shot-mak-ing ability has been improving dramatically,” he saidabout the backswing change. “She can move the ballright to left and left to right, and she is having a lot

of fun with that.”The bubbly Chun, a mathematics whiz kid who

fell in love with golf after being introduced to it byher father, put it all together and notched three winson the Korean LPGA tour and another on the JapanTour before claiming the US Open crown.

Park, who holds a Ph.D. in environmental man-agement from Michigan State and also works as a TVgolf commentator, said Chun has reached about 90percent of her potential but already possesses themost important ingredient for success in golf. “At thislevel, it’s about enjoyment, and she already has thatfeeling about golf,” he said. “Today’s objective of theround is enjoying, even the misses,” he said as sheembarked on what would be a career defining round.“Because something good can come out of missesand be carried on to the next hole.” — Reuters

Scolding pays off for US Open champion

LANCASTER: Chun In-gee of South Korea poses with the trophy afterwinning the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. — AFP

S P O RT STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

LONDON: Novak Djokovic was once in danger ofbecoming tennis’s great unfulfilled talent, the smil-ing Serb with a racquet in one hand and a sick notein the other.

A decade on, he is the super-fit king of thesport, a nine-time Grand Slam champion with thepromise of more to come. Now, where once thesport lauded the Big Four, Djokovic appears to bethe last man standing as his rivals falter.

Djokovic swept to a third Wimbledon title onSunday with victory over Roger Federer meaningeight of his nine majors have come since the startof 2011. By contrast, Federer, the record 17-timemajor winner, has not won a Slam sinceWimbledon three years ago. World number threeAndy Murray won the last of his two Grand Slamtitles at the All England Club in 2013.

And Rafael Nadal, the 14-time major champion,is trapped in a vicious spiral of decline which hassent him spinning to his lowest ranking in a decadeand close to slipping out of the world top 10. Bycontrast, Djokovic has this year picked up a fifthAustralian Open, a third Wimbledon and fourMasters. His match record is a remarkable 48 winsagainst just three defeats.

He is also the model of consistency, making thesemi-finals in 19 of his last 20 Grand Slams. “Novakcan go to sleep tonight saying, ‘I’ve had moregrand slams than (Jimmy) Connors, (John)

McEnroe, (Andre) Agassi, (Boris) Becker, (Stefan)Edberg, (Mats) Wilander’... the list just goes on andon,” former world number one Andy Roddick toldthe BBC. “He’s marching through history. I’m notsure where this ends for Novak.” Sunday’s win lev-elled his career match-up with Federer at 20-20and he has now won five of their last seven meet-ings at the Grand Slams.

Federer will be 34 in August and the longerSunday’s final went on, the further off the pace hefell. Djokovic is 19-8 to the good against fellow 28-year-old Murray, winning their last eight meetings.Despite trailing Rafael Nadal 23-21, Djokovic haswon six of their last seven.

Of course, the French Open continues to eludehim, defeated in the final in three of the last fouryears including in June against an inspired StanWawrinka.

That was one of eight Grand Slam finals he haslost. “There were some finals I should have won butthen again, having said that, everything happensfor a reason,” said Djokovic.

“I try to learn from every experience, especiallythe ones that don’t end up victorious for me. I’mgoing to keep going. “I’m 28. I feel good. I don’t feelold. I have hopefully many more years in front ofme. I’m going to try to push my own limits and seehow far I can go really with titles and with myselfplaying on this high level.” It hasn’t always been

plain sailing. At one stage in his early days,Djokovic seemed too frail in temperament andphysique to be considered a major leaguer, failingsemphasised by occasional spats over allegedgamesmanship.At the 2005 and 2006 FrenchOpens, the teenage Djokovic retired injured. Healso pulled out of a match with Nadal atWimbledon in 2007 and again at the AustralianOpen in 2009 against Roddick.

Djokovic hasn’t been afraid to think outside thebox in an effort to boost his career. After goingthree years between his first major at the 2008Australian Open and his second, back inMelbourne in 2011, he overhauled his daily regime.

Swearing by a gluten-free diet, Djokovic wonthree of the four Slams in 2011, putting together a41-match win streak which was ended by Federerin the French Open semi-finals.

In December 2013, he drafted in six-time GrandSlam champion Boris Becker to work alongsidelong-time coach Marian Vajda who has been withhim since 2006. Despite his success, Djokovic oftenstruggles to attract the hero worship which theevergreen Federer and the modest Nadal enjoy. Onthe eve of Sunday’s Wimbledon final, a BBC TV pollfound 75 percent of people were desperate forFederer to win. “I have to accept it. I have to workand earn the majority of the support. Maybe oneday,” said Djokovic. — AFP

Djokovic last man standing as rivals falter

LONDON: Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates winning the men’s singles final against Roger Federer of Switzerland on Sunday July 12, 2015. — AP

MELBOURNE: Tennis Australia has apolo-gised for a ‘clerical error’ in a media releasethat said estranged local player BernardTomic was playing in a ‘Hall of Shame’ eventagainst compatriot John-Patrick Smith. Themedia release said Tomic, who wasdumped from Australia’s Davis Cup teamafter a rant against officials, was playingSmith in the ‘Hall of Shame TennisChampionships’, causing a stir on socialmedia networks.

“Tennis Australia sincerely apologises forthe typo in the daily results service today,”the governing body said in a statement.

“This has now been corrected and wewish both Bernard Tomic and JP Smith allthe best in the Hall of Fame Championshipsin Newport,” TA said in a statement.

“This unfortunate error has been widelycirculated on social media and there issome discussion as to how such a mistakecould occur. “We have a very upset staffmember who made a simple clerical error.“There was no malicious intent.”

TA’s relationship with Australia’s top-ranked player Tomic has long been frostybut it reached a new low at Wimbledonwhere the world number 26 accused offi-cials of lacking respect for him and failingto support him and his sister Sara, whoplays mostly lower-tier ITF events.

Tomic also teed off at two-time grandslam champion Pat Rafter, a former DavisCup captain and now TA’s high perform-ance director, describing him as a “goodactor” and a TA stooge.

Tomic’s father John said the family wasconsidering legal actions and claimed his

son had been threatened by TA. “Bernardhas already been punished by his non-selection for the upcoming Davis Cup tie,”Tomic senior told Fairfax Media in a state-ment, which was published by the SydneyMorning Herald. “Bernard accepted hissanction in a professional manner and waswilling to move on. It seems TA have com-menced living up to their threat.

“How typically childish and arrogant ofTA to permit publication of such materialand then expect to get away with it. Wehave no alternative but to refer the matterto our legal people for advice.”

Australia are due to play a Davis Cupquarter-final against Kazakhstan this weekbut the leadup has been plagued by in-fighting and further controversy surround-ing hot-headed talent Nick Kyrgios.

World number 29 Kyrgios bowed out ofWimbledon in a hail of criticism for his on-court histrionics, with accusations of poorsportsmanship throughout the tournamentand ‘tanking’, or not trying, during hisfourth-round match against FrenchmanRichard Gasquet.

Rafter added fuel to the fire over theweekend by telling a local newspaper thatTA was focusing on developing players thecountry could be ‘proud of ’. He also sug-gested the rift between TA and Tomic mightnever heal. The 20-year-old Kyrgios, whohas defended Tomic and is expected to playDavis Cup this weekend, returned serve onTwitter. “Another negative comment out ofRafters mouth. Does this guy ever stop#everyoneisaworkinprogress,” he tweeted ina post that was later deleted. — Reuters

Australia sorry for putting Tomic in ‘Hall of Shame’

MILWAUKEE: Sebastien Bourdais pulledaway following a late caution to win Sundayat the Milwaukee Mile, his second IndyCarvictory of the season.

Bourdais was dominating before the cau-tion flag came out on Lap 222 after JustinWilson’s car stalled. He held on when racingresumed for an 18-lap sprint to the finish,turning aside a brief challenge from second-place Helio Castroneves to win by 2.2 sec-onds. It was Bourdais’ 34th career victory, andfirst at an oval since winning at Milwaukee in2006. Castroneves had a remarkable run afterstarting last in the 24-car field. Graham Rahalwas third. Bourdais won what overall was arelatively clean race - but far less stressful fordrivers than the frantic, five-wide scrums twoweeks ago at the superspeedway in Fontana.There were just three cautions on Sunday. Thevictory allowed Bourdais to move up onespot to sixth on the driver standings. Pointsleader Juan Pablo Montoya finished fourthbut added to his lead over second place onthe season leaderboard. He has a 54-pointcushion after Sunday’s race. Bourdais led arace-high 118 laps. The KVSH Racing driverhad such a big cushion late that he kept thelead even after pitting on Lap 213.

The yellow flag nine laps later gave others

brief hope - before Bourdais pulled awayagain. He just created more space fromCastroneves down the stretch.

Montoya’s teammate at Penske, WillPower, got knocked out in lap 131 afterappearing to get clipped around Turn 4 byRyan Briscoe’s spinning car. Briscoe, whostarted second, said traffic around the thirdturn took away his air.

Second behind Montoya entering Sunday,the wreck left Power finishing in 22nd placeand dropped him to fifth in the driver stand-ings going into next week’s race at Iowa.

It ’s going to be more difficult for thedefending series champion to repeat withfour races left in the season. Scott Dixonmoved up to second place. Rahal had anothernice week at an oval after winning at Fontanaand moved into a tie for third withCastroneves, another Penske driver.

The powerhouse Penske team lost Powerin the middle of the race, but had nice lateshowings from Montoya, who started eighth,and Castroneves. The veteran began at theback of the pack after being penalized forarriving at pit lane late for check-in before hisqualifying run earlier Sunday. Chevys held thetop two spots and six of the top seven, withRahal’s Honda being the exception. —AP

NORTH LIBERTY: Iowa freshman Ahmad Wagnerhas the athletic ability and size to compete at aplace of need after Aaron White’s graduation.

But Wagner’s earliest impact for Iowa’s basket-ball team likely won’t come as a primary scorer. Thegood part for the Hawkeyes is that Wagner, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward, is mature enough to realizethat. “Wherever coach (Fran McCaffery) needs me toplay,” Wagner said Sunday after scoring seven pointsin the PTL. “In his system, the small forward andpower forward are interchangeable. Whatever heneeds me to play, I’m willing to do. It’s easy rightnow, a defender basically, a lockdown one. Just beable to go on offense and create for other peopleand create for myself.”

Wagner’s role won’t be determined for severalmonths, but there’s no question his versatilitymakes him an attractive player for Iowa in thefuture. Wagner was a second-team all-state basket-ball player for Wayne (H.S.) in Huber Heights, Ohiothis year. He scored eight points in the OhioDivision 1 title game to lift Huber Heights to thestate championship. In football, Wagner was namedfirst-team all-state as a wide receiver and pushed hissquad to second place. In track, Wagner anchoredthe 4x100 relay squad to a fourth-place finish. Inthose two sports, Wagner admits he was a novice,but he showed enough attention to garner interestfrom many Division I college programs.

“I thought I wouldn’t be that much of a help in

football, so that’s what I told the team actually,”Wagner said. “They told me just come out and havesome fun and that’s what I did. I ended up beingpretty good I guess. I’m pretty excited.

“A lot of teams were coming in and telling me if Iwanted to play football, say the word and they’doffer me a scholarship. I told them that I was prettydedicated to Iowa.” That includes Big Ten and NCAAfootball champion Ohio State. “They talked to me alot, they came to my games,” Wagner said. “When itcame down to an offer ... they said, ‘Listen, we knowyou’re committed to Iowa. We’re not going to offeryou any scholarships while you’re committed. But ifyou want to play football here, we’ll offer you ascholarship. I just told them that I’m committed to

Iowa and I want to play here. It wasn’t really thattough.” Wagner loves basketball and he’s pushinghimself in workouts to show he’s committed. Helearned that from Wayne High School Coach TravisTrice Sr., whom Wagner called “a great man and he’sone of my role models.” Wagner also considers hiscoach’s son, former Michigan State guard TravisTrice Jr., as a mentor. Their families are close andWagner watched Trice Jr.’s blistering 25-point per-formance at Iowa in January with great interest.After the game, Trice Jr., raved about Wagner andthe impact he’ll have at Iowa. “That’s my guy,” TriceJr. said of Wagner. “They’re expecting a guy who’sgoing to give his heart and soul. He’s one of thoseguys who’s extremely loyal. If you tell him to go

through the wall, he’ll do it for you.“Extremely hardworking and humble kid. He’ll fit

in perfect here, especially with the bigs and kind ofthe wings that (the Hawkeyes) got and the thing is,he’s always improving. Now he’s starting to work onhis handle, his jump shot and all those things. I can’twait to watch him next year. They should be excitedabout him.”Improvement is essential for any collegeathlete, and that’s what Wagner is focused on dur-ing summer drills. He knows he has a long way togo before he becomes a finished product. “I’ve gotto get a better understanding of the game, really,”he said, “knowing how to move without the ball,play more on the perimeter, guard more positionsand everything. Be a smarter player.” — AP

Iowa’s Wagner looks to make early impact

SYDNEY: There will be no definitive answer as towhere the balance of power in international rugbylies until Oct. 31 at Twickenham but the truncatedRugby Championship, which kicks off on Friday,should provide a few clues.

New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, whohave won six of the seven previous World Cupsbetween them, will again battle it out with 2007semi-finalists Argentina but each will face the oth-ers only once as opposed to the usual two encoun-ters. The slimmed down competition is designed toavoid too many hard-hitting encounters depletingthe southern hemisphere challenge at the WorldCup in September and October, although anotherround of non-championship matches will follow.

The All Blacks kick off against Argentina inChristchurch on Friday and Steve Hansen will behoping they blew off all their early season rust inthe 25-16 win over Samoa last week, when theyneeded Dan Carter’s kicking to save their blushes.

Hansen has carefully managed his squad toextend the careers of older campaigners like Carterand captain Richie McCaw as well as bring throughthe best of the young talent and develop depth inall positions. It was a gamble of sorts, however,because even the greatest players who have everplayed the game, and Carter and McCaw wouldcertainly be on that list, must run out of gas even-tually.

As they begin their quest for a fourth straighttitle, the world champions can expect the usualphysical challenge from Daniel Hourcade’sArgentina, who got their first win in their thirdcampaign last season. That victory came overAustralia in Mendoza and it will be their secondmatch against the Wallabies at the same venue thisyear which offers the Pumas their best chance of asecond win, even if they ran the Springboks closeagain last year.

Australia, now reduced to number six in theworld, will at least not have to start their campaignwith back-to-back tests against New Zealand, as

they have in the last three years.Saturday’s clash with the Springboks in Brisbane

offers them more hope of an opening victory,something they have not enjoyed since they wonthe truncated final Tri-Nations championshipahead of the 2011 World Cup.

A tweak to the eligibility rules means new coachMichael Cheika has experienced back Matt Giteauback in the fold but it may be to the halfback com-bination behind that 2011 triumph, Quade Cooperand Will Genia, that he turns to initially.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer must bechecking the mirrors in his house for unnoticedcracks after once again being forced to deal with alengthy list of players unavailable to him through

injury. Number eight Duane Vermeulen, lock Pieter-Steph du Toit, centre Frans Steyn and scrumhalfFourie du Preez are just some of the players in thetreatment room.

The Springboks are hoping neck surgery willstill allow the influential Vermeulen to play a part inthe World Cup and Meyer, like the other coaches, issure to use the Rugby Championship to give mostof the players in his squad a run-out. That meansthe end result might not be the ultimate indicatorof World Cup form — 2011 Rugby Championshipwinners Australia were clearly second best to theAll Blacks in the World Cup semi-finals just weekslater-but you can be sure northern hemispherecoaches will be watching every second. — Reuters

Southern hemisphere ease into gear in Championship

Dan Carter

Bourdais dominates Milwaukee Mile

MILWAUKEE: Sebastien Bourdais celebrates in the winner’s circle after the IndyCarSeries race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis. — AP

S P O RT STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

TORONTO: When Courtney Donovan arrived forher Pan American Games roller figure skatingshort program and saw people in the stands anhour before the competition she was sure theywere lost. It was an understandable reaction foran athlete who has spent her entire competitivecareer in virtual obscurity, performing in darksuburban roller arenas in front of a few dozenspectators rather than the standing room onlycrowd that filled the venue on Sunday to a cheerher sixth place finish.

“When I saw people sitting down an hourbefore we started skating I knew it was going tobe something big,” the American said. “I wasshocked people were sitting down before I skat-ed, people are sitting down to watch us...oh mygosh. “That was probably the biggest crowd Ihave ever skated in front of before in my life. “Aregular competition for me would basically be ina regular roller rink and the crowd might bemaybe 20-25 at most. “We never skate in a bigvenue like this. The Pan American Games, this islike our Olympics.”

The Pan Am Games is as big as it gets for theroller figure skaters, who get to march in open-ing and closing ceremonies alongside 7,000 oth-er athletes, live in the village and soak up a fac-simile of the Olympic experience that for themoment remains a distant dream.

“I felt amazing; I have never had everyoneout there cheering for me so there was just alot of energy out there today,” said Canada’sKailah Macri. “This was just such an awesomeexperience. “I have been skating for 15 yearsand I have never had something like this here.People are interested in it. It has gotten a lot ofattention.” Artistically and technically there islittle difference between ice and roller figureskating. The competition includes a short andlong program, filled with many of the same ele-ments, spins and jumps performed to the samedramatic soundtracks.

While Canada and the United States can claima rich figure skating tradition that has producedsome of the sport’s biggest names like PeggyFleming and Michelle Kwan, their eight-wheeledcounterparts roll on in anonymity.

Macri has represented Canada at the worldchampionships seven times but her efforts havegone largely unnoticed. The sport enjoys a high-er profile and acceptance in South Americawhich has dominated the Pan Am medal podi-um. Argentina’s Giselle Soler won the gold medalon Sunday, following her sister Elizabeth fromfour years ago in Guadalajara, while Brazil’sMarcel Sturmer captured his fourth consecutivePan Am title.

“I feel great, I had a fall in the program butthat’s okay because we are human,” said Soler,her elegant and technical routine a clear classabove despite a spill. Despite positive reviewsand unprecedented exposure roller figure skat-ing’s moment in the spotlight is likely to be brief.“We don’t have an Olympics, so we are fortunatethat the Olympic Committee allows us to comein and kind of show off our sport,” said Donovan.

“In North America it is really hard to build upour skating clubs, it’s hard to keep kids in thesport (when) they see gymnastics, ice skatingand they kind of join those and ...stop rollerskating.” — Reuters

Figure skating on a roll at Pan Am Games

CANADA: Chilean Marisol Villarroel competes in the Roller Sport-Figure Skating Final competi-tion at the 2015 Pan American Games. —AFP

SCARBOROUGH: Pamela Ware of Canada, Jennifer Abel of Canada and DoloresHernandez of Mexico pose with their medals after the women’s 3M springboard div-ing final at the CIBC Aquatic Centre. — AFP

TORONTO: Canada’s Jennifer Abel andMexico’s Ivan Garcia won gold medals in theirdiving events at the Pan American Games onSunday to earn automatic qualifying spots forthe 2016 Rio Olympics.

Abel, who won a bronze medal at the 2012London Olympics, led the women’s 3m spring-board final nearly the entire way and sealedthe win with a reverse 2-1/2 somersault pike toscore a total 384.70 points. Canada’s PamelaWare (326.00) won the silver and Mexico’sDolores Hernandez (323.10) took bronze.

Garcia, a silver medallist in London,delivered a forward 2-1/2 somersault withthree twists to cap his performance andscore a total 521.70 points. Colombia’sVictor Ortega (455.15) took the silver andMexico’s Jonathan Ruvalcabra (437.35) wonbronze. The two events are among a hand-ful of disciplines in 10 sports at the July 10-26 Pan Am Games that offer athletes achance to secure a spot in the RioOlympics, which are scheduled for Aug. 5-21 next year. — Reuters

Canada win diving gold

TORONTO: Canada rolled to double gold in thePan American Games rugby sevens tournamenton Sunday as the women’s team crushed arch-rivals the United States in the title game whilethe men eked out a narrow victory overArgentina. After spotting the United States anearly try, Canada’s women shifted into top gearand roared back to claim an easy 55-7 winbefore turning over the stage to the men, whocame back to beat Argentina 22-19 in a thriller.

It marked the first time women’s rugby sev-ens has been contested at the Pan Am Games,with the sport set to make its Summer Gamesdebut next year at the Rio Olympics.

“It’s incredible and this is our first Pan AmGames, so to walk away with a gold medal is a

phenomenal feeling,” said Canada’s Jen Kish.“There’s definitely more great days for this

team. “Every time we put on the Canadian jerseywe want to give the best performance that wecan. “We’re always cup-hunting.

“We always want to be the best that we canbe so you can expect many more trophies fromus building towards Rio.” The Canadian women,who beat the Americans 34-12 earlier in thetournament, dominated the two-day competi-tion, running up a 6-0 record and outscoringtheir opponents 285-19 to underline theirOlympic ambitions. The United States were theonly team to score against the hosts, but thatwas not enough to spoil the party for a homecrowd numbering 20,000 according to Rugby

Canada. The Americans got the game off to a fly-ing start when Kristen Thomas scored the firsttry but Canada answered a minute later withAshley Steacy and never looked back, taking a26-7 lead into the break. Canada’s men had amuch tougher path to gold.

After a narrow 17-12 quarter-final victoryover Chile and a tight 26-19 semi-final win overthe top ranked United States ‘Eagles’, Canadathen had to battle past Argentina to defend theirPan Am crown. “We didn’t make any of thegames easy,” said Canadian captain JohnMoonlight. “We’ve always said to ourselvesthere’s no opportunity where we can’t win agame very with little time left we can alwayscome back.” — Reuters

Double rugby gold for Canada

TORONTO: Canada celebrates on the podium after they won the gold medal in the women’s Rugby 7 competition on Day 2 of the Toronto 2015Pan Am Games. — AFP

AJAX: The United States and Cuba mayhave reached a deal to restore diplomaticties but there was no sign of warmingrelations during their baseball clash at thePan American Games on Sunday.

The preliminary round game, whichthe United States won 5-2, came less thantwo weeks after the countries formallyagreed to restore diplomatic ties as of July20, fulfilling a pledge made in December.

Games between the long-time base-ball rivals always draw interest given thepolitical hostilities and the fact Cuba haslost many prospects and top players whofled their country to seek contracts withU.S.-based Major League Baseball clubs.

“It goes back and ...it’s becoming moreand more pronounced and understand-ably so,” U.S. manager Jim Tracy said aboutthe rivalry.

“Obviously with the country of Cubathere are some pretty good players thathave made their way over to the UnitedStates and playing in the major leagues.

“So they are trying to make a state-ment as to the type of baseball they play

in their country and we are very, veryproud of what we do.

“So that being said it ’s going toenhance the rivalry, there’s no questionabout it.” Cuba have dominated baseballat the quadrennial games since the firsttournament in 1951, winning 12 of the 16titles, including every one between 1971and 2007.

But after a stunning loss at the handsof the United States in 2011, which forcedCuba to settle for a bronze medal - theirworst finish at the Pan Am Games since1959 - Cuba are out to reclaim a title theyrecognise as part of their fabric.

They had plenty of support on Sundayas a rowdy group of Cuban supportersdominated the 4,000-seat ballpark in Ajax,a Toronto suburb, and their red, white andblue flags provided a patriotic backdropdown the right field line. Cuba’s supporterswere vocal throughout the game, even astheir side fell behind early when U.S. short-stop Andrew Parrino opened the scoringwith a two-run home run in the bottomhalf of the first inning. —Rauters

TORONTO: The United States have not seta medal target for the 2015 Pan AmericanGames and are focused instead on thehandful of sports that offer direct qualifica-tion to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics,USOC officials said.

US athletes have traditionally occupiedtop spot in the medals rankings at thequadrennial multi-sport event but thesePan Am Games in Toronto, which runthrough July 26, will be about earning the10 available automatic berths to the RioGames.

“This is really about taking advantage ofthe qualification opportunities for some ofthe sports,” U.S. chef de mission Alan Ashleysaid at the United States OlympicCommittee (USOC) opening Pan Am Gamesnews conference.

“It’s also about making sure that theexperience for athletes that are brand newto the multi-sports game environmenthave a really good experience and a goodopportunity to see what it’s like.”

US athletes will be seeking Olympic

qualification in field hockey, equestrian,canoe/kayak, diving, pentathlon, shooting,synchronized swimming, table tennis,triathlon and water polo by winning gold.A team of 623 American athletes featuring111 Olympians will compete and, accord-ing to Ashley, their toughest challenge willcome from Brazil and hosts Canada.

The United States were runaway leadersatop the 2011 Pan Am medals table inGuadalajara, Mexico, where they captured92 gold medals, comfortably ahead of sec-ond-placed Cuba (58).

But maintaining their perch was neverpart of the discussion, according to Ashley.“We didn’t really jump into the middle say-ing we’re going to be the number onenation and that sort of thing. That’s notreally where we’re coming from on this,”said Ashley. “What we’re really trying tolook at is going sport by sport, experi-ence by experience and making sure wedo everything we can for the athletesto re a l l y s u cce e d o n t h e i n d i v i d u a lbasis.” — Reuters

Cuba and US renew baseball rivalry

US focused more on Rio berths

S P O RT STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

SLOVENIA: In this Sunday, June 14, 2015 file photo, England’s Raheem Sterling (bottom) is challenged by Slovenia’s Ales Mertelj during the Euro2016 Group E qualifying soccer match between Slovenia and England. — AP

BANGKOK: Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers con-firmed yesterday his team plans to sell RaheemSterling to a rival club as he played down reports ofan acrimonious rift over the restless England for-ward. Speaking in Bangkok where Liverpool havebegun a pre-season overseas tour, the NorthernIrish manager confirmed Sterling would leave, sub-ject to passing medical tests.

He declined to confirm where the 20-year-oldwas going or how much for, but British media saySterling will go to Manchester City in a deal worthover £49 million ($76 million, 68 million euro).

“The club has agreed with another club a dealfor him to be transferred. Subject to a medical thatwill go through,” Rodgers said. “Contrary to proba-bly the last week or so in terms of what was written,Raheem and I have always remained very strong inour relationship and have been right up until weleft. So there’s no issue there,” he added.

His comments confirm the closing stages of whathas become this summer’s most acrimonious trans-

fer. Sterling’s refusal to commit to Liverpool hasangered the club’s supporters, who jeered him at anend-of-season awards dinner.

Rodgers’s relationship with Sterling cooled con-siderably when the player turned down a lucrativenew contract worth £100,000 per week in Januarythis year. Two months later, Sterling’s relationshipwith the Liverpool hierarchy became even morestrained when, in an interview with the BBC givenwithout the club’s approval, he confirmed he hadrejected the Reds’ latest contract offer.

Sterling’s agent, Aidy Ward, then added to thegrowing rift by saying his client would not sign anew deal with Liverpool even for “£900,000 a week”.English football commands a huge following inThailand and it is not uncommon to see entire sky-scrapers in Bangkok decked in advertising featuringstars from the premier league.

Despite being named in the 30-man squad forthe pre-season tour, Sterling was left behind byLiverpool when the club flew out to Thailand, where

his teammates will play the Thai All Stars on Tuesdaynight before moving on to Malaysia and Australia.Players were greeted with traditional flower gar-lands on arrival at a luxury hotel in downtownBangkok as fans in the football obsessed countryjostled for a glimpse of their favourite players.

New signings James Milner, Danny Ings andNathaniel Clyne are all on the trip. Rodgers said hisfocus was on players who have joined his squadrather than dwell on those who have chosen toleave. “At this moment in time the interest is with theplayers that are here. The key for us is that it is theoverall team that is important,” he said.

Sterling joined Liverpool from QPR’s academy in2010 and has since scored 23 goals in 129 seniorappearances for the club. He made his senior Englanddebut in 2012, scoring one goal in 16 appearances.Liverpool finished sixth in the Premier League lastseason and so missed out on the Champions League,whereas runners-up City have qualified for Europeanfootball’s elite club competition. — AFP

Rodgers confirms Sterlingmove, plays down rift

JOHANNESBURG: Severely depletedEgyptians Al Ahly drew 0-0 away to MaliansStade Malien at the weekend and surren-dered top place in a CAF ConfederationCup group.

Title-holders Ahly have four points fromtwo Group A matches, two less than EtoileSahel, who won 1-0 at fellow TunisiansEsperance. Former Confederation Cup win-ners Stade have one point and Esperance, aleading African football club by successesand popularity, are pointless.

Suspensions, injuries and imminent mili-tary call-ups deprived Ahly of seven play-ers, and the Cairo Red Devils had to play inscorching mid-afternoon Bamako heatwhile fasting. Muslim footballers are per-mitted to break the dawn-to-dusk, food-and-liquid fast during the holy month ofRamadan, but rarely do.

“The long flight and the very high tem-peratures affected the fitness of my play-

ers,” admitted Ahly coach Fathy Mabrouk. “Iwant to thank them for their efforts duringthe game-they did well in harsh conditionsand a draw is a positive result.”

A goalless deadlock was a predictableresult as four Group A matches have deliv-ered only five goals, despite Ahly slammingthree past Esperance two weeks ago.

It was the fifth home draw for Malien in10 group games and the third draw forAhly in four away games at the mini-leaguestage of the second-tier African club com-petition.

Malian Mamadou Cisse came closest tobreaking the stalemate eight minutes afterhalf-time at Stade Modibo Keita, rattlingthe woodwork when well placed.

Egyptians Zamalek won 2-1 at SouthAfricans Orlando Pirates to top Group Bwith a maximum six points while TunisiansCS Sfaxien were surprisingly held 1-1 byCongolese AC Leopards. — AFP

Ahly held, surrender top place

BUENOS AIRES: Boca Juniors are top ofthe Argentine league championship asthey prepare to unveil Carlos Tevez forhis second spell at the club yesterday.

A goal from striker Sebastian Palaciosafter half an hour gave Boca a 1-0 win atSarmiento on Sunday, lifting them intofirst place a point ahead of San Lorenzoand three in front of River Plate.

Tevez, back home in Buenos Airesafter a decade in Europe, missed theresumption of the championshipbecause he is on holiday after playing forArgentina at the Copa America.

He will be officially presented to themedia later yesterday and is expected tomake his comeback in next weekend’shome match against Quilmes at LaBombonera.

“I’ve got a nice little mess,” said Bocacoach Rodolfo Arruabarrena as he con-templated the prospect of finding aplace for Tevez in his team among anumber of strikers in good form.

“They all want to play but I’m the onewho takes the decisions and these willalways be for the good of the team,” he

told reporters. San Lorenzo drew 1-1 atUnion and River were also held 1-1 byTemperley at El Monumental as theyrested first choice players for Tuesday’sfirst leg of their Libertadores Cup semi-final against Guarani of Paraguay.

Sunday was also a good day for for-mer Argentina defender Gabriel Heinzewho made his coaching debut withGodoy Cruz in a 3-0 home win overCrucero del Norte in Mendoza.

Another coach Mauricio Pellegrinobegan his tenure at Independiente witha 3-1 home victory over Olimpo. Newell’sOld Boys fans showed their support forLionel Messi at their 3-0 home win overRacing Club in Rosario, the Argentinacaptain’s home town.

They displayed a huge banner behindone of the goals that said: “Messi, beingthe best is what differentiates us fromthe rest.” Messi has received criticism inhis home country after favouritesArgentina lost the Copa America final tohosts Chile on penalties following a 0-0draw after extra time nine days ago inSantiago. — Reuters

Boca Juniors go top

Sebastian Palacios

SAO PAULO: Fighting in the standsforced the referee to halt a match atBrasilia’s Mane Garrincha stadium onSunday in what was the latest outbreak ofviolence inside one of the stadiums usedfor the 2014 World Cup, local newsreports said.

The fourth division game betweenGama and Botafogo of Sao Paulo washalted towards the end of the first halfwhen Botafogo fans arrived late, accom-panied by supporters of Gama’s arch-rivalBrasiliense, according to terra.com.br, apopular news portal.

The ensuing scuffles caused the gameto be held up for several minutes toensure the players were safe, Globoadded. The game ended in a 0-0 draw.

The stadium in the capital Brasilia isoften used by teams from other cities in abid to keep it from becoming a white ele-phant. Local teams Gama and Brasiliensehave small support bases and only 3,115

people were in the 73,000 capacity arenafor Sunday’s game.

In the first division, Atletico Mineiroremained in top spot after winning theirsixth successive game, beating PontePreta 2-0 on Saturday. The four teamsbehind them all won, with a last-minutegoal from Fred helping second-placedFluminense beat Atletico Paranaense 2-1.

Fluminense signed Ronaldinho Gauchoon Saturday but he is not expected to makehis debut until next month. Corinthianshammered a hapless Flamengo 3-0 at theMaracana on Sunday to leapfrog overGremio into third spot on goal difference,even though the southern side also won,beating Vasco da Gama 2-0 on Saturday.Fifth-placed Sao Paulo beat Coritiba 3-1,with former AC Milan striker Alexandre Patogetting a brace. At the bottom, Joinville losttheir ninth game out of 14 to stay rooted tothe foot of the table, one point behindVasco and Coritiba. — Reuters

PARIS: Celtic manager Ronny Deila is eager toput the bitter disappointment of 12 monthsago behind him as his side embark on theirlatest bid to reach the Champions Leaguegroup stage tomorrow.

The Scottish champions entertain Icelandicside Stjarnan at Celtic Park in the first leg oftheir second qualifying round tie, one of threeties they will have to win if they are to returnto the group stage for the first time since2013-14.

Last season, the Hoops beat anotherIcelandic outfit in KR Reykjavik at the samestage only to lose to Legia Warsaw in the nextround. The Poles were then kicked out of thecompetition for fielding an ineligible playerbut Celtic still failed to make the group stage,losing to Maribor of Slovenia in a play-off.

That turned out to be the biggest disap-pointment in a campaign which saw Celtic liftthe Premiership title and the League Cup, andDeila is now hoping for a better run in Europein his second season in charge in Glasgow’sEast End. “I hate the feeling I had in my bodyafter Maribor,” Deila told The Herald. “That is afeeling I fear and it drives me on. I hate losing-that’s in my blood.

“Everyone at this club is doing everythingthey can, every day, to prepare for these quali-fying games. “We believe we can do it but, ifwe don’t, it will be because we’re not goodenough to be there. That’s how it is. “But I nowreally believe that we’re good enough.Qualifying is a very hard task because it’s threerounds right at the start of the season.

“We have to face good opponents so it’stough. It will be a big achievement if we canget there,” added Deila, whose team go toIceland for the return leg next midweek.

Celtic have moved to strengthen theirsquad over the close season, spending a com-bined £3 million (4.2m euros, $4.6m) to signBelgian defender Dedryck Boyata fromManchester City and Turkish striker Nadir Ciftcifrom Dundee United. In addition, Swissdefender Saidy Janko has been signed fromManchester United and goalkeeper LoganBailly, who has been capped by Belgium,arrived from OH Leuven.

The expectation is that they will be toostrong for Stjarnan, although they are in themidst of their domestic season while Celtichave only played friendlies, including a 1-0win against Spanish side Real Sociedad at theweekend. Stjarnan also eliminated Motherwellin Europa League qualifying last year beforelosing to Inter Milan, the same side who laterdefeated Celtic in the knockout stages.

Among the other sides involved in the sec-ond qualifying round are 1986 European Cupwinners Steaua Bucharest, with the Romanianchampions facing Trencin of Slovakia. If theyprogress, they will join the likes of Ajax,Monaco, Shakhtar Donetsk, CSKA Moscow andFC Basel in the draw for the third qualifyinground. — AFP

Violence halts game in Brazil

PARIS: PSG’s new coach Kevin Trapp, of Germany poses with his jersey for media dur-ing an official presentation in Paris. Paris Saint Germain signed former EintrachtFrankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp on a five-year deal. — AP

Deila looking for successfrom Celtic in Europe

SPAIN: Goalkeeper Iker Casillas poses by the trophies he won as a player with Real Madridafter a press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Casillas appeared with theclub’s president a day after he gave an emotional press conference alone putting an end tohis 25 years as a Real Madrid goalkeeper. Casillas will now play for FC. Porto. — AP

MADRID: Several hundred Real Madrid fanschanted for president Florentino Perez toresign at an official send-off for goalkeeperand captain Iker Casillas at the Bernabeu stadi-um yesterday.

Real held the presentation following criti-cism over the surreal nature of Casillas’s tearfulnews conference on Sunday, when heappeared to be alone in the stadium pressroom to read out a farewell statement.

The 34-year-old, who is leaving his boy-hood club after 16 seasons in the first team tojoin Porto, appeared on the VIP tribune onMonday with Perez and made a brief state-ment before going down to the pitch to greetsupporters.

Fans in the sweltering streets outside hadcalled for Perez to quit before they were letinto the arena and they repeated the chantsand gave Casillas a rousing ovation as heposed with the 19 trophies he won with Real,including three European Cups.

Casillas spoke on Sunday after Spanish dai-ly El Mundo published an interview with hisparents, with whom he has a troubled rela-tionship, in which they said their son had beenforced out of the club by Perez. Perez said atthe presentation he had invited Casillas,whom he said he had “always defended” and

described as “irreplaceable”, because of “con-fused information that has been publishedthat perhaps needs to be explained as it doesnot correspond with reality.

“Iker is leaving us because that was hiswish,” Perez said, adding that the club werelooking to organise a farewell friendly matchfor him, possibly against Porto.

“Nobody from Real Madrid asked him toleave the club. You have to look after your leg-ends and Iker is one.” A smiling Casillas, whotwice shook Perez’s hand, did not respond tohis parents’ claims.

Despite the anger of some fans, the situa-tion is unlikely to have lasting repercussionsfor construction magnate Perez, who is in thesecond of two stints as president.

However, the contrast between Casillas’semotional appearance on Sunday and thesend-off of his close friend and former Spainteam mate Xavi Hernandez was given byBarcelona was telling and prompted criticismthat Real had not treated their long-servingcaptain with sufficient respect. Xavi, 35, joinedQatari side Al Sadd at the end of last seasonand fans, officials and team mates paid hom-age to the midfielder at the Nou Camp, wherehe was surrounded by family and friends and aglittering array of trophies. — Reuters

Real fans urge president to quit over Casillas exit

16Spieth capturesClassic

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 201518

Figure skating ona roll at Pan Am Games

Rodgers confirms Sterling move, plays down rift Page 19

GLENDALE: Mexico midfielder Andres Guardado kicks the ball in front of Guatemala defender Deniss Lopez (15) during the first half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match.— AP

GLENDALE: The Mexican national soccer team endured anight of frustration in front of tens of thousands of its fans.The end result was a 0-0 tie with Guatemala on Sunday nightin the CONCACAF Gold Cup match. “We tried. We had theball hit the post,” Mexico coach Miguel Herrera said. “It’s frus-trating because we didn’t win. But the team got shots ongoal, we had control. That’s just what happens when you arenot on the side of luck.”

A capacity crowd of 62,910 packed University of PhoenixStadium, almost all of the fans decked out in the red, whiteor green colors of Mexico.

They booed heartily when the game came to an end,except for a tiny contingent of Guatemala fans, who cheeredas if it was a victory.

“We’re very happy and for us it’s a magnificent result,”Guatemala coach Ivan Sopegno said. “We got a result we canbe proud of for ourselves and the people of Guatemala.”

Mexico is 1-0-1 in Group C competition, Guatemala 0-1-1.Mexico plays Trinidad and Tobago (2-0) tomorrow in

Charlotte, North Carolina. Guatemala faces Cuba (0-2).“In reality, the team played well,” Herrera said. “ We con-

trolled the ball and knew what we were doing left, right andmiddle of the pitch. We had a lot of shots, it’s just that noth-ing happened. It’s a situation where we couldn’t score butI’m fine with the way we played.”

Nearly all of the game was played in Mexico’s offensiveend of the field. Giovani Dos Santos’ shot that bounced offthe crossbar exemplified the team’s woes.

“It was a difficult game,” Mexico forward Oriba Peralta.“We had some bad luck, but we’ll try to get better for thenext game.”

The fans had shouted “Gio! Gio!” before Herrera finallysent Dos Santos into the game in the 82nd minute. Five min-utes later, Dos Santos slammed a shot from in front of thenet just outside the penalty area but it ricocheted off thecrossbar.

It was one of a handful of near misses for Mexico, whichfinished with four shots on goal. Guatemala had no shots on

goal and really only one opportunity that came close.It came early, when Mexico turned the ball over at mid-

field. Guatemala’s Minor Lopez got the ball in front of thenet but his kick only grazed it. Still, it bounced just outsideof the goal.

The rest of the game, Guatemala settled for playingdefense. Mexico couldn’t score even with a man advantagewhen Jose Contreras drew a red card, for his second yellow,in the 77th minute.

Guatemala slowed the game even more in the four min-utes of extra time. When fans thought Carlos Vela had beenfouled late in the game for what would have been a penaltykick, and none was called, many tossed their hats from theupper deck of University of Phoenix Stadium in protest.

Mexico had two other near misses. In the 36th minute,Peralta sent a cross to team captain Andres Guardado infront of the net, but Guatemala keeper Paulo Motta chargedtoward the ball and deflected Guardado’s left-footedattempt.

Much later, in the 76th minute, Hector Herrera sent aheader to Peralta, who pushed the ball with his left foot justwide of the net.

In the first half, Mexico had three shots on goal andGuatemala none. Mexico managed one shot on goal in thesecond half.

Guardado drove the ball into the net in the 40th minutebut it was waved off because a foul had been called againstMexico well before the kick.

Mexico is without Real Madrid standout JavierHernandez. The Mexican known to fans as “Chicharito” frac-tured his collarbone in a Gold Cup warmup friendly againstHonduras. The Mexican national team, known as “El Tri,”opened Gold Cup competition with a 6-0 rout of Cuba inChicago on Thursday. Guatemala lost to Trinidad and Tobago3-1. In the first match of Sunday’s doubleheader, Trinidadand Tobago defeated Cuba 2-0. The Cuban team has hadtwo players defect to the United States - striker Keilen Garciaand midfielder Arael Arguellez.—AP

Guatemala hold Mexico in Gold Cup

PAU: Reigning Tour de France championVincenzo Nibali says he’s not panickingdespite a poor first week in which he lostalmost two-and-a-half minutes to ChrisFroome.

The 30-year-old Italian appeared to havegot off to a flying start when he beat allthree of his ‘fantastic four’ rivals in theopening stage time-trial during a heatwavein Utrecht.

But since then, as the weather changed,he’s rolled from one blow to another in hishopes of overall victory. He lost a minute-and-a-half to race leader Froome, the 2013champion, on the windy second stage toZeeland, another 11 seconds to the Britonon the third stage finish up the Mur de Huy,10 more seconds on a similar finish on theMur de Bretagne on Saturday and thenmore than 30 seconds in Sunday’s teamtime-trial.

He currently sits 13th overall at 2min22sec of Froome and behind both of theother two ‘fantastic four’ Alberto Contadorand Nairo Quintana as well. But he’s notworried.

“I’m in good form but not every year isthe same. The only thing to do is keep calmand pedal,” he said during Monday’s rest

day in Pau. “I’m feeling serene because Iknow I’ve done my best. There was a lot ofpressure from fans and the media. “I’ve hadsome highs and lows. On the Mur deBretagne I had a bad day, it was a very diffi-cult finish.

“But Alberto (Contador) had the samething on the Mur de Huy (where he lost18sec).” Quintana is only 23sec ahead ofNibali on the standings in ninth but is con-sidered by most to be the best climber inthe world. Nibali agrees with Froome thatQuintana could be the man to watch in themountains.

“He’s hiding, we never see him (at thefront of the peloton). Froome is certainly inthe best form but Nairo hasn’t yet shownwhat he’s capable of,” said Nibali.

Froome may have appeared impreg-nable so far but Nibali believes he willeventually run out of steam, if not fromtoday’s start of the Pyrenean stages, thenperhaps in the third week when the racehits the Alps. “We’ve not seen anything yetin the mountains but we’ll certainly knowmore after (today’s finish at) La Pierre-SaintMartin. “Right now we know Chris is in formbut (his trainer) Paolo Slongo thinks hemight come unstuck in the Alps.” — AFP

Nibali calm despite deficit

LONDON: Novak Djokovic and Serena Williamsrevived an old tradition as the Wimbledon win-ners celebrated their titles by dancing together tothe Bee Gees’ hit ‘Night Fever’ at the annual cham-pions dinner. Fresh from their respective triumphson Centre Court over the weekend, Djokovic andWilliams were back in the spotlight late onSunday evening as the pair became the firstchampions to dance together at the gala event atthe London Guildhall since Bjorn Borg and ChrisEvert in 1976.

But while three-time Wimbledon winnerDjokovic wanted a “sophisticated waltz”, it wasSerena, a six-time champion at the All EnglandClub, who called the tune.

The 33-year-old American, who beat Spain’sGarbine Muguruza in Saturday’s final, selected1970s disco classic ‘Night Fever’ and Djokovic, afour-set winner over Roger Federer on Sunday,gamely joined his fellow world number one inshowing off his best dance moves.

“There was no practice, I suggested the idea to(All England Club chairman) Philip Brook andSerena, and fortunately they accepted,” Djokovicsaid on Monday.

“I was very pleased because Serena is a great

dancer. “I was thinking of more of a waltz - some-thing more sophisticated, something that blendsinto the environment and the beautiful hall wewere in.”But Serena wanted to move a bit moreand we considered other options.

“So it was Night Fever. Night Fever came to lifeand you can imagine how that looked.” Once thepartying had come to an end in the early hours ofMonday, Djokovic returned to Wimbledon to dis-cuss his ninth major title.

After passing greats like Andre Agassi, JimmyConnors and Ivan Lendl on the list of major win-ners, the 28-year-old Serb finds himself rankedamong the legends of the sport.

It’s no longer inconceivable that he couldmatch the record 17 Grand Slam titles won byFederer and the 14 of Rafael Nadal.

“In terms of reaching them I don’t want to sayit’s too early, it’s probably the right time to talkabout it, but it’s still far away,” Djokovic said. “Iknow what it takes to win one grand slam. It takesa lot of effort, a lot of things have to come togeth-er. “To reach those two guys would be incrediblebut honestly, I’m not thinking about it right now.”

Djokovic’s next shot at a Grand Slam comes inAugust at the US Open, where he has won the

title once and suffered four final defeats.With his confidence sky-high after reaching all

three major finals this year, Djokovic expects tomount a serious challenge for his second title inNew York. “I am approaching the US Open thisyear with two grand slams won and one final,”Djokovic said. “The confidence level is very highand I’m going to use that to have a shot at thetitle. — AFP

Djokovic and Serena hit

fever pitch in celebration

LONDON: Wimbledon Champions NovakDjokovic of Serbia (right) and SerenaWilliams of the US, dance on stage at theWimbledon Champion dinner, at theGuildhall.— AP

KUWAIT: The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) hasissued the Financial Stability Report (FSR) for2014 - Governor Dr Mohammad Al-Hashelannounced yesterday. This is the third in aseries of reports published by CBK as part ofits efforts to enhance transparency and tomake available reliable information and statis-tics related to the Kuwaiti banking system andfinancial sectors, he added. The FSRs issued byCBK analyze and highlight economic andfinancial developments in terms of their effecton financial stability and the resilience of thefinancial system to unanticipated adverseshocks, thus maintaining the provision of effi-cient financial services at the macroeconomiclevel, Hashel told KUNA.

He added that the latest FSR is composedof five chapters, the first of which assesses therole and performance of banks - both conven-tional and Islamic - as financial intermediaries,while the second evaluates the risks faced bythe banking system. The third chapter of thereport examines the trends in profitability andsolvency of the banking system and itsresilience to a variety of major shocks, bothendogenous and exogenous under differentfinancial and economic stress scenarios. Thefourth explores the key developments in mon-ey, foreign exchange, equity and real estatemarkets, the four key components of thedomestic financial market. As for the fifth part,it examines the performance of retail andlarge-scale payment and settlement systemsin the country, significant components com-prising Kuwait’s financial system and stability.

According to the report, the consolidatedbanking sector balance sheet marked anotheryear of double-digit growth. In 2014, assetsworth KD 7.2 billion were added to the bankingsystem, putting total assets at KD 66.4 billion by

year-end - marking growth of 12.2 percent, ver-sus 11.9 percent in 2013, the governor noted.

Both in absolute and growth terms, thiswas the most significant expansion recordedin the last seven years. Growth of the consoli-dated balance sheet of banks reveals, in part,that the increased international activity ofKuwaiti banks remains robust and accounts for20.4 percent of the consolidated balancesheet, thereby providing a major source ofbanks’ income that reduces reliance on localsources and strengthens their stability. Bankshave also expanded their consolidated loanportfolio by another KD 4.2 billion, posting thestrongest growth (11.5 percent) observed inthe last five years, Hashel said.

At the domestic level (Kuwaiti banks andforeign banks’ branches in Kuwait), creditsgranted to national economic sectors rosefrom KD 29 billion as of Dec 2013 to KD 30.8billion in Dec 2014, an increase of KD 1.8 bil-lion and a yearly growth rate of 6.2 percent,less than the growth rate of 8.1 percent in thelast year). However, the growth rate in 2014reveals the upward trend of credit off-takecompared to 0.4 percent in 2010, 1.6 percentin 2011 and 5 percent in 2012.

In addition, growth of banking creditencompasses most of the local economic sec-tors including installment (housing) loans andloans granted to the real estate sector. By Dec2014, such facilities totaled KWD 16 billion,marking an increase of KD 1.4 billion com-pared to Dec 2013, and a yearly growth rate ofaround 9.4 percent, which is higher than thegrowth rate of the total loan portfolio.

Hashel said that the 2014 FSR reportrevealed that the asset quality of the bankingsystem visibly improved over the last fewyears, and the gross non-performing loan ratio

(NPLR), on a consolidated basis, dropped to ahistorically low level of 2.9 percent in Dec2014. Improvement of asset quality demon-strates the success of the CBK and local banksin their combined endeavors over the lastyears to analyze and assess the quality of loanportfolios in accordance with the strict imple-mentation of the relevant standards. As a con-sequence NPLR, at the domestic level, edgeddown from 7.1 percent as of Dec 2011 to 4.9percent as of Dec 2012, 3.2 percent as of Dec2013 and 2.3 percent as of Dec 2014, visiblylower than the pre-crisis ratio.

Profitability of Kuwaiti banks posted astrong recovery in 2014 after experiencing anoticeable contraction back in 2013; net prof-its attributable to shareholders of Kuwaitibanks (conventional and Islamic banks and theIndustrial Bank of Kuwait) surged by 26.5 per-cent in 2014 to KWD 656.4 million from KWD519.0 million a year earlier. This marks anincrease of KD 137.4 million. Amid rising netincome of the banking sector, average returnon assets inched up from 0.9 percent as of Dec2013 to 1 percent as of Dec 2014, and averagereturn on equity increased from 6.9 percent in2013 to 8.2 percent in 2014.

Capital Adequacy RatioIn the meantime, the Capital Adequacy

Ratio (CAR) of the banking sector was still wellabove the requirements of Basel III - the newstandard adopted by Kuwaiti banks within acomprehensive set of reforms, the 2014 FSRshowed. Reports submitted by Kuwaiti banksindicate full compliance within the terms ofBasel III as the CAR of Kuwaiti banks is still wellabove the CBK’s requirement of 12 percent for2014, which is higher than Basel requirementof 10.5 percent, Hashel stated. As of December

2014, the CAR of Kuwaiti banks, on a consoli-dated basis, as per Basel III stood at 16.9 per-cent.

Leverage ratio data reveals the ability ofKuwaiti banks to abide by this ratio in additionto other new ratios implemented by the CBKin 2014 within the framework of Basel regula-tions. The Leverage ratio of the banking indus-try was 8.9 percent as of Dec 2014 - well abovethe minimum of 3 percent required by CBK, asrecommended by Basel Committee forBanking Supervision.

Additionally, this ratio is intended to firm-up capital adequacy taking into account thecomputation of leverage ratios based on theoverall “off” and “on” balance sheet assets ofthe bank, rather than the size of risk weightedassets as stated under capital adequacy regu-lations. Therefore, this ratio is considered anadditional buffer to minimize systematic risksand strengthen financial stability.

Banks’ liquid assets of less than threemonths witnessed a rising trend since 2010;during 2014, liquid assets were up by KWD 5.3billion to reach KD 20.4 billion. A breakdownbetween core and non-core liquid assets indi-cates that the core liquid assets accounted for80.5 percent of the total liquid assets which, inturn, constitutes 30.7 percent of the totalbanks’ assets. It is, therefore, clear that thesehigh ratios of high quality liquid assets fortifythe financial positions and soundness of finan-cial indicators of banks and their resilience tounanticipated shocks without any adverseeffect on financial stability.

Furthermore, the higher levels of liquiditymaintained by Kuwait banks helped them tofulfill the requirements of the liquidity cover-age ratio (LCR) introduced among the Basel IIIset of reforms and adopted by the CBK as of

Dec 2014. In line with its monetary policy, theCBK kept unchanged Discount Rate at the his-torically low level of 2 percent, representingthe key benchmark serving as a reference rateto calculate interest rates charged on lendingfacilities. By maintaining interest rates at thislevel the CBK also aimed to help increase cred-it off-take by the various sectors.

Annual Report Meanwhile, the CBK also released its annual

report for the fiscal year (FY ) 2014-2015,Hashel announced. This is the 43rd issue of theseries of annual reports prepared and pub-lished by the CBK. It includes the CBK BalanceSheet, the Profit and Loss Account for the FYending 31st March 2015, in addition to theAuditors’ Report on the financial statements,Hashel told KUNA. The report reviews, in brief,key developments in the monetary policy andmonetary and banking indicators, in particularthose relating to money supply, local interestrates, KWD exchange rates, bank credit, andaggregate balance sheets of local banks andinvestment companies, he added.

In addition, it contains the main superviso-ry measures and directives issued by the CBK,and major banking operations carried out dur-ing FY 2014-2015. The report outlines theCBK’s efforts during the past fiscal year toimplement projects covered by the AnnualPlan, Hashel said. These projects are of anongoing nature and relate to the core objec-tives of the CBK. It also presents the CBK’smain initiatives for the enhancement of com-petency of the its manpower as well as meas-ures taken toward modernization and theupgrade of the CBK’s information technologyinfrastructure. The 2014-2015 Annual Report isavailable on the CBK official website. —KUNA

BusinessTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

China trade slumps in first half of year: Govt

Page 22

Iran deal would add to oil glut, open door to imports

Page 24

South African female miners break ground

Page 26

European leaders agree tough Greek bailout dealPage 23

KUWAIT: Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Dr Mohammad Yousef Al-Hashel presents CBK’s 43th annual Financial Stability Report 2014 to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (left) andHH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (right) yesterday. —KUNA

Central Bank issues Financial Stability Report

CBK also issues annual report for FY 2014-2015

LONDON: The global oil market should be morebalanced next year as China and the developingworld increase oil consumption while supply ofshale oil from North America and other regionsgrows more slowly, OPEC said yesterday. In itsmonthly report, the Organization of the PetroleumExporting Countries said it expected world oildemand to increase by 1.34 million barrels per day(bpd) in 2016, up from growth of 1.28 million bpdthis year.

World oil demand growth should outpace anyincrease in oil supply from non-OPEC sources andultra-light oils such as condensate, increasing con-sumption of OPEC crude oil, it said. “This wouldimply an improvement towards a more balancedmarket,” OPEC’s in-house economists said in thereport. OPEC said it expected demand for its own

crude oil to rise by 860,000 bpd in 2016 to 30.07million bpd. But it cut its estimate of demand forits crude this year by 100,000 bpd to 29.21 millionbpd.

Oil prices are now around half their levels of ayear ago with global crude oil benchmark Brenttrading at around $58.50 a barrel by 1100 GMTyesterday, down from a peak above $115 in June2014. Lower prices have squeezed high-cost oilproducers and brought a sharp fall in the numberof oil exploration rigs in operation, particularlyacross North America. OPEC said supply of oil fromnon-OPEC producers was expected to grow byonly 300,000 bpd in 2016, down sharply fromgrowth of 860,000 bpd this year.

US oil output, which has seen rapid increasesover the last five years thanks to the development

of huge shale resources by “fracking”, is expectedto log much more modest supply growth in 2016.“Total U.S. liquids production is expected to growby 330,000 bpd, just one third of the growth of930,000 bpd expected this year,” it said. World oilsupply has grown much faster than demand thisyear, led by OPEC as its core members in theMiddle East Gulf attempt to build market share,leading to higher inventories.

Saudi Arabia, in particular, has pushed up its oilproduction to record highs, industry sources say.OPEC estimated, based on figures from secondarysources, that its own group crude oil output rose283,000 bpd to 31.38 million bpd in June, led byIraq, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. It said Saudi Arabiahad told it that it pumped 10.56 million bpd lastmonth, up 231,000 bpd from May. —Reuters

OPEC sees more balanced

global oil market in 2016RIYADH: Saudi Arabia appointed a housing min-ister with a background as a real estate developeryesterday, strengthening a trend towards givingtop government jobs to people from the privatesector as the kingdom grapples with economicand social welfare issues. Majed Al-Hogail, formermanaging director of Rafal Real EstateDevelopment Co, a private firm owned by Saudifamily interests, was chosen to head the housingministry by King Salman, an official decree said.

Hogail will lead efforts to ease a shortage ofaffordable housing for millions of Saudis. Thegovernment has pledged tens of billions of dol-lars towards the problem but red tape and diffi-culties obtaining land have slowed disbursementof the aid and actual construction of homes.Salman relieved the previous housing minister,Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi, of his post in March - partof a series of shake-ups since Salman took the

throne in January. Since then, there have beentwo major cabinet reshuffles and the health min-ister has also been replaced.

Saudi kings have appointed former business-men to government jobs in the past, choosingthe heads of top merchant families for the postof trade minister, for example. But there aremore business leaders serving in governmentnow than in previous cabinets, analysts say, anindication that Salman wants to use private sec-tor experience as Riyadh seeks to avoid publicdiscontent by improving social welfare and cre-ating more jobs for Saudis. “It’s clearly a state-ment that appeals to a more pragmatic, practicalparadigm, going away from the traditionalbureaucratic approach to problem-solving,especially in sectors relating to services,” saidHossein Shobokshi, a businessman and newspa-per columnist. —Reuters

Saudi housing minister

from private sector

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

EXCHANGE RATES

Bahrain Exchange Company

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.464Indian Rupees 4.781Pakistani Rupees 2.979Srilankan Rupees 2.264Nepali Rupees 2.988Singapore Dollar 224.900Hongkong Dollar 39.103Bangladesh Taka 3.895Philippine Peso 6.714Thai Baht 8.934

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 80.856Qatari Riyal 83.290Omani Riyal 787.550Bahraini Dinar 805.230UAE Dirham 82.552

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 42.860Egyptian Pound - Transfer 38.945Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.415Tunisian Dinar 155.330Jordanian Dinar 427.800Lebanese Lira/for 1000 2.034Syrian Lira 2.161Morocco Dirham 31.568

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 303.050Euro 338.510Sterling Pound 472.000Canadian dollar 239.750Turkish lira 113.680Swiss Franc 324.290Australian Dollar 226.680US Dollar Buying 301.850

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

Belgian Franc 0.007906 0.008906British Pound 0.463157 0.472157Czech Korune 0.004427 0.016427Danish Krone 0.041130 0.046130Euro 0.331848 0.339848Norwegian Krone 0.033671 0.038871Romanian Leu 0.075741 0.075741Slovakia 0.009037 0.019037Swedish Krona 0.031808 0.033808Swiss Franc 0.315581 0.325781Turkish Lira 0.112462 0.119462

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.217190 0.228690New Zealand Dollar 0.197602 0.207102

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.232977 0.241477US Dollars 0.298950 0.303450

US Dollars Mint 0.299450 0.303450Asia

Bangladesh Taka 0.003551 0.004151Chinese Yuan 0.047424 0.050924Hong Kong Dollar 0.037006 0.039756Indian Rupee 0.004689 0.005079Indonesian Rupiah 0.000019 0.000025Japanese Yen 0.002385 0.002565Kenyan Shilling 0.002958 0.002958Korean Won 0.000257 0.000272Malaysian Ringgit 0.076627 0.082627Nepalese Rupee 0.003039 0.003209Pakistan Rupee 0.002801 0.003081Philippine Peso 0.006671 0.006951Sierra Leone 0.000070 0.000076Singapore Dollar 0.220516 0.226516South African Rand 0.018255 0.026755Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001862 0.002442Taiwan 0.009661 0.009841Thai Baht 0.008655 0.0009205

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.797383 0.805383Egyptian Pound 0.040130 0.042960Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000085Iraqi Dinar 0.000189 0.000249Jordanian Dinar 0.423128 0.430628Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000151 0.000251Moroccan Dirhams 0.019826 0.043826Nigerian Naira 0.000920 0.001555Omani Riyal 0.781131 0.786811Qatar Riyal 0.082529 0.083742Saudi Riyal 0.080177 0.080877Syrian Pound 0.001284 0.001504Tunisian Dinar 0.151861 0.159861Turkish Lira 0.112462 0.119462UAE Dirhams 0.081528 0.082677Yemeni Riyal 0.001370 0.001450

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

CURRENCIES TELEX TRANSFER PER 1000Australian Dollar 207.36Canadian Dollar 244.46Swiss Franc 326.18Euro 338.38US Dollar 303.50Sterling Pound 475.10Japanese Yen 2.51Bangladesh Taka 3.896Indian Rupee 4.778Sri Lankan Rupee 2.265Nepali Rupee 2.986Pakistani Rupee 2.980UAE Dirhams 82.51Bahraini Dinar 805.57Egyptian Pound 39.66Jordanian Dinar 431.16Omani Riyal 787.12Qatari Riyal 83.58Saudi Riyal 80.85

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 303.000Canadian Dollar 241.660Sterling Pound 471.625Euro 339.520Swiss Frank 285.785Bahrain Dinar 804.990UAE Dirhams 82.875Qatari Riyals 90.865

Saudi Riyals 81.605Jordanian Dinar 427.375Egyptian Pound 38.623Sri Lankan Rupees 2.269Indian Rupees 4.779Pakistani Rupees 2.978Bangladesh Taka 3.890Philippines Pesso 6.703Cyprus pound 577.685Japanese Yen 3.465Syrian Pound 2.605Nepalese Rupees 3.985Malaysian Ringgit 80.765Chinese Yuan Renminbi 49.180Thai Bhat 9.910Turkish Lira 118.725

GOLD20 gram 235.92010 gram 120.6605 gram 60.010

SYDNEY/LONDON: Realtors inAustralia, Britain and Canada are brac-ing for a surge of new interest in theiralready hot property markets, with earlysigns that wealthy Chinese investors areseeking a safe haven from the turmoil inShanghai’s equity markets. Sydney real-tor Michael Pallier said in the past weekalone he has sold two new apartmentsand shown a A$13.8 million ($10.3 mil-lion) house in the harbourside city toChinese buyers looking for an alterna-tive to stocks.

“A lot of high net worth individualshad already taken money out of thestock market because it was getting justtoo hot,” Pallier, the principal of SydneySotheby’s International Realty, said.“There’s a huge amount of cash sittingin China and I think you’ll find a lot ofthat comes to the Australian propertymarket.”

Around 20 percent has beenknocked off the value of Chinese sharessince mid-June, although attempts byauthorities to stem the bleeding arehaving some effect. Many wealthy

Chinese investors had already cashedout. Major shareholders sold 360 billionyuan ($58 bil l ion) in the f irst f ivemonths of 2015 alone, compared to 190billion yuan in all of 2014 and an aver-age of 100 billion yuan in prior years,according to Bank of America MerrillLynch.

While much of that money may ini-tially be parked in more liquid assetslike U.S. Treasury bonds and safe-havencurrencies such as the Swiss franc, thereis growing evidence that foreign prop-erty sales may receive a boost. “There isanecdotal evidence that Chinese buyershave intensified their interest in ‘safehaven’ global property markets, includ-ing London, as a result of the recentstock market volatility,” said Tom Bill,head of London residential research atKnight Frank.

Ed Mead, executive director of real-tor Douglas & Gordon in London, saidhis f irm had seen two buyers fromChina looking to buy whole blocks offlats. “It is unusual to see the Chineseblock buying, it implies that this is a

capital movement rather than just indi-viduals looking to park money.”

Rich ExodusSince 2000, China has had the

world’s largest outflow of high networ th individuals. Around 91,000wealthy Chinese sought second citizen-ship between 2000 and 2014, accordingto a report by residence investmentbroker Lio Global, a factor that isfuelling demand to buy foreign proper-ty. Most of these individuals, defined asthose with net assets of $1 million ormore excluding their primar y resi-dences, are moving to the US, HongKong, Singapore and Britain.

Brian Ward, president of capital mar-kets and investment services for theAmericas at commercial property com-pany Colliers International, said Chineseinvestors had already sunk around $5billion into US real estate in the first sixmonths of 2015, more than the $4 bil-lion they invested in the whole of 2014.In London, Alex Newall, managingdirector of super prime residential real-

tor Hanover Private Office estate agentssaid he had seen an increase in interestfrom Chinese investors at the top of themarket, although no transactions yet.

“ They’re wanting to try and parklarge sums of money - I’m talking from25 million pounds ($38.5 million) to 150million pounds,” Newell said. “They’relooking to park that capital into Londonhomes.” Australia and Canada are alsoincreasing in popularity, gaining anedge from their weakening currencies.“Property prices are still cheap in RMB(yuan) terms,” said Timothy Cheung, aprincipal of Morphic Asset Managementin Sydney.

Backing OutThe rush by Chinese investors into

foreign property has not been withoutcriticism, with some in London, Sydneyand Vancouver blaming them for push-ing up already spiraling prices. TheAustralian government has moved tolook tough on the issue, introducingnew fees and jail terms for those foundflouting foreign investment rules. The

Chinese owner of a A$39 million Sydneymansion was forced to sell up earlierthis year after it was revealed the prop-erty had been bought illegally througha string of shell companies.

Others are concerned that Chineseinvestors who didn’t bail out of stocksquickly enough will be a drag on inter-national property markets, particularlyafter Bei j ing on Thursday bannedshareholders with large stakes in listedfirms from selling for six months. InLondon, Naomi Heaton, the chief exec-utive of London Central Portfolio, saidshe had heard of investors pulling outof new-build purchases because theyno longer had the capital. It was a simi-lar story for Vancouver real estate agentAndrew Hasman, who focuses on thecity’s affluent westside area. “I had a calllast week from another agent wantingto know if a seller of a transaction wejust did would allow the buyer to backout, because they had just recently losta huge amount of money in theChinese stock market correction,”Hasman said. — Reuters

China’s rich seek shelter in foreign property

BEIJING: China’s total trade slumped in the firsthalf of this year, official data showed yesterday,falling well short of the government’s targetsand dealing a blow to the global economy fromits biggest trader in goods. Two-way trade forthe first six months of the year fell 6.9 percent to$1.88 trillion, the General Administration ofCustoms said. China is the world’s second-largest economy and a key driver of globalgrowth, with an outsized impact on resource-rich supplier countries such as Australia. Overthe six months, two-way trade with theEuropean Union declined 6.7 percent, Customssaid, and with Japan it dropped 10.6 percent.

Yesterday’s result was well below Beijing’sofficial target for the year for trade growth of“about 6.0 percent”. That figure was a reductionfrom the 7.5 percent set for 2014 - when valuesexpanded only 3.4 percent, the third consecu-tive year the goal had been missed.“Commodity prices fell significantly, draggingdown growth in import value,” Customsspokesman Huang Songping told reporters,adding that “sluggish foreign demand” was the“major factor” affecting trade growth. “Exportcosts remained high, undermining export com-petitiveness,” he said, adding that by June 30,

the yuan had strengthened 0.2 percent againstthe dollar from the start of the year, 6.9 percentagainst the euro and 2.2 percent against theyen. “The downward pressures on the domesticeconomy increased and the demand forimports was weak,” he said.

For June, imports fell for the eighth consecu-tive month, Customs said, dropping 6.1 percentyear-on-year in dollar terms to $145.48 billion.But exports increased 2.8 percent to $192.01 bil-lion on-year - snapping a run of three monthlydeclines in a row - and the country’s trade sur-plus leaped 47.5 percent to $46.54 billion. Themonthly percentage changes were slightlysmaller in China’s yuan currency. Louis Kuijs, aHong Kong-based economist with the RoyalBank of Scotland, said there had been “extremeweakness” in the first five months of the year.

But there were signs domestic demand wasstrengthening and the monthly June data sug-gested “the momentum is starting to improve”.“That is definitely encouraging for the rest ofthe world,” he told AFP. Chinese stock marketshave been in turmoil in recent weeks, but thebenchmark Shanghai Composite Index wasstrongly up in the afternoon, trading 2.79 per-cent higher and continuing positive momentum

from the end of last week.The latest report comes as Chinese authori-

ties manage what they describe as a “new nor-mal” economy in which they steer it away from atraditional model of high growth based on biginvestment projects and towards one whereconsumer demand takes prominence. China’sgross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.4percent in 2014, the lowest rate in nearly a quar-ter of a century, and signs of further weaknesshave mounted this year. GDP expanded 7.0 per-cent in the January-March period, the worstquarterly result in six years. China announcessecond-quarter GDP figures tomorrow and themedian forecast in an AFP poll of 14 economistsindicates GDP expanded 6.9 percent in April-June.

ANZ economist Liu Li-Gang said the tradedata mean the second-quarter GDP figure “willunderperform” as both imports and exportswere weak during the latest three-month period,predicting that the GDP figure could come in at6.8 percent. For all of 2015, the AFP survey pre-dicts growth at a median 7.0 percent, more opti-mistic than a forecast of 6.8 percent in a similarpoll in April and in line with the government’sofficial target of “about 7.0 percent”.—AFP

China trade slumps in first half of year: Govt

Result well below Beijing’s official target

BEIJING: A woman looks at her tablet computer beside a stand for luxury cars at the airport yesterday. China’s total trade slumped in the firsthalf of this year. —AFP

China accuses trading firms of manipulation

BEIJING: Authorities accused securitiesfirms of manipulating stock prices duringChina’s market plunge and launched acrackdown yesterday against unlicensedcompanies that financed speculative trad-ing. The moves appeared to be aimed atdeflecting blame from the rulingCommunist Party for trillions of dollars ininvestor losses as China’s market bench-mark plummeted 30 percent over the pastmonth.

They came as drastic official efforts overthe past two weeks including a ban onsales by executives and big shareholdersappeared to at least temporarily stop thedecline that wiped out $3.8 trillion ininvestor wealth. Yesterday, the benchmarkShanghai Composite Index closed up 2.4percent for its third straight daily gain butstill was 23 percent below its June 12 peak.Investigators have found “evidence to sus-pect that individual trading companies areillegally manipulating securities andfutures exchanges,” the police ministry saidlate Sunday. Its one-sentence statementsaid a criminal investigation was underwaybut gave no details of which firms were tar-geted.

Yesterday, the securities regulatorordered brokerages to sever ties with unli-censed companies that lend money tofinance trading. The regulator also accusedbrokerages of improperly allowing cus-tomers to trade without giving their realnames or to subdivide accounts to allowothers to use them to trade. The stock mar-ket boom began last year after the statepress said shares were cheap, which ledinvestors to believe Beijing would inter-vene to prop up prices if needed. The col-lapse came after changes in banking regu-lations made investors suspect Beijing

might withdraw its support. Regulatorsalso tightened controls on lending tofinance trading.

Novice investors who rushed into themarket near the peak have suffered heavylosses, souring sentiment toward stockinvestment. The price collapse could frus-trate Communist Party plans to encouragethe public to buy stocks and to raise moneyfor state companies to pay off debts andbecome more competitive. More than1,000 of the 2,802 companies traded on themainland’s exchanges in Shanghai andShenzhen also have suspended trading intheir shares following the plunge in prices.That has left small investors locked intoshares that some are under pressure to sellto repay loans.

“It remains to be seen how the marketholds up once all the artificial impedimentsto selling are withdrawn,” said Carl BWeinberg of High Frequency Economics ina report. Official media have blamed themarket slide on short-selling, rumors andmisconduct, possibly by foreign investors.

Yesterday, the securities regulatorordered brokerages to sever ties with unli-censed companies it said were providingloans to finance trading and were givenaccess to customers in violation of regula-tions. That was “to the detriment of thelegitimate rights and interests of investors,seriously disrupting the stock market order,”the statement said. “As the market has stabi-lized, these illegal phenomena appear tohave momentum to make a comeback thatmight again jeopardize the smooth opera-tion of the stock market.” A joint CommunistParty-Cabinet body that oversees theInternet ordered websites to remove adver-tisements from unlicensed companies offer-ing loans for share trading. — AP

BEIJING: Chinese investors chat while monitoring stock prices at a brokerage houseyesterday. —AP

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

PARIS: As President Francois Hollandeled Angela Merkel off for a working din-ner at his Elysee Palace a week ago lastMonday, his advisers breathed deep sighsof relief. Minutes earlier, the Germanchancellor had agreed to echo Hollandein telling reporters that the “door remainsopen” to a deal between Greece and itsinternational creditors. Spoken 24 hoursafter Greek voters rejected the cuts andtax hikes sought by the European Unionand International Monetary Fund inreturn for more financial aid, Merkel’swords suggested Greece’s forced exitfrom the euro zone could still be averted.

“That could turn out to be one of thesentences that saved Greece,” said onediplomat, reflecting the French view thatexpelling the country from the single cur-rency zone would have catastrophic con-sequences for Greece and weaken theeuro itself. While the final accord struckbetween Athens and euro zone leaders inBrussels on Monday imposes tough newconditions on Greece demanded byMerkel and her allies, the fact that Europegot there at all after six months ofbrinkmanship and frustration is in nosmall part due to France.

While few doubt Germany remainsthe senior partner in the region, the saga

has shown that France still plays a coun-terweight role in defining the EuropeanUnion. It also bucks a period in whichFrance’s standing and influence have suf-fered because of a weak economy andrepeated failures to bring its own publicdeficit under EU limits. “If ‘Grexit’ is avoid-ed, it will show that Hollande has been abridge-builder and helped avoid a geo-political catastrophe,” said Rem Korteweg,senior researcher at the London-basedCentre for European Reform (CER) thinktank.

On coming to power in May 2012,Hollande mulled leading a rebellion ofsouthern EU states against the bloc’sBerlin-driven fiscal austerity. But he con-cluded it was not in the best interest ofFrance’s borrowing costs for it to beranked alongside fragile “Club Med”economies. While that choice dismayedmany fellow Socialists, Hollande wasquick to see this year that the stand-offon Greece - whose 1981 entry into theEU France had lobbied for in the firstplace - offered the chance of a new lead-ership role. When Alexis Tsipras wonpower in January elections, Paris hadwithin hours offered to be a “bridge”between his leftist government and therest of Europe.

‘Help Me to Help You’What followed was dogged, consen-

sus-building diplomacy typical ofHollande, an alumnus of France’s eliteENA civil service college. “I told Tsipras,‘it’s not easy for Mrs Merkel’,” Hollanderecounted privately in late June of theneed for any accord to be politicallyacceptable in Berlin. As the patience ofother EU leaders wore thin with Tsipras’refusal to meet their demands and withhis incendiary rhetoric, Hollanderemained convinced that the formerCommunist youth leader was at heart apragmatist who just needed help on thelearning-curve of Brussels deal-making.“Help me to help you,” he finally toldTsipras by telephone on the evening ofSunday, July 5 as results in Greece’s refer-endum showed a decisive rejection of EUand IMF austerity. Hollande urgedTsipras to mend fences quickly with EUleaders.

The removal the following morning ofcombative Finance Minister YanisVaroufakis and a new conciliatory tone inAthens helped set the stage for a fresheffort to reach a compromise. WhileMerkel could only react guardedly, dueto growing pressure from fellow Germanconservatives to cut Greece loose,

Hollande knew his firm anti-Grexit linecould only win him kudos with theFrench left.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls declaredin parliament on Wednesday that Francewould prevent any move to eject Greece,and France discreetly activated some ofits best negotiators to help Greek offi-cials fine-tune new concessions to credi-tors. “We don’t have teams of techniciansdrafting the package for the Greeks,” onesenior French diplomat said, denying theFrench were writing the Greek proposal.“It’s more about giving them a hand onthe politics - encouraging them to put inwhat is possible now, to do the neces-sary.”

That set the stage for this weekend’sshow-down in Brussels - but once there,Berlin took over. Aside from helping dis-credit an option of “temporary Grexit”put about by German officials, theFrench were mainly bystanders asMerkel, backed by northern, eastern andIberian countries, imposed conditions.“Greece remains in the euro zone - thatwas our goal,” a weary-soundingHollande told reporters after the summit,calling Franco-German compromise aprecondition for every EU deal.

While the past few months have

shown that France still counts in Europe,it would be premature to say EU powerdynamics have swung back in Paris’favour or that Hollande will see a bounceto his still-dismal domestic ratings. CER’sKorteweg noted that for Merkel, the cen-tre-left Hollande was a valuable “go-topartner” for brokering political consen-sus across Europe who also providedcover for diplomatic forays into theUkraine crisis. The Germans are anxiousnot to be seen to be wielding theirincreased power alone.

In France, Monday’s agreementmeans Hollande has at least avoided theignominy of watching his efforts goingto waste and then having to suffer theridicule of his predecessor and likely2017 election rival Nicolas Sarkozy. Butrecent polls show the French still believeit is Merkel not Hollande who calls theshots in Europe, and that around half ofthem would have been happy to seeGreece leave the euro zone. “Don’t fallinto the trap of thinking the French aremassively behind the Greeks,” saidJerome Fourquet, head of opinion atpollster Ifop. “Many will rapidly come tothe conclusion that all we’ve done is stickanother patch on Greece’s puncturedtyre.” — Reuters

For France, mission accomplished as ‘Grexit’ averted

BRUSSELS: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaks with the media as he leaves after a meeting of eurozone heads of state at the EU Councilbuilding yesterday. — AP

BRUSSELS: Eurozone leaders struck a dealyesterday on plans for a bailout to preventdebt-stricken Greece from crashing out of theeuro af ter Athens bowed to draconiandemands for reform. After gruelling 17-hourtalks during which the future of the Europeanproject hung in the balance, leftist GreekPrime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepted termsset by his mistrustful par tners. The dealrequires him to push through a raft of market-oriented laws by tomorrow as a sign of goodfaith, scrut inised by the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) for compliance.

Only then will the 18 other eurozone lead-ers start negotiations over what Greece willget in return: a three-year bailout worth up to86 billion euros ($96 billion), its third rescueprogram in five years. “EuroSummit has unani-mously reached agreement,” EU PresidentDonald Tusk said. “All ready to go for ESM(eurozone bailout fund the European StabilityMechanism) programme for Greece with seri-ous reforms and financial support.”

The last-ditch deal is aimed at keepingGreece’s economy afloat amid fears its cash-starved banks were about to finally run dryand trigger its exit from the single currency.“Grexit has gone,” European CommissionPresident Jean-Claude Juncker told AFP afterthe talks, ruling out the threat of a departurefrom the euro which could have potentiallydestablised the global economy. “The agree-ment was laborious, but it has been conclud-ed. There is no Grexit,” Juncker told a newsconference after 17 hours of bargaining. Hedismissed suggestions that Tsipras had beenhumiliated even though the summit state-ment insisted repeatedly that Greece mustnow subject much of its public policy to prioragreement by bailout monitors. “In this com-promise, there are no winners and no losers,”Juncker said. “I don’t think the Greek people

have been humiliated, nor that the otherEuropeans have lost face. I t is a typicalEuropean arrangement.”

A weary Tsipras insisted the deal was goodfor Greece, even though analysts say the termsare in some respects tougher than those Greekvoters had rejected on his recommendation ina referendum just one week ago. “We fought arighteous battle to the end,” Tsipras said. Thedeal, Tsipras argued, includes help to easeGreece’s huge burden of debt and revive itscrippled banking system. “The great majorityof Greek people will support this effort,” headded. European and Asian markets rose,although the euro ran out of steam as cau-tious dealers awaited clearer details of theaccord.

Tough Sell at Home But Tsipras now faces a tough task selling

the deal to the Greek people, parliament andhis radical Syriza party, which shot to power inJanuary on the back of promises to end fiveyears of bitter austerity under two previousbailouts. Faced with a deeply distrustful euro-zone after six months of tense meetings, the40-year-old Tsipras had to agree to demandsthat critics say rob Greece of financial inde-pendence. “The road will be long, and judgingby the negotiations tonight, difficult,” saidGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe’sleading champion of austerity.

Europe’s first step will be to push the dealthrough several national parliaments, many incountries that are loath to afford Greece morehelp. Germany’s Bundestag is likely to vote onFriday, provided the Greek parliament rushesthrough four new reform laws by tomorrow.Greece has to make sweeping changes tolabour laws, pensions, VAT and taxes, accord-ing to the document, which seeks to regulatesome of the country’s tiniest financial details.

Despite strong opposition, Tsipras alsoyielded to a plan to park assets for privatisa-tion worth up to Ä50 billion ($56 billion) in aspecial fund. Some Ä25 billion of the money inthat fund will then be used to recapitaliseGreece’s cash-starved banks, which have beenbadly damaged by two weeks of capital con-trols. Further humiliations come in the form ofa return of officials from the widely loathed“Troika” of Greece’s creditors - the EuropeanCommission, European Central (ECB) and IMF.There is also a pledge to reverse laws broughtin by the Syriza government since the electionthat run counter to Greece’s earlier bailoutarrangements in 2010 and 2012. The deal con-tained little mention of relieving a Greek debtmountain worth 180 percent of GDP - a steprecommended by the IMF - beyond a vaguemention that it should be considered later.

ThisIsACoup The deal tr iggered angr y reactions on

social media across Europe, where the Twitterhashtag #ThisIsACoup trended. The marathontalks also exposed tensions at the heart of thethe post-war European project, especiallybetween hawkish Berl in and softer Paris,which has been Greece’s biggest supporterduring the crisis. French President FrancoisHollande hailed Tsipras for making a “coura-geous choice” in agreeing to the reformsdespite the political risks at home.

France also led efforts to have a clause on aGerman-backed idea for a “temporary Grexit”option dropped from the leaders statement.Its appearance in an earlier draft marked thefirst time the idea of a euro member leavingthe currency had appeared in black and white.The eurozone must now unite to tackle theimmediate problem of finding funds to keepGreece af loat , as the bai lout could takemonths to finalise.—AFP

European leaders agree

tough Greek bailout dealJuncker denies talks humiliating for Tsipras

LONDON: World markets gave a wearycheer yesterday as euro zone leadersemerged from-all night talks in Brusselswith a deal to keep Greece afloat and partof the euro currency union. Wall Street’sS&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial indexeswere expected to ride Europe’s wave ofrelief when they reopen, with futures mar-kets pointing to gains of 0.7-0.8 percent. AsEurope’s markets opened, EuropeanCouncil President Donald Tusk announcedthat after months of negotiations,overnight discussions had produced a thirdbailout deal in five years for Greece.

“The agreement was laborious, but ithas been concluded. There is no Grexit,”European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conferenceafter 17 hours of bargaining. The head ofthe International Monetary Fund, ChristineLagarde, called it “a good step to rebuildconfidence” in Greece. The pan-EuropeanFTSEurofirst 300 index jumped as much as1.75 percent to hit a two-week high. Italian,Spanish and Portuguese bonds gained ver-sus German Bunds in debt markets.

The euro rose initially against theworld’s other major currencies, thendropped back as traders locked in some ofits gains of recent days. Capital controlsimposed by Athens have limited trading inGreek bonds, but Tradeweb data showedtwo-year yields down 4.81 percentagepoints. US-listed Greek equity assets thatcontinue to trade also surged. “It’s positivethat they’ve reached an agreement and itshould be positive for risk in general,” saidVasileios Gkionakis, Global Head of FXStrategy at UniCredit. “We are seeing a dipin the euro at the moment. But that isbecause of the moves at the end of lastweek; generally this should bode well.”

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras final-ly won conditional agreement to receive apossible Ä86 billion ($95 billion) over threeyears, but he had to pay a high price. Ontop of big cuts in spending, Ä50 billion ($55billion) worth of Greek state assets - includ-ing recapitalised banks - will have to be putinto a trust fund beyond the government’sreach. They would then be sold off, primari-ly to pay down the national debt.

Grin and Bear ItAsian stock markets had kept their

nerve as Greek talks went on through theEuropean night and as Chinese stocks rosefor a third straight session after their recentrout. Data from China showed exports rose2.8 percent in June, while imports slipped6.1 percent, in a tentative sign globaldemand might be on the mend. Chinareports domestic product data tomorrow.Forecasts are that annual growth slowed to6.9 percent last quarter. The CSI300 indexof the largest listed companies in Shanghaiand Shenzhen added 2.6 percent. Thatcame on top of last week’s rally of 5.7 per-cent, after Chinese regulators moved tosteady markets. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.6percent.

“This is victory in the first battles of along-lasting war,” said Hou Yingmin, analystat brokerage Aj Securities. “But it takes timefor market sentiment to fully recover fromthe recent trauma, which was so severe,and bears are likely to make a comeback.”Relief that Greece’s future in the euro wasnow looking more certain undercutdemand for safe-haven assets. Yields onGerman government debt rose 3 basispoints, dragging those on US Treasurieswith them.

For US markets there was also the ongo-ing debate over whether the economy isnow strong enough to cope with less sup-port. The Treasury Department was sched-uled to issue its June budget report. Thedepartment is expected to post a budgetsurplus of $51.0 billion, compared with a$82.4 bill ion deficit reported in May.Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said onFriday that she expects the central bank toraise US interest rates for the first time inalmost a decade this year. She appearsbefore US politicians tomorrow.

In commodity markets, gold fell toward$1,150 an ounce as the dollar regained itsovernight strength. It was up for a thirdstraight day against the yen at 123.35 yenand $1.1084 to the euro. Oil prices wereunder pressure meanwhile, as Iran and sixworld powers looked to be closer to a deal onthe Iranian nuclear program that would bringrelief from sanctions for Tehran and thusmore crude to the market. Brent crude sank$1.24 to $57.49 a barrel and US crude shed 91cents to $51.83 as discussions in Vienna con-tinued following a string of extensions overthe last couple of weeks. —Reuters

Europe gives weary

cheer to Greek deal

FRANKFURT: Traders work at the stock exchange in Frankfurt am Main yesterday. —AFP

NEW YORK: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at The NewSchool yesterday. Clinton used her first major policy speech to outline her economicvision for the US, including a fight for higher wages. — AFP

Hillary Clinton calls for greater income equality NEW YORK: Democratic front-runner HillaryClinton put the fight for higher wages foreveryday Americans at the heart of her eco-nomic agenda yesterday, in the first majorpolicy speech of her White House bid. Clintonsaid the US economy will only run at fullsteam when middle-class wages rise steadilyalong with executive salaries and companyprofits. “I believe we have to build a growthand fairness economy. You can’t have onewithout the other,” she said at The New Schooluniversity in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, abastion of liberal education.

With one eye on the growing support for

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist who is also seeking theDemocratic Party nomination, Clinton laid outa vision of economic equality. “Corporateprofits are at near-record highs andAmericans are working as hard as ever butpaychecks have barely budged in real terms.Families today are stretched in so many direc-tions and so are their budgets,” Clinton said.The former secretary of state promised topush for a broader reform of the US corporatetax code.

Clinton is the favorite to win theDemocratic nomination for the Nov 2016

presidential election but Sanders has drawnlarge crowds at campaign events. She willunveil more specifics of her economic policyin a series of speeches in the coming weeksas Democrats seek more details of her planson increasing the minimum wage, creatinguniversal preschool and investing in infra-structure. Putting some meat on the bones ofher economic policy could divert the focusaway from issues that are dragging onClinton’s popularity, including a controversyover her use of a private email account whileshe was President Barack Obama’s secretaryof state. —Reuters

SINGAPORE: Any nuclear deal betweenIran and six world powers loosening sanc-tions against Tehran could flood an over-supplied oil market with more fuel, yet sec-tors like cement and steel would see a risein demand as the country works to revi-talise its economy. Officials involved inongoing negotiations said on Sunday theywere close to a deal that would bring sanc-tions relief in exchange for curbs to Tehran’satomic program, although no agreementwas expected before Monday.

Analysts have focused largely on oil indetermining the impact on internationalcommodities markets if sanctions are lifted.The timing of any lifting of the measuresthat have cut Iran’s crude exports as well asa United Nations Security Council armsembargo and ban on its ballistic missileprogram have been among the major stick-ing points on reaching a deal. But evenwith a diplomatic agreement this week itwould take time for Iran to start exportinglarge amounts of crude again as the sanc-tions on exports would first need to be for-mally lifted and Iran’s crumbling oil infra-structure modernised.

“ They can add about 200,000 bpd,which is not a significant volume,” said NickSharma, managing director at research &consulting firm IHS, estimating that itwould take at least 18 months for Iran toadd another million bpd to exports. Japan’sgovernment-affiliated Institute of EnergyEconomics said that if there was a dealIran’s oil output might rise by 700,000-800,000 barrels bpd by the second half of2016.

Iran, a member of the Organization ofthe Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)has some of the world’s biggest oilreserves. It exported almost 3 million bar-rels per day (bpd) of crude at its peak,before Western sanctions over its allegedambitions to build a nuclear bomb sawshipments collapse to about a million bpd

over the last 2-1/2 years. A modest increasein available supplies would still add to anestimated 2.6 million barrels of crude beingproduced each day in excess of daily globaldemand, threatening to overwhelm on andoff-shore storage capacities. Analysts say afurther swell in spot supplies will dragprices back to or below levels seen duringthe peak of the global financial crisis of2008/2009.

Iran Needs Cement, Steel and FoodWhile Iran’s oil potential is already large-

ly priced into the market, analysts say othersectors such as cement, steel and agricul-ture commodities would also be affected.“After years of neglect, should sanctions fallaway, then their oil exports will be able tofund an infrastructure development planthat will need steel, power and cement,”said Ian Claxton, managing director of Thaiship owner Thoresen Shipping. “They cur-rently don’t have cement manufacturingcapabilities so ... bagged or bulk cementcombined with increased steel for con-struction could well be the commoditiesmost affected for bulk shipments withIndia, Middle East and China as origins,” headded.

Claxton said that Iran would also need toimport more agricultural products like rice,wheat, corn and soy meal. “The need forbulk wheat, corn and rice will increase aslocal GDP and disposable income increases,again from Thailand, India, the USA - if all isforgiven - and South America plus the BlackSea,” he said. Iran also used to be a signifi-cant supplier of iron ore to China, althoughanalysts say that due to global oversupplyand record low prices that Iran is unlikely topursue a large-scale resumption in this sec-tor. Western powers have long suspectedIran of aiming to build nuclear weaponsand using its civilian atomic energy pro-gram to cloak its intention - an accusationIran strongly denies. —Reuters

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

DUBAI: Gulf bourses rose yesterday in line witha global equities rally due to the Greek bailoutagreement, but a drop in oil prices because of alikely Iran nuclear deal limited gains in theregion. Brent crude fell 1.8 percent as Tehran andsix world powers were on the brink of finding anuclear deal that would bring sanctions reliefand more oil to the already oversupplied market.Saudi Arabia’s bourse, the most sensitive in theGulf to oil prices because of its heavyweight

petrochemical sector, was the weakest per-former yesterday and edged up just 0.2 percent.

The petrochemical sector index fell 0.4 per-cent, although that was to a large extentbecause of Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co (SAFCO),which dropped 3.1 percent as it went ex-divi-dend. But other sectors were mostly positive,supported by some strong second-quarter earn-ings. Food maker National AgricultureDevelopment Co surged 5.9 percent after post-

ing a 25.4 percent year-on-year increase in quar-terly profit. National Shipping Co of Saudi Arabia(Bahri) added 0.9 percent. It said after tradingclosed that its second-quarter net profit morethan doubled thanks to increased fleet size andrates for transporting spot crude.

UAE, EgyptThe region’s biggest gainer of the day was

Dubai which, as a regional logistics and financial

Gulf markets rally modestly on GreeceMIDEAST MARKETS REPORT

hub, could benefit the most from increasedforeign trade and investment in Iran if thesanctions are lifted. The emirate’s indexrose 0.9 percent with most stocks positive.Heavyweights Emaar Properties and DubaiIslamic Bank added 2.1 and 1.5 percentrespectively. Neighbouring Abu Dhabi’sbourse gained 0.6 percent and Qataredged up 0.4 percent. But oil-sensitivestocks in both markets were weak. AbuDhabi National Energy Co tumbled 6.9 per-cent and petrochemicals giant IndustriesQatar lost 0.7 percent.

The more positive news on Greeceboosted global appetite for risk soinvestors from outside the region were net

buyers on all major markets in the MiddleEast, data from local bourses showed. Buttheir buying failed to support Egypt’s mar-ket, which fell 1.4 percent as local investorsresumed a sell-off, after a drop in tradingvolume in the previous session indicatedthat the market’s rally was faltering.

The Cairo benchmark had risen in thetwo previous days after s inking to ao n e - y e a r l o w o n c o n c e r n s o v e rexchange rates, security and an energyshortage. The property sector cameunder particularly heavy pressure yes-terday. Palm Hills Development tum-b l e d 4 . 8 p e r c e n t a n d M e d i n e t N a s rHousing lost 4.5 percent. —Reuters

Iran deal would add to oil glut, open door to imports

LONDON: Gold slipped 1 percent yesterdayas the dollar rose against the euro afterleaders struck a deal to negotiate a Greekbailout, while signals the Federal Reservewas still on track to raise rates this year alsoweighed. Greece won conditional agree-ment to receive a possible $95 billion overthree years. Spot gold fell to a session lowof $1,150.78 an ounce earlier and wasdown 0.9 percent at $1,153.52 an ounce by1400 GMT, after posting three straightweekly declines.

US gold for August delivery fell 0.5 per-cent to $1,151.50 an ounce. Gold, typicallyviewed as an alternative investment intimes of financial and economic uncertain-ty, had not seen significant retail buying asa result of the Greek crisis, due generally toa robust dollar and prospects of higher USinterest rates, which would increase theopportunity cost of holding gold.

“Gold has failed to perform throughoutthe crisis, while the expectation for a ratehike in the US has gone on for so long thatthe gold price is now close to the cost ofproduction,” bullion broker Sharps PixleyCEO Ross Norman said. The dollar rose 0.6percent against a basket of currencies,mostly due to a weaker euro, while global

shares rose, further diminishing investorappetite for assets perceived as safer, suchas gold. Also a drag on gold were signalsfrom Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen onFriday that the US central bank is on courseto raise interest rates within this year.

Yellen said while the US economyshould grow steadily for the remainder ofthe year, allowing the Fed to raise rates forthe first time in nearly a decade, labourmarkets remained weak. “We are 50/50between a rate hike in September and onein December and that’s part of the reasonwe are seeing gold falling towards $1,100in the fourth quarter,” Deutsche Bank ana-lyst Michael Lewis said.

Hedge funds and money managersbailed out of COMEX gold and si lverfutures and options at the fastest pace inat least a year in the week to July 7, datashowed. Physical demand for gold wastepid last week as prospective investors inChina chased bargains in equities after amarket sel loff, while those in Indiadelayed purchases. Silver dropped 1.5percent to $15.35 an ounce, palladiumrose 1.1 percent to $656.25 an ounce andplatinum fell 0.4 percent to $1,024.74 anounce. —Reuters

Gold slips as dollar rises on Greece, Fed

LONDON: Oil prices tumbled yesterday asIran and six world powers appeared to beclosing in on a nuclear deal that would endsanctions on the Islamic Republic and letmore Iranian oil on to world markets. Newsof a unanimous agreement by Europeanleaders on a bailout loan for Athens, whichshould allow Greece to stay in the eurozone, helped pare early losses. Brent crudefor August fell $1.89 to a low of $56.84 abarrel before rallying back to around$57.70 by 1300 GMT. US light crude, alsoknown as West Texas Intermediate (WTI),was down 60 cents at $52.14 a barrel.

Iran and six world powers were on thebrink of finding a nuclear deal that wouldbring sanctions relief in exchange for curbson Tehran’s nuclear program, officials anddiplomats said. A senior Iranian negotiatorsaid a nuclear deal would be signed butcautioned there was work to be done andhe could not promise the talks would con-clude on Monday or Tuesday. “I cannotpromise whether the remaining issues canbe resolved tonight or tomorrow night,”

Iran’s Tasnim news agency quoted DeputyForeign Minister Abbas Araqchi as saying.

The chance of Iran adding to a global oilsurplus at a time of weak demand led someanalysts to forecast more oil prices falls.Bank of America Merrill Lynch said UScrude prices “could soon drop well belowour $50 per barrel target” in the third quar-ter of 2015. Commerzbank said a fall below$55 per barrel in Brent and below $50 perbarrel in US crude was “conceivable”. Oilprices pared early sharp losses afterEuropean Council President Donald Tusksaid euro zone leaders had “unanimouslyreached agreement” on a deal for Greece.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras confirmedGreece had secured debt restructuring andmedium-term financing in a growth pack-age worth euro 35 billion ($38.7 billion) in adeal with its creditors. But the oil marketremained bearish. “Implementation risksremain, and a possible nuclear deal withIran should limit the upside,” said CarstenFritsch, senior oil and commodities analystat Commerzbank in Frankfurt. —Reuters

Oil tumbles as Iran nuclear deal looms

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

KUWAIT: Despite the negativesentiments surrounding the sector(telecom index declined by 17.7percent in 2014 and 12.8 percentfor YTD-15), we have an ‘outper-form’ rating on Zain and Viva as webelieve that the worst is alreadypriced-in and it’s time to reconsid-er fundamental factors and have arelook at the sector.

Zain’s revenue saw minimalvolatility over the past five yearsand has basically declined at 5-year CAGR of 0.8 percent between2009 and 2014. We expect Zain topost marginal increase in revenues

starting in 2016 after the invest-ments made in 3G in Iraq and the4G adoption in Jordan results intogarnering additional subscribers.We expect a 5-year revenue CAGRof 2.8 percent till 2019e partiallyoffset by an expected decline inrevenue at Zain Kuwait due to adecline in ARPU further exacerbat-ed by limited growth in subscribercount in the country.

Viva’s total revenue increased ata 5-year CAGR of 40.7 percent,

higher than the rate of increase inthe subscriber base on the back ofhigher historical ARPU. However,we expect a more normalized rev-enue growth in the future at aCAGR of 7.3 percent over the nextfive years until 2019 to reach KD339.3 million on the back of a mar-ginal increase in subscriber baseand ARPU as well as a higher pro-portion of postpaid subscribers.

Data services would generatecash going forward: Data revenuesaccounted for as high as 35 per-cent of Zain’s Q1-15 revenues. Inthe case of Viva, we believe datarevenues account for an evenhigher percentage of total rev-enues as Viva has a more data cen-tric strategy. However, we don’texpect data services to give anycompetitive edge to any of theplayers in Kuwait.

Both technical and fundamentalparameters favor the stocks: BothZain and Viva trade at a significantdiscount of 43.2 percent and 45.3percent on for ward EV/EBITDAmultiple, respectively. In terms offundamental factors like revenue

growth and profitability, we do notexpect to see any negative set-backs for either of the stocks,except in the case of Zain whereina prolonged uncertain environ-

ment in Iraq could cost it in termsof both revenue and profits.

Industry Overview -MENATelecoms

The typical ‘Trinity’ persists inKuwait

The common theme of a three-player telecom market in theMENA region finally happened inKuwait after Viva entered the mar-ket in 2009. The market structurehas evolved completely over theyears and market dynamics haveturned against the incumbents.The three players in the market

have operations in multiple coun-tries and come with significant bal-ance sheet strength and technicalknowledge of operations. This isone of the reasons why the marketshare has emerged to an approxi-mately one third of the subscribermarket share for each of the threeplayers.

Prior to divesting its Africanoperations in 2008, Zain had amuch larger footprint in theMiddle East and African region.

However, a decision to focus oncore markets in the MENA where itholds significant market share ledto the diversification. Zain current-ly leads in several of its marketwith significant market power,whereas STC and Ooredoo contin-ue to give tough competition tothe incumbent in most of the mar-kets where they have overlappingoperations.

It is pertinent to note that oneof the stark differences betweenthe diversif ication and marketpresence strategies of the threeplayers is that when Zain limits itsoperations to its core markets, STCand Ooredoo expanded to exploreother growth markets. STC forinstance has operations in Asia(India and Malaysia) and so doesOoredoo with its recent bid forwireless spectrum in Myanmar,which we believe would be count-er accretive to the company’s bot-tom-line. Ooredoo also has opera-tions in a much large base in theAsian region which also includesMaldives, Pakistan, and Singapore.

Furthermore, when Zain contin-

ues to focus on providing wirelesstelecom services, STC and Ooredoohave been more aggressive onexpanding operations into otherrelated businesses. STC started the

IPTV business and acquired a PTToperator in Saudi Arabia whereasOoredoo also has business relatedto telecom services but of a morediversified nature including broad-band services, a telecom invest-ment arm and a managed ICT serv-ices company.

As seen in the below chart, amajority of the telecom markets inthe MENA region consists of threeplayers. In terms of total number ofsubscriber, Egypt leads in theregion with almost a 100 millionsubscriber base split into threeplayers. In the GCC, Saudi Arabialeads with a total subscriber countthat stood at 53.1 million as at theend of 2013.

It’s a volume gamefrom now onwards...

The telecom market in the GCCregion has matured with minimaldifferentiating factors among theplayers. In order to defend theirturf from new challengers enteringthe market, the incumbents havestarted playing the price card byoffering largely similar telecomplans. This has affected the overallARPU in the market. Establishedincumbents like STC, Mobily, Zainand Ooredoo have sizable pres-ence in their respective marketswhich in most cases is recedingdue to the chal lengers.Nevertheless, the incumbents con-tinue to hold the lucrative post-paid subscriber base that givesthem the profitability edge overnew entrants.

Higher ARPU results in higher EV Stronger ARPU is a direct result

of capital investments made by theoperator. This assumption is clearlyshown in the below chart whencompared to the ARPU chart. Thechart shows that enterprise valueper subscriber metric for playerwith relatively higher ARPUs pri-mari ly feature at the top theEV/subscriber chart implying adirect relationship between thetwo key metrics in the telecomindustry.

Qatari players have one of thehighest EV per subscriber and theyalso feature at the top of the ARPUchart. A similar comparison can bemade for Et isalat , Zain andVodafone Qatar. On the otherhand, Zain Bahrain, Zain KSA,Mobily and Nawras are at the tailend of both the charts.

But ROCE shows a totally tilted picture...

A telecom service, being a capi-tal intensive business, gives signifi-cant market power to cash richincumbents. Although the signifi-cant investments made by the big-ger multi-country players in thetelecom market in the GCC givesthem an edge in terms of pricingpower, their profitability on totalinvestment or total capitalemployed tai ls behind smallerplayers. The previous chart clearlyshows that Viva Kuwait has thehighest return on CapitalEmployed (ROCE) of 44.4 percentfol lowed by Du and erstwhileNawras and Omantel. On the otherhand, bigger players like Etisalat,Zain, STC and Ooredoo all haveone of the lowest levels of ROCE.

Telecom Share Performance The telecom sector in the GCC

had an overall negative trend in2014 and YTD-15 primarily due to

industry heavyweights like Zain,Ooredoo and Mobily that resultedin the poor share performance ofthe entire sector. On the otherhand, most of the single countryoperators have had a posit iveshare performance.

Telecom Market in Kuwait With one of the highest GDP per

capita in the world, Kuwait’s tele-com market is one of the mostadvanced markets in the worldand one of the first to adopt anynew technology. However, withminimal population and concen-trated nature of the market, thecountry also has one of the highestpenetration levels.

One of the densest telecom markets in the world...

Kuwait boasts the highest tele-com penetration levels in theMENA region, which at the end of2013 stood at 190.3 percent.According to the most recentindustry data available from Zain,the penetration levels in Kuwaitreached approximately 221 per-cent by the end of Q1-15. This wasalso due to the fact that Kuwaitcontinues to remain one of themost advanced telecom marketsand one of the first markets in theregion that deployed the 4G LTEnetwork. Meanwhile, the totalsubscriber base in Kuwait hasincreased at a CAGR of 14.3 per-cent over the past five years andstood at 7.9 million at the end ofQ1-15.

Constantly changing market share dynamics...

Zain being the oldest telecomservice provider in Kuwait has pre-dominantly led the market shareover the years. The company com-manded a subscriber market shareof 55 percent at the end of 2008when Kuwait was a two playermarket. However, its share hasbeen constantly declining afterViva entered the market. Zain cur-rently holds a subscriber marketshare of 36.7 percent followed byViva and Ooredoo with almostequal market shares. Zain’s marketshare reached a low of 35.1 per-cent by the end of 2014 butincreased for the first time duringQ1-15. On the other hand, Viva’smarkets share has been consistent-ly increasing over the years from aslow as 14.9 percent in 2009, its firstyear of operation, to 31.7 percentat the end of Q1-15.

In terms revenue market share,the picture is a l itt le different.Zain’s revenue market share hasdecl ined at a faster pace fromalmost 60 percent in 2009 to 42.5percent in Q1-15, whereas Viva hasmanaged to increase its revenuemarket share from a mere 7.2 per-cent in 2009 to 34.5 percent in Q1-15. Viva gained the market shareprimari ly grabbing it fromOoredoo, which recorded consid-erable decline in its market share.

Despite gradually falling, ARPUcontinues to remain strong... Kuwait being one of the hotly

contested markets in the regionowing to its high ARPU and one ofthe highest GDP/capita in theworld recorded higher ARPUs ascompared to most of the neigh-boring countries. However, overthe past four years, ARPU hasdeclined consistently at a negativeCAGR of 8.4 percent owing to

higher competit ion. Averageindustry ARPU at the end of Q1-15stood at KWD 8.6 as compared todouble digit ARPU up until 2012.

Zain has been and continues tobe the market leader in terms ofARPU with a Q1-15 ARPU of KWD9.2 ($31). The company has a rela-tively stronger base of postpaidsubscribers in its portfolio whichresulted in higher ARPUs. However,Viva has also emerged as a strongcompetitor to Zain. The companyhas consistently recorded anincrease in ARPU i.e. when Zain’sARPU declined at a 4-year CAGR of10 percent, Viva’s ARPU has trend-ed upwards at the rate of 6.3 per-cent over the same time. Viva over-took industry ARPU at the end ofQ1-15 when its ARPU increased toKWD 9.3. Meanwhile, Ooredoo’sARPU has seen the steepestdecline over the years with a nega-tive CAGR of 12.8 percent over thepast four years.

Industry revenue continues toincrease but at a declining rate...

Total telecom revenues generat-

ed by the three wireless playersreached KWD 753.2 million at theend of 2014 growing at a 5-yearCAGR of 4.7 percent. The increasewas led by subscribers additionspartially offset by declining ARPUs.Zain, the market leader in terms ofrevenues, recorded minimalchange in total revenues over thepast s ix years whereas Vivaexpanded its revenue base consis-tently and overtook Ooredoo dur-ing 2014 when it reported rev-enues of KWD 239.0 mil l ion ascompared to Ooredoo’s KWD 168million. In terms of EBITDA margin,Zain once again leads the packwith an average margin of above

48 percent over the past 6 years.The Company owes its strong mar-gin to its postpaid subscribers.Nevertheless, Viva has grown itsEBITDA margin consistently overthe years and now reports marginsin l ine with that of Zain. Viva’sreported EBITDA margin stood at47.2 percent in 2014 as comparedto Zain’s 47.9 percent.

Capex intensive industry... The telecom industr y in the

MENA region has seen highercapex investment in 2014 as com-pared to its global peers. Theseinvestments were primarily madeto deploy 3G and 4G ser vicesacross the region when advancedeconomies in the US and Europehave already made the init ialinvestment in these technologies.

As seen in the char t , capexinvestment as a percentage oftotal revenue (capex intensity) forZain and Viva stood at above theindustry averages. Capex intensityfor GCC telecom players stood at21.5 percent indicating higherinvestment in 4G services as com-

pared to Non-GCC Peers for whichthe average stood at a significantlylow level of 16.2 percent.Meanwhile, total MENA capexintensity stood at 19.6 percent for2014. Absolute capex investmentwas the highest for the Ooredoogroup which stood at $2.9 billionin 2014 followed by $2.4 billion inthe case of Etisalat and $1.8 billionmade by STC. The capex invest-ment was primarily made in fixedassets whereas investment inintangible assets, which includesspectrum charges and customeracquisition costs (handset subsi-dies), stood at around 20 percentof the total capex investment.

Time to have a relook at telecom sectorKAMCO INVESTMENT RESEARCH REPORT

B U S I N E S STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecom-munications company in Kuwait,announced the launch of its latestoffering to postpaid customers;enabling them to enjoy one of severalentertainment services for two com-plimentary months when they sub-scribe to any of Zain’s postpaid smart-phone plans.

Zain’s latest announcement reflectsits customer-centric strategy thataims at providing a superior telecom-

munications experience to customersbased on their needs. The new enter-tainment services enable customersto enjoy an array of applicationsthrough their smartphones, tablets,and personal computers. Upon sub-scribing to one of Zain’s postpaidsmartphone plans, customers will beable to choose between Go Online TVby OSN, icflix, Anghami and Ridlee fora two month complimentary period.

“GO Online T V” by OSN offers a

diverse portfolio of blockbusterHollywood films, television series,popular Arabic and Turkish series, andan array of children’s entertainment towatch on multiple devices. Furtherapplications include “icflix”, a video-on-demand service with a large col-lection of movies delivered fromHollywood, Bollywood and Jazwood(Arabic) through an online entertain-ment platform all in one place.

The offer also includes “Ridlee”

service which allows customers tostay in touch with all callers throughmissed calls and automatic notifica-tions. In addition to these services,Zain brings “Anghami” applicationthat enables customers to downloadthe latest Arabic and internationalmusic by the best artists in the worldfrom a large collection of playlists thatsuits customers’ diversified musicpreferences.

As a leading telecommunications

company, Zain is continuouslyexpanding its portfolio of digital serv-ices to enhance customers’ lifestyles.By presenting this service, Zain sparesno efforts in offering customers withthe latest and most exciting servicesand promotions in the telecommuni-cations field, and the company’s lat-est announcement reinforces itskeenness in keeping customers at theforefront of digital entertainmentofferings.

Zain offers entertainment apps with postpaid plans

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwaitrewards all its Zeina account holderswith a special offer at KidZania. TwentyZeina customers will win 10 tickets toKidZania in a monthly draw. NBK Zeinaaccount holders will get one chance toenter the monthly draw for every KD10 saved in their account. Chances forwinning can also be doubled by hav-ing a standing order to their account.NBK customers will also enjoy an occa-sional 50 percent discount onKidzania’s tickets when using NBKZaina Debit cards or any NBK CreditCard.

As the leading bank in Kuwait, andthe first to partner with KidZaniaKuwait, NBK provides all bank activitiesin the kid-centric city to teach childrenreal life aspects of banking and finan-cial responsibility. NBK’s branch inKidZania introduces children to aunique experience in basic bankingservices, where they can earn, spend,deposit and withdraw ‘KidZos’,Kidzania’s official national currency,through the NBK branch and ATMs.

NBK provides Zeina account holderswith a wide range of promotionaloffers, quarterly draws, as well as spe-cial events throughout the year. Zeinaaccount provides children from birthto less than 15 with their first bankaccount in order to learn about basic

banking services such as saving andbanking with the help of their parents.It also provides parents with the toolsthey need to accomplish their chil-dren’s long term savings goals in a funand rewarding manner.

DUBAI: Bain & Company revealedthe results of its 14th biennial indexof 25 of the most popular manage-ment tools and trends. More than1,000 senior executives represent-ing companies of all sizes aroundthe world responded to the 2015survey, Management Tools & Trends,which found that executives aremore confident in the global econo-my and their company’s financialperformance than they’ve been inthe recent past. As a result, they areleaning more heavily on manage-ment tools to advance their longer-term growth strategies. Nearly halfof the firms surveyed said they arelooking to new tools to tackle press-ing management challenges, suchas increased business complexity,cyber-attacks and waning customerloyalty.

“Our survey findings are consis-tent with what we have been hear-ing in GCC boardrooms. Executivesand directors are cautiously opti-mistic about the economic outlookin their industries given the latestdownward trend in the oil prices,and they are looking to manage-ment tools to help grow their busi-ness coming out of the downturn,”said Joe Rahi, Principal in Bain &Company’s Middle East office.

KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:Business Challenges: While

three-quarters of executives inEurope, the Middle East and Africa(EMEA) feel their firm’s financial per-formance is strong, they citeincreased complexity, the threat ofcyber-attack, increased IT spendingdemands and the erosion of cus-tomer loyalty as front-burner chal-lenges.

• Increasing complexity: Nearly70 percent of EMEA executives sur-veyed believe that increasing com-plexity will contribute to highercosts that will hinder companygrowth.

• Cyber-attacks: The threat ofcyber-attack remains a legitimateconcern in EMEA and in theHealthcare and Financial Services

sectors, which collect and utilizesensitive customer data that can beattractive to cyber-criminals. Nearlyhalf of executives were “very con-cerned,” the same as in 2013, butbehind Asia-Pacific (74 percent) andNorth America (60 percent).

• IT spending: 56 percent ofEMEA executives believe that overthe next three years IT spendingmust increase to keep up with therapid pace of change and to remaincompetitive; and 40 percent feelthat current IT infrastructure, whichis often burdened with legacy sys-tems, also restrain growth - on parwith North America and LatinAmerica, but less concerned thanAsia Pacific (57 percent).

• Customer loyalty: Executivescontinue to be concerned with cus-tomers’ declining brand loyalty.Two-thirds said that customerswere less loyal to brands than theyused to be.

• Growth strategy: Nearly two-thirds of executives in the EMEAregion surveyed believe that merg-ers and acquisitions will be a criticalgrowth strategy in their industry -trailing Asia Pacific (74 percent), butahead of North America and LatinAmerica.

Tool Usage Trends: Companiesdeploy a wide and ever-shiftingarray of management tools toaddress business challenges andcapture business opportunities.However, different segmentsweight the use and satisfaction ofvarious tools largely based on com-pany size, scope of effort and geog-raphy. Larger companies in EMEAuse the greatest number of tools.Executives also expressed more sat-isfaction when using tools for majorefforts, such as full scale transforma-tions, than programs more limitedin scope.

• Tool usage among EMEA exec-utives declined slightly from 2012 -an average of 6.6 tools were used in2014, down from 6.8

• In EMEA, Disruptive InnovationLabs, customer segmentation,strategic planning and employee

engagement surveys received thehighest satisfaction scores; out-sourcing in EMEA was the lowestscore across all tools.

• Among tool usage acrossEMEA, customer relationship man-agement, benchmarking, outsourc-ing and Balanced Scorecard wererated highest; zero-based budget-ing and Disruptive Innovation Labswere used least.

• Founders’ Mentality(r) wasmore visible in China and India (71

percent) and Latin America (64 per-

cent) versus the US (55 percent) andEurope (43 percent). Emergingmarket executives are more likely tofeel the principles and passions oftheir founders guiding their busi-ness.

• EMEA executives were slightlymore satisfied with the majority oftools than their North Americancounterparts, but less satisfied thanAsia-Pacific executives, suggestingless of a focus in many of Europe’sdeveloped markets on drivingaggressive company growth, com-pared to those in Asia’s emergingmarkets.

• Complexity Management wasnot a highly used tool even thoughincreasing complexity was identi-fied as one of most pressing busi-ness challenges in EMEA.

• Established market firms con-tinue to lean toward using more tra-ditional tools such as Benchmarking

and Employee EngagementSurveys.

• Emerging market firms havebeen early champions of new toolssuch as Big Data Analytics, DigitalTransformation and DisruptiveInnovation Labs.

Rahi added: “With the exceptionof some sectors, financial perform-ance is currently perceived asimproving albeit with some chal-lenges: insufficient insight into con-sumer needs is still hamperinggrowth in some industries.Meanwhile excessive and growingcomplexity still affects costs.Adaptability to continuous changesin the business environment will bea key differentiator for sustainedvalue creators, and investment ininnovation will drive long-termsuperior economics.”

Future Tool Trends: The populari-ty and usage of specific manage-ment tools changes over time.Certain tools such as CustomerRelationship Management andBenchmarking demonstrate consis-tent staying power in Europe, theMiddle East and Africa (EMEA). Thedata show that others, such as TotalQuality Management, are used farless today than they were 20 yearsago, suggesting that some tools,follow life cycles similar to manyconsumer products:

• About 45 percent of EMEAexecutives surveyed say that overthe next three years they will focusmore on revenue growth than costcutting. This may be one reason forthe increasing popularity of BigData Analytics, which can help com-panies more effectively segmentand target customers.

• Established market firms con-tinue to lean toward using more tra-ditional tools such as Benchmarkingand Employee EngagementSurveys.

• Emerging market firms havebeen early champions of new toolssuch as Big Data Analytics, DigitalTransformation and DisruptiveInnovation Labs.

GCC companies use tools to reduce

complexity and fast track growth

LONDON: Bank of America Merrill Lynchwon the highest number of global awardsfrom Euromoney magazine, being namedBest Global Loan House, Best GlobalTransaction Services House and Best GlobalBank for Corporate Social Responsibility inthe Euromoney 2015 Awards for Excellence.

“These awards are a testament to ourfully integrated global platform and world-class talent,” said Christian Meissner, headof Global Corporate and InvestmentBanking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.“The recognition as both Best Global LoanHouse and Best Global Transaction ServicesHouse underscores the power of our teamto deliver innovative financial solutions tai-lored to the unique needs of clients aroundthe world.”

“We are honored to be recognized byEuromoney for the second consecutiveyear as the Best Global Transaction ServicesHouse,” added Ather Williams, head ofGlobal Transaction Services at Bank ofAmerica Merrill Lynch. “We thank ourclients for entrusting us with their business,and we look forward to working with themin the years to come, as the cash manage-ment and payments industries continue toevolve and demand new approaches andinnovations to trade finance and treasurymanagement.”

“Being named Best Global Bank forCorporate Social Responsibility is confirma-tion of our commitment to making finan-cial lives better,” said Andrew Plepler, GlobalCorporate Social Responsibility executive.“Ensuring that sustainable practices areintegrated into our products, services andbusiness activities allows us to best serve

our clients and communities around theworld. Through strategic partnerships andthe responsible deployment of our assetsand resources, we can effect long-termpositive change.”

In the publication’s write-up about theloans honor, Euromoney wrote: “Lendingremains at the very heart of finance andthe relationship between banks and theirclients. As some of their rivals pull back,Bank of America Merrill Lynch stands out asa true loans powerhouse on a genuinelyglobal scale.”

For transaction services, the publicationsaid: “Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s USstrength is not in doubt, but it’s buildingrevenues and winning mandates on a regu-lar basis in Europe, Latin America and Asia.It’s no longer just the momentum cash andpayments house - it’s a true global com-petitor now.”

For corporate social responsibility, thepublication noted: “In a highly competitivecategory, Bank of America Merrill Lynchstood out to the Euromoney editorial pan-el. The bank is supporting impact invest-ment and leading from the front as thegreen bond market flourishes. Its CatalyticFinance Initiative, to which the bank hascommitted $1 billion and hopes to raiseanother $10 billion, could be a real game-changer in the CSR space.”

The Euromoney Awards for Excellencewere established in 1992 and are the globalbenchmark for the banking industry. Theseannual awards cover more than 20 globalproduct categories, best-in-class awards inall regions and the best banks in close to100 countries around the world.

NBK rewards Zeina account

holders with KidZania offers

Bank of America Merrill Lynch earns

top honors at Euromoney Awards

Residences at Palazzo Versace start handover

DUBAI: The 169 ultra-luxuriousResidences at Palazzo Versace inDubai Creek are currently beinghanded over to their owners.Developed by luxury real estatecompany ENSHAA PSC and inspiredby the spirit and design flair ofHouse of Versace, the Residencesset new standards of elegant livingin Dubai.

Ranging in size from one to fivebedrooms, the Residences atPalazzo Versace provide a lifestyleexperience that truly reflects theopulence and sophistication forwhich House of Versace is globally

renowned. All the elements havebeen designed and conceived tomatch the desire of space, comfortand uniqueness, custom made fur-niture, generously bright and spa-cious interiors, Versace artworks,exquisite mosaic and marble floor-ing spread across the interior, par-quet in each bedroom, every ele-ment is a testimony towards Italianluxury artisanat and craftsmanship.The Residences at Palazzo Versacealso boasts spectacular views of theDubai Creek and are locatedjust tenminutes away from the airport anddowntown Dubai.

Speaking on the handover,ENSHAA PSC CEO, Raza Jafar said,“We are delighted to commencethe handover of The Residences atPalazzo Versace to their owners andare grateful for the support of allour customers; we are proud todeliver an outstanding project. I amparticularly thankful to our team,for their hard work, dedication andpassion for creating an iconicdevelopment; the end result istruthfully remarkable and I am con-fident that it will set new standardsof luxury living and comfort in theregion”.

New level of fine living

RUSTENBURG, South Africa: Deep under-ground, where huge conveyer belts haul rocksto the surface, 33-year-old mother of twoBernice Motsieloa represents the quiet revolu-tion transforming the macho culture of SouthAfrican mining. Motsieloa is a shift supervisorat Anglo American’s Bathopele platinum mineone of several thousand female minersemployed in a difficult and often dangerousenvironment traditionally dominated by men.

Despite an apartheid-era ban on womenworking underground only being lifted in1996, 15 percent of all employees in the min-ing sector are now female, exceeding the gov-ernment’s own target of 10 percent. Butreports of sexual harassment are common,and some retired miners say female minersface pressure to offer sexual favours to theirmale colleagues. Motsieloa said she has neversuffered physical violence since first goingdown the pits in 2002 doing manual labour ina gold mine, though she vividly recalls the ver-bal abuse she endured. “It was hard. We wereopenly called names by our male colleagueswho told us ‘this is not your place’,” she toldAFP. “At first it was not easy, I wanted to quit.We had to put up with men who were notused to working with women.”

A few kilometres from the Bathopele mine,a female worker was raped and killed under-ground in another Anglo American Platinummine in 2012. A blood-stained stone was leftnext to her body. Three months ago, anotherfemale worker was raped in the changingrooms at a different mine also owned by the

firm, but escaped with her life. “I was shockedand did not trust this environment anymore...Working alone, what if this happens?” saidMotsieloa, who is always in radio contact withthe control room at surface level. “It really hadan effect on me. I was thinking, ‘what if some-one just shows up?’”

Tough Workplace Whatever the challenges, Motsieloa exudes

authority as leader of her mainly-male team of22 workers, and she dismisses any suggestionshe might consider a change in profession.“For me, mining was not my first choice, but Iended up doing it,” she said. “Now I love it. Forme, being underground is like being in anoffice.” It is an unusual place to earn a living -in a pit as deep as 350 m, surrounded by heavymachinery and tunnels marked with dangersigns.

Lighting is minimal, with lamps mountedon hard-hats illuminating the path ahead andghost-like visions of men in white overalls.Nozuko Ogyle, one of three women onMotsieloa’s team, said she felt that womenneeded to work twice as hard to be taken seri-ously. “The job is physically challenging, and aswomen we must show that we can do it,” theconveyor-belt attendant said. “I do hear aboutstories of harassment but not here, where Iwork.” Anglo American Platinum, the mineowner, is South Africa’s largest private sectoremployer and has 3,081 women working inunderground operations.

It has introduced a “buddy buddy” system

to ensure that women don’t work alone whendown the mines, as well as setting up a sexualharassment hotline. Other new safety meas-ures include surveillance cameras and biomet-ric identity turnstiles at entrances to women’schanging facilities. “Women have been able totalk to us and say ‘you should do this’... so Ithink there will be an ongoing process tomake women feel safe in our mines,” ChrisGriffith, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, toldAFP.

South Africa has one of the highest raperates in the world, according to official statis-tics, though exact global comparisons are diffi-cult. About 46,250 rapes were reported in2013/14, and the South African MedicalResearch Council has estimated only one innine cases are taken to the police.

‘Sexual Favours’ Research by Asanda Benya of the University

of the Witwatersrand in 2009 found thatwomen were being exploited in mining, a keySouth African industry that employs about amillion people. The study, entitled “Women inMining: A challenge to occupational culture inmines”, collected witness evidence that shiftbosses engaged in sex with female mine work-ers. “Men still see women as sexual objects,and as a result transactional sex is on the rise,”it said. “Sexual favours are very commonunderground.”

Retired miner Elias Mkhonza acknowl-edged that sex was an issue in mines, withsome men demanding sexual favours in

exchange for helping women with strenuoustasks. “‘I do your job, you give me something.’It’s like that,” he said. “Many do it undergroundbecause, once we are out, people go (back) totheir partners.” The veteran mineworker, with22 years of experience in the gold sector,believes that women are not suited for minework and should “never be allowed under-ground”.

But Motsieloa strongly disagrees. After get-

ting bored with manual labour, sheapproached her manager and started trainingin 2006, first becoming a skilled miner andthen a supervisor. “I have learnt that there isnothing that is out of reach. If men can do it,then women can do it even better,” she said,adding a warning to employers. “Women don’tjust need to seize the opportunities in order tosucceed, they also need support from thebosses.” — AFP

S African female miners break ground

RUNSTENBURG, South Africa: Miner Bernice Motsieloa briefs miners on their daily dutiesat the Anglo American Bathopele Mine in North Western Province of South Africa, some170 km from Johannesburg, on June 11, 2015. — AFP

Raza Jafar

Joe Rahi

T E C H NOLO G YTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

DUBAI: Middle East and Africa (MEA)smartphone shipments are set to total155 million units in 2015 after increasing66% year on year during the first quarterto reach more than 36 million units,according to the latest figuresannounced today by global technologyconsulting firm International DataCorporation (IDC). The company’s ‘Q12015 Mobile Phone Tracker’ shows thatsmartphones accounted for 63% of thehandsets shipped in the Middle Eastduring the quarter and 47% in Africa.This comes at the expense of featurephones, which suffered year-on-yeardeclines of around 20% in both regionsand will make up just 27% of the overallMEA handset market by the end of 2019.

The growth in smartphones in theMEA region is being spurred by Google’sAndroid and Apple’s iOS, with the twoplatforms accounting for over 95% ofthe smartphones shipped in Q1 2015.Shipments of devices featuring theseoperating systems increased by a com-bined67% year on year. In the MiddleEast, Android currently represents 80%of market’s volume, while iOS accounts

for 17%; in Africa, these figures stand at89% and 7%, respectively. Android isparticularly dominant in the low to mid-priced bands, while iOS is mainly foundin the $450+ price category.

Blackberry suffers BlackBerry once again suffered signif-

icant year-on-year declines across theregion in Q1 2015, with the vendor’sshipments falling 14% in Africa and 29%in the Middle East. “The launch of a num-ber of new models by the vendor seemsto have had little impact on lifting theBlackBerry brand out of its continuingdecline,” says Isaac T Ngatia, a seniorresearch analyst at IDC. “The loss of thecorporate segment, spurred by the con-tinued uptake of bring-your-own-devicepolicies among the region’s enterprises,has had an adverse effect onBlackBerry’s performance in the market.”

The strong growth in the region’ssmartphone market is largely being driv-en by the emergence of low-priceddevices that are primarily powered byAndroid. Indeed, almost half of all thesmartphones shipped across Africa

(45.1%) in Q1 2015 were priced below$100, while almost 75% fall under $200.Low-priced smartphones are also havinga considerable impact in the MiddleEast, with the $100-200 price bandaccounting for the market’s biggestshare.

“This price bracket seems to be thesweet point for most vendors launchingin the region, as well as for establishedvendors looking to increase their sharesby targeting the lower end of the mar-ket,” says Nabila Popal, research managerfor IDC’s Mobile Phone Tracker in theMiddle East, Africa, and Turkey. “This hasresulted in phones priced under $200accounting for about36% of the MiddleEast smartphone market, while at theother end of the spectrum the $450+price band has seen its share fallfrom25% in Africa and 48% in theMiddle East a year ago, to 14% and 34%today.”

Year on growth Nigeria and South Africa contributed

significantly to the overall growth seenin Africa, with the countries experienc-

ing year-on-year growth of 135% and56%, respectively. Nigeria accounted for14% of all smartphone shipments acrossthe continent duringQ1 2015, whileSouth Africa was responsible for 12%.Samsung, Tecno, and Apple were theleading smartphone vendors in Africaduring the quarter, with Huawei beingousted from the top three. The threeleading vendors accounted for a com-bined 55% share of Africa’s smartphoneshipments in Q1 2015.

For the Middle East region, SaudiArabia and Turkey were the biggest mar-kets, with the former accounting forshare of around 20% and the latter for17.6%. Saudi Arabia saw year-on-yearshipment growth of 9.5%, while theTurkish market expanded 33% over thesame period. The region’s fastest growthrate in Q1 2015was seen in Pakistan,where shipments increased 123% yearon year. Samsung, Apple, and Huaweimade up the top three smartphone ven-dors in the Middle East, togetheraccounting for over 65% share of themarket.

In terms of screen sizes, the market

appears to be consolidating within the4-5.5 inches range. “For the Middle East,78% of all smartphone shipments in Q12015 fell into this bracket,” says SaadElkhadem, a research analyst at IDC. “Thestrongest growth was seen for smart-phones with screens of 4.5” to 5.0”, withshipments of such devices increas-ing130% year on year.”

Middle East and Africa smartphone market tops 155 million units

IDC Nabila Popal

CANNES/INGOLSTADT: Audi is taking off for themoon - together with the Part-Time Scientists.Nearly 45 years after NASA’s Apollo 17 completedthe last manned mission to the moon, the coop-erating partners have selected the old landingsite of Apollo 17 as the new target. The group ofGerman engineers in the Part-Time Scientiststeam is working within the Google Lunar XPRIZEcompetition to transport an unmanned roveronto the moon. Audi is supporting the Part-TimeScientists with its know-how in several fields oftechnology - from quattro all-wheel drive andlightweight construction to electric mobility andpiloted driving.

“The concept of a privately financed mission tothe moon is fascinating,” says Luca de Meo, AudiBoard Member for Sales and Marketing. “Andinnovative ideas need supporters that promotethem. We want to send a signal with our involve-ment with the Part-Time Scientists and also moti-vate other partners to contribute their know-how.” Luca de Meo is presenting the partnershiptoday at the international innovation forumCannes Innovation Days. Prof Dr UlrichHackenberg, Audi Board Member for TechnicalDevelopment: “We are pleased to support theproject with our know-how in lightweight tech-nology, electronics and robotics.”

Space exploration The US$30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE is a

competition to challenge and inspire engineersand entrepreneurs from around the world todevelop low-cost methods of robotic spaceexploration. To win the Google Lunar XPRIZE, aprivately funded team must successfully place arobot on the moon’s surface that explores at least500 meters and transmits high-definition videoand images back to Earth. AUDI AG is incorporat-ing its technological know-how into optimizationof the rover of the Part-Time Scientists, the onlyGerman team competing for the Google LunarXPRIZE. The research group’s lunar vehicle hasalready been recognized during the course of the

competition by a jury of aerospace experts withtwo Milestone Prizes. As a cooperating partner,Audi is primarily supporting the team with itsexpertise in lightweight construction and e-mobility, with quattro permanent all-wheel driveand with piloted driving. Audi is also providingwide-ranging assistance in testing, trials and qual-ity assurance. In addition, the Audi ConceptDesign Studio in Munich is revising the rover,which will be named the “Audi lunar quattro,” toensure ideal lightweight construction conditions.

The lunar vehicle with the Audi lunar quattroshould launch into space in 2017 on board alaunching rocket and will travel more than380,000 kilometers to the moon. The trip will takeabout five days. The target landing area is northof the moon’s equator, near the 1972 landing siteof the Apollo 17, NASA’s last manned mission tothe moon. Temperatures fluctuate here by up to300 degrees Celsius.

‘Strong partner’ The Part-Time Scientists developed their lunar

vehicle, which is largely made of aluminum, dur-ing various rounds of testing undertaken in loca-tions such as the Austrian Alps and Tenerife. Anadjustable solar panel captures sunlight anddirects it to a lithium-ion battery. It feeds fourelectric wheel hub motors. A head at the front ofthe vehicle carries two stereoscopic cameras aswell as a scientific camera that examines materi-als. The theoretical maximum speed is 3.6 km/h-but more important on the rugged surface of themoon are the vehicle’s off-road capabilities andability for safe orientation.

“With Audi we have acquired a strong partnerthat will bring us a big step forward with its tech-nological and mobility capabilities,” said RobertBˆhme, founder and head of the Part-TimeScientists. “We look forward to future interactionand a fruitful partnership.”

The Part-Time Scientists team was initiated inlate 2008 by Robert Bˆhme, who works as an ITconsultant in Berlin. The majority of the roughly

35 current engineers on the team come fromGermany and Austria. Experts from three conti-nents support the team, including former leadingNASA employee Jack Crenshaw from Florida.Supporters of the group, in addition to Audi,include numerous research institutions and high-tech companies including NVIDIA, TechnicalUniversity of Berlin, the Austrian Space Forum(OeWF) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).The Google Lunar XPRIZE, which started off withmore than 25 teams, is currently in its final round.Participants in the competition, in addition toPart-Time Scientists, include 15 teams fromaround the world including Brazil, Canada, Chile,Hungary, Japan, Italy, Malaysia and the UnitedStates.

Audi moon mission: Supporting the

team at Google’s Lunar XPRIZE

‘We want to inspire’

TOKYO: Satoru Iwata, who led Japanesevideo game company Nintendo Co.through years of growth with its Pokemonand Super Mario franchises, died onSaturday after a lengthy illness, drawing aflood of emotional tributes from game fansand industry rivals. He was 55. The compa-ny’s statement yesterday said Iwata died ofa bile duct tumor. There was a torrent ofsorrow online for Iwata as a person dedicat-ed to entertaining others.

On Twitter, fans thanked him for child-hood memories and for bringing familiestogether. On some Internet sites, an imageof the flag in the Super Mario game was fly-ing at half-staff. Nintendo Americaannounced it was suspending social mediaactivity for the day “in remembrance” ofIwata. “He didn’t just create technology. Hecreated a whole culture,” said NobuyukiHayashi, a consultant and technologyexpert. “It wasn’t just a consumer productthat he had delivered. He brought to peo-ple something that’s eternal, what peopleremember from when they were kids. Hewas special.”

Iwata, president from 2002, diedSaturday at Kyoto University Hospital. Hehad not been seen recently at game events,such as E3 in Los Angeles, where he wasusually a participant. Iwata led Nintendo’sdevelopment into a global company, withits hit Wii home console and DS handheld,and also through its recent troubles causedby the popularity of smartphones. Hisreplacement was not immediatelyannounced, but the company said stargame designer Shigeru Miyamaoto willremain in the leadership team along withGenyo Takeda, who is also in the gamedevelopment field.

Gaming pioneer Iwata had been poised to lead Nintendo

through another stage after it recently didan about-face and said it will start makinggames for smartphones, meaning thatSuper Mario the plumber would soon startarriving on cellphones and tablets. Thefalloff in appetite for game machines in thepast few years was partly because peopleare increasingly playing games or doingsocial media and other activities on smart-phones. Nintendo has repeatedly had tolower prices on gadgets to woo buyers. Thecompany returned to profit in the fiscalyear ended March 2015 after several yearsof losses.

Until the recent shift in strategy, compa-ny officials including Iwata had repeatedlyrejected the idea of developing games formobile devices, a market that they brushedoff for years as irrelevant. In March,Nintendo announced an alliance withJapanese mobile game company DeNA Coto develop games for mobile devices.Nintendo pioneered game machines sincethe 1980s, developing one of the firstmachines and the hit Game Boy hand-heldmachine. Its main rivals in the business areSony Corp. with the PlayStation machinesand Microsoft Corp. with the Xbox Onemachine. Both companies have done bet-

ter in adapting to the era of online andmobile games. “I am at a loss for words,”said Ken Kutaragi, the former head of SonyComputer Entertainment. “I pay myrespects to the extraordinary leadership ofPresident Iwata, who truly loved games andpowerfully showed the way for our indus-try.”

Iwata succeeded Hiroshi Yamauchi, whoruled over the Kyoto-based company forhalf a century, transforming it from a tradi-tional playing-card company to a techno-logical powerhouse. Yamauchi died in2013 at 85. Iwata was picked, withYamauchi’s blessing, and Yamauchiremained adviser for many years. Iwata hadbeen employed at an innovative softwarecompany before he was recruited asNintendo chief. He was tapped as presidentat a surprisingly young age, in his early 40s,for a Japanese company.

Virtual tributes Iwata was a respected and popular fig-

ure in the game industry, partly because hewas relatively more approachable thanexecutives at other Japanese companies,who tend to be aloof and rigid indemeanor. As news of Iwata’s death spreadonline, condolences and virtual tributesemerged on social media and on Miiverse,Nintendo’s online community where userscan post notes and drawings created with aNintendo 3DS or Wii U stylus. Fans were cir-culating avatars called Mii in the likeness ofIwata, which already existed but were sud-denly taking on special meaning.

“Halo” and “Destiny” developer Bungieposted a quote from Iwata’s 2005 talk at theGame Developers Conference on Twitter:“On my business card, I am a corporatepresident. In my mind, I am a game devel-oper. But in my heart, I am a gamer.” OnTwitter, personal homages were using thehashtags “ ThankYouIwata” and“RIPSatoruIwata.”

Iwata remained a presence in Nintendopromotional materials up until his death.While he had been absent from theElectronic Entertainment Expo for the pasttwo years due to his health, Iwata appearedin both human and puppet form in ahumorous video presentation streamedJune 16 during the gaming expo. MarkMacDonald, executive director at Tokyo-based 8-4, which consults about games,said Iwata was not afraid to be differentand go against mainstream trends ingames. But he was also at one with gameplayers, interacting with them, often usingthe Internet, in “this playful back and forth,like a David Letterman in your living room,”MacDonald said in a telephone interview.

Miyamoto, the Nintendo game designer,said he was shocked and saddened. “Wewill upkeep the development approachthat we built with Iwata, and we in thedevelopment team hope to keep workingas one to build toward the future,” he saidin a statement. A funeral service will beheld on July 17. Iwata is survived by hiswife Kayoko. The company declined to dis-close other details of his family. — AP

Nintendo CEO Iwata

dies of cancer at 55

LOS ANGELES: In this July 15, 2008 file photo, Satoru Iwata, President and CEO ofNintendo Co Ltd, speaks at a news conference where Nintendo unveiled an enhance-ment for its Wii Remote controller and new games at the E3 Media and BusinessSummit. — AP

TOKYO: I’m Japanese and so I’m a sucker for cutethings, like manga, quirky figurines and mascotcharacters. And Pepper, the new companion robotfrom Tokyo-based technology company SoftbankCorp, delivers cuteness like you’ve never seen.What’s striking is the absolutely ardent attention itgives you - frankly a lot better than some real-lifepeople.

“You look a bit thin,” it coos in a soft childlikevoice, free of any rigid mechanical accent. “Youshould watch what you eat.” The 121-centimetertall white machine-on-wheels was disarminglycharming and definitely intriguing when I spenthalf a day with it, ahead of its delivery to its firstcustomers later this month. It’s another matterentirely whether it’s worth the price tag of 198,000yen ($1,600), plus the maintenance and insurancecosts that ownership entails, adding up to some 1.2million yen ($10,000) for an estimated three-yearlifespan.

Talking pet Only available in Japan so far, overseas sales are

undecided. The programming it has now caters toJapanese tastes. A US version will obviously have tobe quite different. Pepper has cameras, lasers andinfrared in its hairless head so it can detect humanfaces. Whatever direction you move, its cockedhead will also move, intently looking into your face

with its big eyes, like a puppy. Except this pet cantalk. As long as you don’t walk too far from it,removing yourself from its attention, Pepper willprattle on and on, switching from one small talktopic to another, gesticulating at times with its five-fingered soft hands for effect.

“Do you want to play a quiz game? What animalgoes like this: bow wow,” it might say. It will tell you“cat” is the wrong answer. And then it will ask,“What did you have for dinner?” I f you say,“Tempura,” it has enough voice recognition to deci-pher that and will reply: “Oh, Japanese.” I triedanswering, “Steak,” another time. It said, “Oh,Western.” Yes, the conversations do sometimesrepeat themselves, but so does human dialogue.The robot is equipped with enough of a repertoireto avoid easy boredom. That repertoire is constant-ly being updated through a WiFi connection. EachPepper is hand-made by Foxconn in China, limitingsupplies to 1,000 a month. The first batch for Julysold out in a minute.

It’s attracting regular technology fans but also akindergarten, a cafe and people who’re buying itfor their elderly parents. The kind of patient inter-action Pepper excels at is recommended for peoplewith dementia. So Pepper might come to the res-cue of stressed out families. Equipped with artificialintelligence by Aldebaran of France, Pepper haswhat Softbank calls an emotional engine, meaning

it reacts to what it interprets as anger or sorrow inhumans around it by deciphering voice tones,facial expressions and language.

It also has programming that sets off the equiv-alent of its own human emotions, such as gettingnervous if a room suddenly goes dark, or elationwhen you pet its head and shower it with praise,such as: “You are the best-looking robot I have everseen. I love you. You’re the best.” “I am going to cryfor joy,” it says, throwing its arms up in the air.

On the flat-panel display attached to its chest, itoffers boxes to tap for various tasks, such as read-ing storybooks, giving a tarot-card reading, playingthe radio, working as a drum machine and relayingthe weather forecast. It has some cool dancemoves as well. One is shaking its body in a rubberyway. Another is doing elegant hand gestures as itplays Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker.”

Applications for kids Owners may be tempted to give the thing a wig

or dress it up. That’s not recommended as it canoverheat. It keeps going for 10 to 12 hours on a sin-gle charge. It charges from a regular householdoutlet. Softbank offers a basic software applicationkit so even a child can create applications forPepper. Softbank has an in-house standard for vio-lence, pornography and other abuse for its ownapplications.—AP

Better than friends? This robot

gives you undivided attention

H E A LT HTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

WASHINGTON: Caught between kids and agingparents, the sandwich generation worries more thanmost Americans their age about how they’ll affordtheir own care as they grow older, a new poll shows.But most aren’t doing much to get ready.

Nearly 1 in 10 people age 40 and over are “sand-wiched” - they’re supporting a child while providingregular care for an older loved one, according to thepoll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for PublicAffairs Research. Another 8 percent may join the ranksof double-caregivers in the next five years, citingdeclining health of an older relative or close friend.

Tug-of-war Dueling responsibilities can make some days feel

like a tug-of-war. “If my mom needs something bad-ly, I get pulled away from my kids a lot,” said KamilaAl-Najjar of Santa Rosa, California, a lawyer with twochildren and self-described health advocate for hermother. She visits her mother’s assisted living facilityat least twice a week and checks in daily by phone,

to oversee a list of illnesses.“You’re dealing with someone who is aging,

toward the end of their life; then you have to dealwith a teenager. I hear from my mom and daughterthat I’m a nag. There’s no winning in it,” she said.Adding to the challenge, 40- and 50-somethingstend to be at the height of their careers - and needto hang onto their jobs despite difficulties of caregiving, said Susan Reinhard, who directs AARP’sPublic Policy Institute. Employer flexibility is a topissue as the population ages, she said.

“It’s not just their own financial security, it’s thefinancial security for their children and for thefuture,” Reinhard said. After age 65, government fig-ures show nearly 7 in 10 Americans at some pointwill need long-term care - from a relative, home aide,assisted living or nursing home. Yet the AP-NORCCenter poll found overall, most Americans 40 andolder - 54 percent - have done little or no planningto get ready for this often pricey reality. Only a thirdreports setting aside money for those needs. That’s

even though Medicare doesn’t pay for the mostcommon types of long-term care, and a nursinghome can cost more than $90,000 a year.

Future careDrill down to the 9 percent of this age group who

make up the sandwich generation, and their experi-ence leaves them far more concerned about theirown senior years. About half worry about being ableto pay for their future care needs or having to moveinto a nursing home, compared with just over a thirdof other adults, the poll found. Also, 44 percent ofsandwichers fear leaving debts to family, comparedwith 28 percent of others polled.

But the poll found the sandwich generation nomore likely than other middle-aged adults to beplanning and saving, possibly because of time orresources. Al-Najjar is glad her mother “saved all herlife ... so she didn’t have to stress out about stuff likethat.” Caring for her has changed how she spendsand plans for the future. “It’s like a wake-up call,” she

said. There are “a lot of seniors in the United Statesthat don’t have that money.” The squeeze isn’t endingas children grow up. Among currently sandwichedparents, 29 percent have adult children living athome, the poll found; others are providing adult chil-dren with financial assistance, meaning some aresandwiched even after their children leave the nest.

Another challenge: Finding services to help seniorslive out their days at home. AARP recently opened anonline “livability index” to rank communities on suchfactors as accessible housing and transit options.“People don’t generally make these calls until they’re incrisis,” said association CEO Sandy Markwood. “If momand dad need this as they get older, you should pre-pare for that, too.” Carroll Burnett of Whitesboro, Texas,cared for his 88-year-old father, who’d suffered a stroke,for a year before he died in March. “I felt good that Icould take care of him,” said Burnett, a retired tool anddie maker who had help from his wife and one of histhree grown children. But he’s saving up: “I don’t wantany of my kids to go through what I did.” — AP

Sandwich generation worried about own long-term health

NEW YORK: Jessica Lopez participates in the inaugural Disability Pride Parade. — AP

NEW YORK: New York City hosted its firstparade Sunday supporting people with disabili-ties, with more than 3,000 participants headingup Broadway using wheelchairs, canes andguide dogs. “We’re here full force,” said rapperNamel Norris, 33, now in a wheelchair afterbeing shot in the Bronx and paralyzed as ateenager. “I thought my life was over, but musicis my calling, I have a purpose in life.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio kicked off the inauguralNYC Disability Pride Parade, saying he’s proud hiscity is a national leader in supporting rights fordisabled people. The grand marshal was formerUS Sen Tom Harkin, who 25 years ago sponsored

the Americans With Disabilities Act. “I may beretired from the Senate, but I’m not retired fromthe fight,” Harkin said. “We know that when com-panies hire people with disabilities they get thebest workers, the most loyal workers, the mostproductive workers.”

‘Issue of accessible’ De Blasio said his administration is “very, very

committed already on the issue of accessibletaxis, but all Tom Harkin had to do was sayLondon was doing better to get my competitivefire going,” the mayor said, laughing. About 4percent of New York’s yellow cabs are accessible,

said Allan Fromberg, a spokesman for the city’sTaxi and Limousine Commission, compared toLondon, where every taxi can handle wheel-chairs.

In New York City, de Blasio declared July as“Disability Pride Month” in honor of the 25thanniversary of the landmark federal act thataims to guarantee equal opportunities andrights for people with disabilities. The city hasplanned a series of events relating to NewYorkers with disabilities. That includes an exhibitat the Brooklyn Historical Society titled “GainingAccess: The New York City Disability RightsMovement.” — AP

New York disability pride

parade draws thousands

Participants celebrated using wheelchairs, canes and guide dogs

WASHINGTON: Hoping to put to rest one ofthe most difficult disputes over its health carelaw, the Obama administration Fridayunveiled its latest plan to address employers’religious objections to providing free birthcontrol for their female workers. The healthcare law requires most employers to coverbirth control as preventive care, at no cost towomen. While houses of worship are exempt,the requirement proved controversial withreligious nonprofits and private businesseswhose owners have deeply held beliefs.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled thatsome private companies can avoid therequirement on religious grounds. The rulesissued Friday attempt to provide a templatefor those companies to opt out. However,their female employees could still get freebirth control directly from the employer’sinsurance company. Neither the women northe employer would be charged. Theadministration says any cost is basically awash for insurers.

To qualify for the opt-out, companiescannot be publicly traded on stock markets.Also, more than half the ownership must bein the hands of five or fewer individuals. For

purposes of meeting the new rule, a familycounts as a single individual. The adminis-tration’s latest effort also attempts toaddress the objections of some religiousnonprofits to an earlier accommodation.That previous plan called for the nonprofitto notify its insurance administrator of itsobjections to covering birth control. Somenonprofits said that would essentiallyinvolve them in arranging the coverage,albeit indirectly.

Under the latest proposal, the religiousnonprofit can notify the federal Health andHuman Services Department. It’s unclear ifthe new accommodations will resolve thelong-running dispute. However, mostemployers appear to have complied andmoved on. In 2013 - the first year that thecontraception requirement was fully effec-tive - the share of privately insured womenwho got birth control pills without a copay-ment jumped to 56 percent, from 14 per-cent the year before. That’s according toresearch from IMS Health, a company thatuses pharmacy records to track prescriptiondrug sales. That share was expected togrow. — AP

New birth control rules

for religious employees

JAKARTA: An Indonesian orangutantrader has been jailed for two years afterhe was caught trying to sell a baby apefrom a backpack, a rare conviction forwildlife crime in the country, authoritiessaid yesterday. A court in Medan, onwestern Sumatra island, also orderedVast Haris Nasution to pay a 10 millionrupiah ($750) fine after he was foundguilty last week under laws that ban thetrade in orangutans.

Authorities detained him in Februaryin North Sumatra province with the criti-cally endangered Sumatran orangutanin his bag, according to the localresource conservation office, which isresponsible for monitoring wildlife crimein the area. “I hope the sentence can bea deterrent and that other courts acrossIndonesia follow suit to punish traders asharshly as possible,” John Kenedie, con-servation office head, told AFP. There areestimated to be only 6,000 to 7,000Sumatran orangutans remaining in thewild, with hundreds dying every yeardue to poaching and deforestation. Therescued baby ape-who has been named

“Cita Ria”, which means “happy feeling” inIndonesian-is being cared for by theSumatran Orangutan ConservationProgram (SOCP) and will eventually bereturned to the wild.

Under Indonesian law, illegally trad-ing in orangutans can be punishable byup to five years in jail and a 100 millionrupiah fine. Ian Singleton, director of theSOCP, praised the sentence, saying therehad been more than 3,000 confiscationsof illegal pet orangutans in Sumatra andBorneo since the early 1970s but only ahandful of prosecutions, and all of themin the past few years.

But activists said it was only a smallstep. With wildlife crime and traffickingstill rampant, Singleton warned therewould be very few orangutans left in thewild in 15 years. “Effective law enforce-ment and the threat of serious conse-quences for those involved is an essen-tial component of the conservation arse-nal if there is to be any hope of prevent-ing the extinction of orangutans, andmany other heavily traded and persecut-ed species here,” he said. — AFP

Indonesia jails orangutan

trader caught with baby ape

MEDAN: This undated handout picture from Wildlife Conservation Societyreleased yesterday shows convicted Indonesian wildlife trader Vast HarisNasution (left) in handcuffs next to a baby Sumatran orangutan sitting in abackpack which was used to transport the primate. — AFP

BEIJING: A woman carrying an umbrella to shield from the sun as she walks past amural of a city skyscrapers yesterday. The National Meteorological Center (NMC) hasissued a yellow alert for high temperatures as China is entering the height of sum-mer. A heat wave will hit central, eastern and northern China with temperatures insome regions rising to around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), Chinesestate media reported. — AP

LONDON: A group of c l imate changeactivists cut through a perimeter fence atLondon Heathrow airpor t yesterday tostage a protest on one of its two runways,causing cancellations and delays to flights,officials said.

Thirteen activists from the group PlaneStupid took part, attaching themselves toeach other and to fencing with bicycle locksand what look like plaster casts on theirarms, photos on their Twitter accountshowed.

“Nine have been arrested and theremaining four protesters have beenremoved to a safe area,” a police spokesmansaid, indicating that officers were still tryingto unlock them. The police said they werealerted to the presence of protesters on therunway at 3:45 am (0245 GMT). The airportsaid in a statement that both runways wereopen, although it advised passengers tocheck their flight status before travelling tothe airport.

A video uploaded on the Internetshowed several act ivists attached to apolice officer who was telling them: “Youare causing severe disruption and it will bein the millions of pounds because it willtake us a while to remove you.” Brit ishAirways said it had cancelled seven domes-tic and short-haul flights.

A government-appointed commissionearlier this month recommended building athird runway at Heathrow to increase capac-ity but the issue divides Conservative PrimeMinister David Cameron’s government andhas been criticized by many local residents.

“Building more runways goes againsteverything we’re being told by scientistsand experts on climate change,” said EllaGilbert, one of the protesters. London’s fiveairports form the busiest air hub in theworld with around 135 million passengers ayear. Heathrow handled 73.4 million pas-sengers in 2014, making it Europe’s biggestairport by passenger traffic. — AFP

Climate activists protest

on Heathrow’s runway

LONDON: Passengers wait to check-in at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport, after travelers werewarned to expect some disruption after climate change activists staged a protest on the northrunway at London’s Heathrow Airport. — AP

LONDON: British authorities yesterday con-firmed an outbreak at a farm of a strain of avianflu that is both highly contagious and potential-ly deadly for birds, but said the risk to peoplewas very low. “A case of H7N7 avian flu has nowbeen confirmed in Lancashire” in northwestEngland, the Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

The strain involved is highly pathogenic andcan infect people, but the government’s chiefveterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, said there waslittle risk of that happening. “Public HealthEngland has confirmed that the risk to public

health from this strain is very low. The FoodStandards Agency has said there is no food safe-ty risk for consumers,” he said in a statement.

Birds at the farm near the city of Preston arebeing culled and a 10-kilometre restrictionzone has been imposed, in which the move-ment of any birds or other animals is prohibit-ed. Defra stressed that Britain had a “strongtrack record” of dealing with bird flu, includingin an outbreak of the low-severity strain ofH7N7 in southern England in February, and anoutbreak of a highly pathogenic case of H5N8in northern England in November. — AFP

Britain validates

bird flu outbreak

H E A LT HTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

DOAH: The World InnovationSummit for Health (WISH), aglobal initiative of QatarFoundation for Education,Science and CommunityDevelopment (QF), in partner-ship with Imperial CollegeLondon, has announced itsfourth event in the LeadingHealth Systems Network’s(LHSN) Safer Care WebinarSeries: The Road to Safer Care:The Challenge for HealthSystems.

Taking place on 15 July, thewebinar will focus on the keychallenges facing health sys-tems trying to provide safe,high quality patient care. Thefeatured speaker is ProfessorSir Liam Donaldson, the WorldHealth Organization’s (WHO)Envoy for Patient Safety andChairman of the IndependentMonitoring for the PolioEradication Program. In the UK,he is Chair of Health Policy atImperial College London andChancellor of NewcastleUniversity. Previously, Sir Liamwas the Chief Medical Officerfor England, the UnitedKingdom’s Chief MedicalAdviser from 1998-2010. Hehas produced landmarkreports which have set healthpolicy and legislation acrossmultiple healthcare fields.

Sir Liam said: “Over the lastdecade, patient safety hasbecome a priority for all healthsystems around the world. Yet,healthcare still struggles tomatch the year-on-yearimprovements achieved inother high-risk industries. Inhealthcare, declaring a goal ofzero serious avoidable harmbrings out the cynics. In otherindustries, it motivates andinspires. A growing patientsafety movement is striving tobreak the status quo.”

WISH launched the LHSNSafer Care AcceleratorProgramme to share best prac-tice and inspire health systemsworldwide to provide safercare for patients. The year-longprogramme will bring togethera global network of healthcareorganizations to exchangeinsights, experiences, and dataon the topic of patient safety,culminating in the publicationof a global report. So far,18organisations spanning sixcontinents have joined theeffort, including Hamad

Medical Corporation and SidraMedical and Research Centerfrom Qatar.

Compassionate care Hanan Al Kuwari, PhD,

Managing Director of HamadMedical Corporation, said: “AtHamad Medical Corporation,our patients are at the heart ofeverything we do - we aim todeliver the safest, most effec-tive and most compassionatecare to every one of them. Inorder to do that we know wemust continue to evolve andinnovate. Global initiatives likeWISH and the LHSN Safer CareAccelerator enable us to shareinnovations in patient safetyand best practice in health-care. This is of great valuebecause it brings together thebest minds from around theworld with a common goal -creating better healthcare,globally.”

Professor the Lord Darzi ofDenham, Executive Chair ofWISH, said: “Patient safetyremains a priority for mosthealthcare systems around theworld, and the burden ofavoidable harm remains worry-ingly high. Through our LHSNSafer Care Accelerator,wehopeto disseminate bestpractice tosupporthealthcareleaders and policymakers inimproving their healthcare sys-tem’s safety record and patientexperience.”

The Safer Care AcceleratorProgramme is part of WISH andImperial College London’sLHSN initiative. Established in2009, LHSN has worked with21 health systems in 11 coun-tries helping them to over-come the challenges they facein providing high-value care tothe populations they serve.Members of LHSN compareperformance relative to theirpeers, learn from experts andfrontline implementers duringwebinars, and are active mem-bers in a community commit-ted to care improvement andinnovation. WISH is spearhead-ed by Qatar Foundation toinspire and diffuse healthcareinnovation and best practice. Itremains closely aligned to thevision and mission of QF tounlock human potential andreinforces Qatar’s pioneeringrole as an emerging centre forhealthcare innovation.

WHO safety champion to

speak in webinar series

Sir Liam Donaldson

CAPE CANAVERAL: Pluto, reveal thyself, andEarthlings, enjoy the show. Today, NASA’s NewHorizons spacecraft will sweep past Pluto and presentthe previously unexplored world in all its icy glory. Itpromises to be the biggest planetary unveiling in aquarter-century. The curtain hasn’t been pulled backlike this since NASA’s Voyager 2 shed light on Neptunein 1989.

Now it’s little Pluto’s turn to shine way out on thefrigid fringes of our solar system. New Horizons hastraveled 3 billion miles over 91/2 years to get to thishistoric point. The fastest spacecraft ever launched, itcarries the most powerful suite of science instrumentsever sent on a scouting and reconnaissance mission ofa new, unfamiliar world. Guarantees principal scientistAlan Stern, “We’re going to knock your socks off.”

The size of a baby grand piano, the spacecraft willcome closest to Pluto today morning - at 7:49 a.m. EDT.That’s when New Horizons is predicted to pass within7,767 miles of Pluto. Fourteen minutes later, the space-craft will zoom within 17,931 miles of Charon, Pluto’sjumbo moon. For the plutophiles among us, it will because to celebrate, especially for those gathered at theoperations center at Johns Hopkins University ’sApplied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. Thelab designed and built the spacecraft for NASA, andhas been managing its roundabout route through thesolar system.

‘Unprecedented in our time’ “What NASA’s doing with New Horizons is unprece-

dented in our time and probably something close tothe last train to Clarksville, the last picture show, for avery, very long time,” says Stern, a planetary scientistwith the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder,Colorado. It is the last stop in NASA’s quest to exploreevery planet in our solar system, starting with Venus in1962. And in a cosmic coincidence, the Pluto visit fallson the 50th anniversary of the first-ever flyby of Mars,by Mariner 4.

Yes, we all know Pluto is no longer an official planet,merely a dwarf, but it still enjoyed full planet statuswhen New Horizons rocketed from Cape Canaveral,Florida, on Jan. 19, 2006. Pluto’s demotion came justseven months later, a sore subject still for many. “We’rekind of running the anchor leg with Pluto to finish therelay,” Stern says. The sneak peeks of Pluto in recentweeks are getting “juicier and juicier,” says Johns

Hopkins project scientist Hal Weaver. “The scienceteam is just drooling over these pictures.” The HubbleSpace Telescope previously captured the best picturesof Pluto. If the pixelated blobs of pictures had been ofEarth, though, not even the continents would havebeen visible. The New Horizons team is turning “a pointof light into a planet,” Stern says.

An image released last week shows a copper-col-ored Pluto bearing, a large, bright spot in the shape ofa heart. Scientists expect image resolution to improvedramatically. The 7,767-mile span at closest approach isabout the distance between Seattle and Sydney. NewHorizons, weighing less than 1,000 pounds includingfuel, has seven instruments that will be going full forceduring the encounter. It’s expected to collect 5,000times as much data, for instance, as Mariner 4.

‘Rewrite the book’ “We’re going to rewrite the book,” Weaver says. “This

is it - this is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see it.”The team gets one crack at this. “We’re trying to hit avery small box, relatively speaking,” says MarkHoldridge, the encounter mission manager. “It’s 60 by90 miles, and we’re going 30,000 mph, and we’re tryingto hit that box within a plus or minus 100 seconds.”

The only planet in our solar system discovered by anAmerican, Pluto actually is a mini solar system untoitself. Pluto - just two-thirds the size of our own moon -has big moon Charon that’s just over half its size, aswell as baby moons Styx, Nix, Hydra and Kerberos. Thenames are associated with the underworld in which themythological god, Pluto, reigned. New Horizons willobserve each known moon and keep a lookout formore. Scientists involved in the $700 million effortwant to get a good look at Pluto and Charon, and get a

handle on their surfaces and chemical composition.They also plan to measure the temperature and pres-sure in Pluto’s nitrogen-rich atmosphere and determinehow much gas is escaping into space. Temperaturescan plunge to nearly minus-400 degrees.

Bill McKinnon, a New Horizons team member fromWashington University in St. Louis, Missouri, expects tosee craters and possible volcanic remnants. A liquidocean and a rocky core may lie beneath the icy shell.“Anybody who thinks that when we go to Pluto, we’regoing to find cold, dead ice balls is in for a rude shock,”McKinnon says. “I’m really hoping to see a very activeand dynamic world.”

Tantalized astronomersPluto has tantalized astronomers since its 1930 dis-

covery by Clyde Tombaugh using the LowellObservatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Some of Tombaugh’sashes are aboard New Horizons. His two children, nowin their 70s, plan to be at Johns Hopkins for theencounter. With its tilted, elongated 248-year orbit,Pluto has made it only a third of the way around thesun since its discovery. The amount of sunlight that

reaches Pluto is so dim that at high noon it looks liketwilight here on Earth. The massive surrounding KuiperBelt, in fact, is called the Twilight Zone. The NewHorizons team has its eyes on a few much smallerobjects in the Kuiper Belt, and is hoping for a missionextension as the spacecraft continues toward the solarsystem exit on the heels of NASA’s Voyagers 1 and 2and Pioneers 10 and 11.

For now, signals take 41/2 hours to travel one-waybetween New Horizons and flight controllers inMaryland. New Horizons’ science instruments will becranked up to collect maximum data today, leaving notime to send back data. In fact, scientists won’t beabsolutely certain of success until tonight, 13 hours fol-lowing New Horizons’ closest approach, when it“phones home.”

It will be Wednesday before the closest of Pluto’sclose-ups are available for release. And it will be wellinto next year - October 2016 - before all the anticipat-ed data are transmitted to Earth. “We’re all going tohave to be patient,” urges deputy project scientistCathy Olkin. For everyone involved, this is a mission ofdelayed gratification. —AP

It’s showtime Pluto! Prepare

to be amazed by NASA flyby

Biggest planetary unveiling in a quarter-century

This July 11, 2015, image provided by NASA shows Pluto from the New Horizons spacecraft. On Tuesday,July 14, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will come closest to Pluto. New Horizons has traveled 3 billionmiles over 91/2 years to get to the historic point. — AP

SUSONO, Japan: An Asian elephant swims a 65-meters long pool at Fuji Safari Park at the foot of Mt Fuji,southwest of Tokyo. The park was inspired by the images of elephants swimming in the ocean and wantedto build a facility exactly demonstrating what was little known in Japan that elephants can actually swim.The attraction opened on July 11. — AP

W H AT ’ S ONTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

As the holy month of Ramadan comesto an end, a colorful celebrationawaits guests at Movenpick Hotel &

Resort Al Bida’a Kuwait. Guests can enjoy acity break at Movenpick Hotel & Resort AlBida’a Kuwait during Eid and take advantageof discounted room rates, complimentarybreakfast and a wide range of kids’ activities,including kids’ dance, water fun, cookingclasses, cartoon characters and a whole lotmore.

Guests can also tantalize their taste budswith sumptuous buffets ranging from freshlycaught seafood, delicious cuts prepared atthe live cooking stations and a rich assort-ment of international buffets with gourmetchoices, followed by a mouth-wateringselection of Arabic sweets and the temptingcrepe corner.

Meanwhile, children can enjoy the spiritand joy of Eid with a variety of exciting activ-ities such as face painting, magic shows, DJmusic, kids’ dance and many more. “Offeringspecial packages and discounts to celebrateEid Al-Fitr is our token of appreciation for thecontinuous support of our valued guests,”said Maged Gubr, the hotel’s general manag-er. “We traditionally partake in this joyful sea-son because life is better when you shareyour happiness with others.”

Movenpick Hotel & Resort gears up for Eid Al-Fitr celebrations

In view of the Holy Month of Ramadan, the Kout FoodGroup (Kout) held a special Ramdan Iftar get together onSunday and Monday in Burj Al Hamam Restaurant in the

attendance of over 400 Kout colleagues from the variousbrands and departments within Kuwait.

Every restaurant manager of the 156 restaurants spreadthroughout Kuwait was accompanied by a team member

who has out-performed in the month of May to attend thisIftar. Department heads in parallel had the chance to nomi-nate a team member to accompany them along. Brandleaders, area coaches, field trainers and multi-unit managerswere also in attendance where the bigger Family of Koutgathered in this Holy Month of Ramadan to break their fasttogether with the team. The two day Iftar was followed by a

raffle draw where 54 team members walked away with valu-able prizes.

This Ramadan Iftar managed to gather team membersfrom the various brands and positions in an atmosphere fullof love and care. One of Kout Culture attributes: “We are firstand foremost an operations led company, dedicated to serv-ing our internal customers. A cohesive community with a

deeper understanding of diversity and mutual respectamongst all. We foster a reward & recognition culture, appre-ciating our teams’ success and individuals that lead by exam-ple. We invest in our people recognizing their current capaci-ties and future potential. Our community is heart- based andis constantly evolving to better serve and support our peo-ple”. Those are few of attributes of the Group’s culture.

Kout Food Group hosts Iftar for employees

Quran Prosikhon holds Iftar, Prayer Mahfil

Bangladesh Quran Prosikhon Kendry Safat Branch Kuwait City, in observance of the Holy Month of Ramadan organized an Iftar and Prayer Mahfil on July 4 at Bangla Khothba Majjid in Kuwait City. HafejMawlana Khursid Alam presided over the program. Distinguished guests Mawlana Abu Thaher, Mawlana Badrul Islam, Mawlana Mamun Ur Rashid, Dr Abdul Jabbar and Mawlana Mustaqur Rahman gavebrief speeches from the Holy Quran. The function was highly auspicious with the presence of distinguished guests from the various sectors of the society including social, cultural, religious, media Bangla

vision, RTV, ETV. The program started with a recitation from the Holy Quran by Hafez Mawlana Khursid. The program was presented by Mohammed Safiullah and ended by hosting the Iftar for the guests.

Scientific Center to release 3D ‘Ocean Secrets’ on Eid

“The Scientific Center, of Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science, will receive Eid visitors with the unveiling of a new 3D movie shown on its IMAX giant screen”, said the center’s chairman ofboard and managing director, Mejbel Suleiman Al-Mutawa noting that visitors would watch the ‘Ocean Secrets’ 3D movie that was released five months earlier.

—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

W H AT ’ S ONTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

La Maison du Chocolat has embarked onits journey through the Middle East withits first opening at the Avenues Mall,

Kuwait on 16th June 2014. As part of theirfirst year anniversary in Kuwait, the exclusiveFrench chocolatier debuted the launch oftheir new exquisite chocolate delicacies. Thecelebration was held in the presence of HisExcellency Christian Nakhle, French ambassa-dor to Kuwait.

As a chocolate connoisseur, the Maisonhad long mastered its artful chocolate-mak-ing through a history of perfection in choco-

late craftsmanship and luxury, revered glob-ally for its artisanal gourmet chocolates,sourced from the finest cocoa beans andhandcrafted with unique savoir-faire and lim-itless innovation.

“It has been a year since we began ourquest to open the first Maison boutique inKuwait driven by our passion for creating richhigh-end chocolate. We continue our pursuitto move forward by opening up a wholearray of chocolate pleasures encompassingexcellence, quality, and innovation, saidGeoffroy D’Anglejan, Managing Director of La

Maison du Chocolat.With its ever-evolving, yet consistently

sensuous and sublime, innovative chocolatecreations, the Maison continues to offer atreasure trove of sweet indulgences that mas-ter the art of chocolate with its savory addi-tions of coffretcraquants, Gourmandises,Batism, and new pastries crafted by a Kuwaitichef and his team.

Commenting on the anniversary, WissamAl Mana, Executive Director of Ikram Groupadds, “The passionate and innovate chocolateexperts of Maison continue to push the

boundaries of chocolate-making that deliverthe essence of sophistication, and our feat topromote and purvey craftsmanship couturechocolate continues to unfold in the years tocome.”

Named as the best craftsman chocolatierof France in 2007, Nicholas Cloiseau, MasterChef of La Maison du Chocolat, expresses,“We are devoted to delivering chocolate ofsupreme quality to fulfill customers’ love ofchocolate. We envision new dimensions ofchocolate flavors by redefining what is possi-ble in the world of chocolate. We want to cre-

ate memorable and edible work of art withour imaginative efforts and passion embed-ded in every batch we create.”

Founder and visionary Robert Linxe wasnicknamed the “sorcerer of ganache” becauseof his love affair with chocolate that he haddedicated his life to. La Maison du Chocolathas taken the science of balance and associa-tions to an art form, where at the heart of itrests the velvety chocolate ganache and thequest to create a symphony of luscious andlegendary chocolate treats with Maison’sunique flair.

La Maison du Chocolat commemorates one-year anniversary

Resuming its ‘Together To Aid South Yemen’ which launched last May, Yemen’s LOYAC branch recently distributed food supplies to a hundred displaced families in Southern Yemen.

00:10 Eastenders00:40 Lark Rise To Candleford01:30 37 Days02:30 Spies Of Warsaw03:15 My Hero03:45 My Family04:15 The Weakest Link05:00 The Green Balloon Club05:25 Mr Bloom’s Nursery05:45 Show Me Show Me06:05 Nuzzle & Scratch: Frock nRoll06:25 The Green Balloon Club06:50 Mr Bloom’s Nursery07:10 The Weakest Link07:55 Come Fly With Me08:25 Doctors08:50 Eastenders09:20 Lark Rise To Candleford10:10 A Farmer’s Life For Me11:05 The Weakest Link11:50 As Time Goes By12:20 As Time Goes By12:50 Come Fly With Me13:20 Lark Rise To Candleford14:10 A Farmer’s Life For Me15:00 As Time Goes By15:30 Come Fly With Me16:00 Doctors16:30 Eastenders17:00 The Weakest Link17:45 As Time Goes By18:15 Call The Midwife19:00 Doctors19:30 Eastenders20:00 Great Expectations20:50 The Room At The Top21:45 Friday Night Dinner22:10 The Office22:40 Starlings23:25 The Weakest Link

T V PR O G R A M STUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

THE COURIER ON OSN MOVIES ACTION HD

WORLD WAR Z ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

00:00 Masterchef: TheProfessionals00:55 Antiques Roadshow01:45 MasterChef02:40 New Scandinavian Cooking03:05 Come Dine With Me03:30 Antiques Roadshow04:25 Masterchef: TheProfessionals04:50 Masterchef: TheProfessionals05:45 New Scandinavian Cooking06:10 Antiques Roadshow07:00 Antiques Roadshow07:55 MasterChef08:50 Masterchef: TheProfessionals09:15 Masterchef: TheProfessionals10:10 Masterchef: TheProfessionals10:35 Antiques Roadshow11:30 Come Dine With Me11:55 Antiques Roadshow12:50 MasterChef13:45 Come Dine With Me14:10 Masterchef: TheProfessionals14:35 Masterchef: TheProfessionals15:30 Masterchef: TheProfessionals16:00 Antiques Roadshow16:55 Come Dine With Me17:20 MasterChef18:10 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent18:15 Antiques Roadshow19:10 Masterchef: TheProfessionals20:05 Extreme Makeover: HomeEdition Specials21:20 Antiques Roadshow22:10 Antiques Roadshow23:05 Extreme Makeover: HomeEdition Specials

00:20 Fast N’ Loud01:10 Ice Cold Gold02:00 Ice Cold Gold02:50 Yukon Men03:40 The Liquidator04:05 Storage Wars Canada04:30 Auction Hunters05:00 How It’s Made: Dream Cars05:30 How Do They Do It?06:00 Edge Of Alaska06:50 Kindig Customs07:40 Fast N’ Loud08:30 The Liquidator08:55 Storage Wars Canada09:20 Auction Hunters09:45 How It’s Made: Dream Cars10:10 How Do They Do It?10:35 Ice Cold Gold11:25 Ice Cold Gold12:15 Ultimate Survival13:05 The Liquidator13:30 Storage Wars Canada13:55 Auction Hunters14:20 Edge Of Alaska15:10 Kindig Customs16:00 Fast N’ Loud16:50 How It’s Made: Dream Cars17:15 How Do They Do It?17:40 Gold Rush18:30 Walking The Nile

00:00 The Grace Helbig Show00:30 The Soup00:55 Extreme Close-Up01:25 Keeping Up With TheKardashians02:20 E! News03:15 Escape Club04:10 E!ES05:05 E!ES06:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians06:55 Keeping Up With TheKardashians07:50 Style Star08:20 E! News09:15 Giuliana & Bill10:15 Giuliana & Bill11:10 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills11:35 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills12:05 E! News13:05 House Of DVF14:05 Extreme Close-Up14:30 Style Star15:00 Kourtney And Khloe TakeThe Hamptons16:00 Kourtney And Khloe TakeThe Hamptons17:00 Giuliana & Bill18:00 Fashion Bloggers18:30 Fashion Bloggers19:00 E!ES20:00 New Money20:30 New Money21:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills22:00 E! News23:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians

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00:00 Last Man Standing00:30 The Daily Show With JonStewart01:00 Last Week Tonight With JohnOliver02:00 Black-Ish02:30 Parks And Recreation03:00 Cristela03:30 Cougar Town04:00 Hot In Cleveland

03:10 Henry Hugglemonster03:20 Calimero03:35 Zou03:45 Loopdidoo04:00 Art Attack04:25 Henry Hugglemonster04:35 Calimero04:50 Zou05:00 Loopdidoo05:15 Art Attack05:35 Henry Hugglemonster05:50 Calimero06:00 Zou06:15 Loopdidoo06:25 Limon And Oli06:35 Art Attack07:00 Calimero07:10 Zou07:25 Nina Needs To Go07:30 Jake And The Never LandPirates07:55 Sofia The First08:20 Doc McStuffins08:45 Loopdidoo08:55 Limon And Oli09:05 Sheriff Callie’s Wild West09:30 Minnie’s Bow-Toons09:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse10:00 Sofia The First10:25 Nina Needs To Go10:30 Jake And The NeverlandPirates10:55 Runaway Shuffle/Surfin’The Whirlpool11:20 Doc McStuffins11:45 Henry Hugglemonster12:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse12:35 Sheriff Callie’s Wild West13:00 Sofia The First13:25 Minnie’s Bow Toons13:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse13:55 Jake And The Never LandPirates14:20 Runaway Shuffle/Surfin’The Whirlpool14:45 Messages From Miles14:50 Doc McStuffins15:15 Sofia The First15:40 Minnie’s Bow Toons15:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse16:10 Lilo & Stitch16:35 Adventures Of TheGummi Bears17:00 Chip n Dale RescueRangers17:25 Ducktales17:50 Jake And The NeverlandPirates18:00 Runaway Shuffle/Surfin’The Whirlpool18:25 Messages From Miles18:30 Sofia The First18:55 Nina Needs To Go19:00 Jake And The Never LandPirates19:30 Loopdidoo19:45 Doc McStuffins20:00 Adventures Of TheGummi Bears20:30 Sofia The First20:55 Cars Toons21:00 Chip n Dale RescueRangers21:25 Ducktales21:50 Lilo & Stitch22:15 Zou22:30 Art Attack22:55 Limon And Oli23:05 Henry Hugglemonster23:20 Calimero23:35 Zou23:50 Loopdidoo00:05 Art Attack00:30 Henry Hugglemonster00:45 Calimero01:00 Zou01:15 Loopdidoo01:30 Art Attack01:55 Henry Hugglemonster02:05 Calimero

00:10 The Chase01:05 The Hungry Sailors02:00 Emmerdale02:25 Brendan’s Magical MysteryTour02:55 Coronation Street03:25 Coronation Street03:50 Gino’s Italian Escape04:20 Doc Martin04:45 Callie-Anne Cooks Into TheWild05:15 Big Star’s Little Star06:10 The Hungry Sailors07:05 Coronation Street07:30 Coronation Street08:00 Gino’s Italian Escape08:25 Callie-Anne Cooks Into TheWild08:50 Callie-Anne Cooks Into TheWild09:20 Peter Andre’s 60 MinuteMakeover10:15 Brendan’s Magical MysteryTour10:40 The Chase11:35 The Hungry Sailors12:30 Big Star’s Little Star13:25 Emmerdale13:50 Brendan’s Magical MysteryTour14:15 Coronation Street14:40 The Chase15:35 Peter Andre’s 60 MinuteMakeover16:30 Doc Martin17:25 Breathless18:20 Big Star’s Little Star19:10 Coronation Street19:35 Peter Andre’s 60 MinuteMakeover20:30 Doc Martin21:25 Breathless22:20 Coronation Street22:50 Emmerdale23:15 Big Star’s Little Star

00:00 Red Band Society01:00 Graceland02:00 True Detective03:00 Once Upon A Time04:00 Suits05:00 Criminal Minds06:00 Red Band Society07:00 Once Upon A Time08:00 Marvel’s Agents OfS.H.I.E.L.D.09:00 Criminal Minds10:00 Suits11:00 Graceland12:00 Emmerdale12:30 Coronation Street13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show14:00 Marvel’s Agents OfS.H.I.E.L.D.15:00 Red Band Society16:00 Emmerdale16:30 Coronation Street17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show18:00 Marvel’s Agents OfS.H.I.E.L.D.19:00 Criminal Minds20:00 State Of Affairs21:00 Chicago Fire22:00 The Americans23:00 Once Upon A Time

01:00 Good Morning America03:00 Castle05:00 Good Morning America07:00 Emmerdale07:30 Coronation Street08:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show09:00 Prison Break10:00 Emmerdale10:30 Coronation Street11:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show12:00 Marvel’s Agent Carter13:00 Grey’s Anatomy14:00 Live Good Morning America16:00 Prison Break17:00 Marvel’s Agent Carter18:00 Grey’s Anatomy19:00 Prison Break20:00 24 Special21:00 Grey’s Anatomy22:00 Castle23:00 The Voice

00:00 Shanghai Noon02:00 World War Z04:00 Double Take06:00 Stash House08:00 The Courier10:00 Born To Race: Fast Track12:00 Stash House14:00 Shanghai Noon16:00 The Courier18:00 The Numbers Station20:00 Born To Race: Fast Track22:00 Absolute Killers

05:00 Little People, Big World05:30 Extreme Couponing06:00 Say Yes To The Dress06:25 Cake Boss07:15 Say Yes To The Dress08:05 Something Borrowed,Something New08:30 Something Borrowed,Something New08:55 Say Yes To The Dress09:45 Cake Boss10:10 Little People, Big World10:35 Extreme Couponing11:00 Toddlers & Tiaras11:50 Love, Lust Or Run12:40 Cake Boss13:30 Kate Plus 814:20 Sister Wives15:10 Cake Boss15:35 Little People, Big World16:00 Toddlers & Tiaras16:50 Say Yes To The Dress17:15 Say Yes To The Dress 17:40Say Yes To The Dress18:05 Extreme Couponing18:30 Randy To The Rescue19:20 Your Style In His Hands20:10 Cake Boss21:00 Return To Amish21:50 Extreme Cheapskates23:05 90 Days To Wed23:55 Return To Amish

03:20 Total Drama: Revenge OfThe Island04:05 Ninjago: Masters OfSpinjitzu04:50 Teen Titans Go!05:10 Grojband06:00 Regular Show06:40 Uncle Grandpa07:00 Adventure Time07:25 Steven Universe07:45 The Amazing World OfGumball08:10 Ben 1008:55 Ninjago: Masters OfSpinjitzu09:15 Regular Show09:40 The Amazing World OfGumball10:00 Uncle Grandpa10:25 Total Drama World Tour11:10 Adventure Time12:40 Regular Show13:25 Clarence13:45 Uncle Grandpa14:10 Grojband14:30 Total Drama: Revenge OfThe Island14:55 Ben 10: Omniverse15:40 Ninjago Master OfSpinjitzu New16:00 Matt Hatter New16:25 Steven Universe16:45 Teen Titans Go!17:10 The Amazing World OfGumball17:30 Regular Show18:15 Adventure Time18:40 Johnny Test19:25 Clarence19:45 Uncle Grandpa20:10 Teen Titans Go!20:55 Ben 10: Omniverse21:40 Adventure Time22:25 Johnny Test23:10 Regular Show23:55 Total Drama: PahkitewIsland00:20 Total Drama: PahkitewIsland00:40 Grojband01:05 Grojband01:25 Teen Titans Go!01:50 Regular Show02:35 Johnny Test

00:50 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch01:15 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch01:40 Wolfblood02:05 Wolfblood02:30 Violetta03:20 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch03:45 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch04:10 Wolfblood04:35 Wolfblood05:00 Violetta05:50 Mouk06:00 Lolirock06:25 Girl Meets World06:50 Girl Meets World07:15 H2O: Just Add Water07:40 H2O: Just Add Water08:05 The Next Step08:30 Hank Zipzer08:55 Jessie09:20 Jessie09:45 Austin & Ally10:10 Austin & Ally10:35 Liv And Maddie11:00 Liv And Maddie11:25 Girl Meets World11:50 Girl Meets World12:15 Jessie12:40 Jessie13:05 Dog With A Blog13:30 Dog With A Blog13:55 H2O: Just Add Water14:25 H2O: Just Add Water14:55 Lolirock15:25 Austin & Ally16:00 Jessie16:30 Jessie17:00 The Next Step17:25 Liv And Maddie17:50 I Didn’t Do It18:15 Mako Mermaids18:40 Liv And Maddie19:05 The Next Step19:30 Lolirock19:55 Hank Zipzer20:20 Binny And The Ghost20:45 Good Luck Charlie21:10 Good Luck Charlie21:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place22:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place22:25 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch22:50 Sabrina: Secrets Of ATeenage Witch23:10 Wolfblood23:35 Wolfblood

00:00 World War Z-PG1502:00 Double Take-PG1504:00 Stash House-PG1506:00 The Courier-PG1508:00 Born To Race: Fast Track-PG1510:00 Stash House-PG1512:00 Shanghai Noon-PG1514:00 The Courier-PG1516:00 The Numbers Station-PG1518:00 Born To Race: Fast Track-PG15

000204060810121416182022

00:30 Belle-PG1502:30 Last Passenger-PG1504:30 Temptation: Confessions OfA Marriage Counselor-PG1506:45 Five Thirteen-PG1509:00 Step Up Revolution-PG1511:00 Temptation: Confessions OfA Marriage Counselor-PG1513:00 Song For Marion-PG1515:00 One Chance-PG1517:00 Step Up Revolution-PG1519:00 The Last Days On Mars-PG1521:00 Reasonable Doubt-PG1523:00 Tar-PG15

01:00 Swing Kids03:00 The Letter05:00 Atlas Shrugged Part 2: The

00:00 Liar, Liar02:00 The Pretty One04:00 So Undercover06:00 Vamps08:00 Admission10:00 The Pretty One12:00 So Undercover14:00 Struck By Lightning16:00 Admission18:00 Last Vegas20:00 The Hot Flashes22:00 Svengali

01:00 Worms02:45 The Little Rascals Save TheDay04:30 Moshi Monsters: The Movie06:00 Jelly T07:45 Space Dogs09:45 Krazzy Planet11:30 Otto Is A Rhino13:00 The Little Rascals Save TheDay14:45 A Cat In Paris16:00 Unstable Fables: Goldilocks& The Three Bears18:00 Krazzy Planet20:00 Imaginum22:00 A Cat In Paris23:30 Unstable Fables: Goldilocks& The Three Bears

00:00 Cloverfield-PG1502:00 Call Me Crazy: A Five Film-PG1504:00 Labor Day-PG1506:00 Epic-PG08:00 The Grandmaster-PG1510:00 Mr. Peabody & Sherman-FAM12:00 Call Me Crazy: A Five Film-PG1514:00 Appleseed: Alpha-PG1516:00 The Grandmaster-PG1518:00 Snitch-PG1520:00 Runner Runner-PG1522:00 The Expendables 3-PG15

00:00 American Pickers01:00 Alaska Off-Road Warriors02:00 Alone03:00 Mountain Men04:00 American Pickers06:00 Down East Dickering07:00 Mountain Men08:00 Ax Men09:00 American Pickers11:00 Counting Cars12:00 American Restoration13:00 Storage Wars14:00 Pawn Stars15:00 Shipping Wars16:00 American Restoration17:00 Pawn Stars18:00 American Pickers19:00 Storage Wars20:00 Shipping Wars21:00 Pawn Stars23:00 American Pickers

00:45 Love, Lust Or Run01:35 Extreme Cheapskates02:00 90 Days To Wed02:50 Say Yes To The Dress03:15 Say Yes To The Dress 03:40Randy To The Rescue04:30 Cake Boss

19:20 Dual Survival20:10 Storage Wars Canada20:35 Auction Hunters21:00 Walking The Nile21:50 Dual Survival22:40 Asphalt Cowboys23:30 Street Outlaws

06:30 Andy Bates American StreetFeasts07:00 Man Fire Food07:30 Man Fire Food08:00 Chopped09:00 The Big Eat...09:30 The Big Eat...10:00 The Kitchen11:00 The Pioneer Woman11:30 The Pioneer Woman12:00 Chopped13:00 Guy’s Big Bite13:30 Guy’s Big Bite14:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives15:00 Man Fire Food15:30 Man Fire Food16:00 Chopped17:00 The Kitchen18:00 Grandma’s Secret CookbookSpecial18:30 Grandma’s Secret CookbookSpecial19:00 Chopped20:00 Andy Bates American StreetFeasts20:30 Andy Bates American StreetFeasts21:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives21:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives22:00 Roadtrip With G. Garvin22:30 Roadtrip With G. Garvin23:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives23:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

04:30 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon05:30 My Name Is Earl06:00 My Boys06:30 Community07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers08:00 Hot In Cleveland08:30 My Name Is Earl09:00 Cristela09:30 About A Boy10:00 The Mindy Project10:30 Community11:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon12:00 My Boys12:30 Hot In Cleveland13:00 My Name Is Earl13:30 Community14:00 Cougar Town14:30 About A Boy15:00 The Mindy Project15:30 The Daily Show With JonStewart16:00 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore16:30 My Boys17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers18:00 Cristela18:30 Cougar Town19:00 Wilfred19:30 The Mindy Project20:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon21:00 The Daily Show With JonStewart21:30 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore22:00 Modern Family22:30 Black-Ish23:00 Parks And Recreation23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers

20:00 Absolute Killers-PG1522:00 Befriend And Betray-PG15

Strike07:00 Promised Land08:45 The Sapphires10:30 Swing Kids12:30 Jobs14:45 Promised Land16:30 The Sapphires18:30 The Joy Luck Club21:00 The Armstrong Lie23:15 Knife Fight

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

You’re often the first one out the door in the morning, but you mightprefer lingering over breakfast today. Your fantasies may have you yearning to stayhome, lost in sweet bliss with someone you love. However, even if you could tem-porarily shut out the world, the idea probably sounds better than the reality.Anyway, you can’t hide from work no matter how tempting it seems. Fortunately,you don’t have to go to extreme measures to experience emotional satisfaction.Simply taking the time to let others know how much you care deepens the con-nections.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

You want more than just small talk today, even when communicatingwith your coworkers. Move beyond subjects like sports and the weather by sharingyour concerns about global issues. Thankfully, you flourish in the company of like-minded people, and can be extremely eloquent when your opinions are validated.Obviously, you must exercise discretion but don’t let your fear of getting too per-sonal stop you from taking a conversation to the next level. As long as you’re asgood of a listener as you are a talker now, you’ll know when to lighten up themood to keep the situation from growing awkward.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You may be searching for a deeper meaning to your work, but thetruth is you’re so idealistic now that you could inadvertently set your-

self up for failure. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to align your career withyour core values, but you might not be able to find a paying job doing what makesyour soul happy. Luckily, the Moon’s presence in your sign today enables you tochange your mind faster than you can shift directions. Widening your perspectiveand exploring your options might be all it takes to put your life back on track.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Making a wish is a good first step today, but it won’t necessarily mani-fest a magic solution. You must whole-heartedly believe that your goal is attainableand diligently work toward achieving it. But the fine line between concrete objec-tives and elusive pipedreams is tough to navigate now. In order to make the mostof this cosmic opportunity, be discerning when weeding out the delusions fromthe dreams. When you can tell fact from fiction, you’ll be on your way to choosing agoal worthy of your time and effort.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

You may not allow anyone to see how much you’re struggling now,and your defensive tactics are probably doing the trick. Normally, your pride canstand in your way of revealing your vulnerabilities so others don’t get to experienceyour authenticity. But if push comes to shove, you’re more likely to gamble withyour heart and share your emotional dilemma today. Although you will likely feel awelcome sense of relief if you bravely tell others the truth, reserve the details foranother day. Not all secrets are meant to be shared.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

You can be lured down a rabbit hole so quickly today that yourhead spins and you won’t even know what happened. You’re so open-heartedand trusting when it comes to relationships now that you may come across asuncharacteristically gullible. But don’t throw your common sense out the win-dow and give your power of discernment away to those who haven’t earned it.Stand back to put things into proper perspective. Paradoxically, scaling downyour larger-than-life expectations of the future helps to stabilize your progress inthe present moment.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Your current passion for your work is prompting you to take yourcareer ambitions to new heights. Unfortunately, it might be a steep uphill battleas you attempt to manage all the moving parts. There’s a lot of chatter in the airnow, but you can still recognize a good idea for what it is if you remain open-minded. You might benefit by coloring in the details of the big picture, but it’snot the best cosmic timing for making a commitment. Waiting a couple of daysfor your clarity to return gives you a better chance of actually delivering whatyou promise.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

You’re indulgently swimming in your own watery element todaywhen it comes to sharing your feelings or expressing your creativity. However,you might want to recite an epic poem while someone else would prefer a sim-ple tweet. Either way, your meaning is the same; it’s just a matter of differentdelivery styles. Unfortunately, you’ll lose your audience before you make yourpoint if you ramble on endlessly. The shorter and sweeter your message, themore likely it will touch the minds and hearts of others.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Your connections with others are based upon shared history today,whether or not it is spoken in the moment. There may be acknowl-

edged threads that interweave your lives that have never been discussed indetail. However, your love of adventure is currently at odds with the softer emo-tional component of your relationships. The haunting familiarity of the pastseems more comfortable now than your drive to explore the unknown.Sometimes it’s more courageous to stay fully present right in the emotionaltrenches where you are than going off in search of something sparkly and new.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

You might pull your hair out today if you have to hear even onemore person whining about his or her hurt feelings. It’s not that you

are lacking in compassion, there’s just more important things to do now than lis-ten to others complain about their personal dramas. The bottom line is that youintend to have something tangible by the end of the day to show for your efforts.But don’t be so quick to dismiss the real treasure you can harvest from the non-rational realms of your imagination. All head and no heart leaves you emotional-ly disconnected from the people that matter most.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Just when you finally find your groove, one more distraction popsup to interfere with your well-intended productivity. You wouldn’t mind it somuch if the interruptions were worthy of your attention rather than whimsicalindulgences. However, it’s as if reality is sideswiping you with irrelevant eventsjust to test your powers of concentration. Although your creative imaginationoffers plenty of inspiration, don’t just succumb to wandering in your dreamstoday; walk between both the mundane and the magical worlds for the bestresults.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Finding and sustaining your rhythm is more of a challenge thanyou have time for today. Part of the problem is that you might not be cer-tain about what others expect from you. Additionally, you’re not even clearabout your own needs. However, you aren’t quite ready to throw yourhands up in the air and do whatever the majority wants. Nevertheless,you’re still better off trusting your intuition now than trying to map out allthe logistics. Sometimes the most practical course of action arrives in theleast practical manner.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 963

ACROSS1. God of the underworld.4. The front part of the head or skull (includingthe forehead).12. A unit of length of thread or yarn.15. A radioactive transuranic element which hasbeen synthesized.16. Demand as being one's due or property.17. Late time of life.18. Sexually transmitted urethritis (usuallycaused by chlamydia).19. Soft leather shoe.20. A loose sleeveless outer garment madefrom aba cloth.21. United States comedian and actor in silentfilms noted for his acrobatic skills and deadpanface (1895-1966).23. Having its true character concealed with theintent of misleading.25. (used of animals especially a horse) Of amoderate reddish-brown color n 1.28. A unit of weight equivalent to 1000 kilo-grams.30. A light strong brittle gray toxic bivalentmetallic element.31. The network in the reticular formation thatserves an alerting or arousal function.32. Any group or radical of the form RCO- whereR is an organic group.36. The bureau of the Treasury Departmentresponsible for tax collections.38. The brightest star in Cygnus.41. Angular distance above the horizon (espe-cially of a celestial object).42. A boat with a flat bottom for carrying heavyloads (especially on canals).43. Portuguese explorer who in 1488 was thefirst European to get round the Cape of GoodHope (thus establishing a sea route from theAtlantic to Asia) (1450-1500).45. Any of several Old World herbs of the genusMedicago having small flowers and trifoliatecompound leaves.48. The Teutonic god of thunder.50. The seventh month of the Moslem calendar.52. God of fire.53. (Babylonian) A demigod or first man.54. Of or relating to Oman or its people.55. Kamarupan languages spoken in northeast-ern India and western Burma.56. Not only so, but.58. A former copper coin of Pakistan.60. (Norse mythology) Goddess of old age whodefeated Thor in a wrestling match.67. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainlyaquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking truestems and roots and leaves.70. The upper house of the parliament of theRepublic of Ireland.71. One-thousandth of an equivalent.72. Any of the yeastlike imperfect fungi of thegenus Candida.74. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrantwhite flowers and yielding a durable timber andresinous juice.76. Any of various coarse shrubby plants of thegenus Iva with small greenish flowers.77. Relating to or derived from a glacier.80. According to the Old Testament he was apagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel(9th century BC).81. An audiotape recording of sound.82. (abbreviated `ha') A unit of surface areaequal to 100 ares (or 10,000 square meters).83. A small cake leavened with yeast.

DOWN1. A basketball shot in which the basketball ispropelled downward into the basket.2. English prelate noted for his pessimistic ser-mons and articles (1860-1954).3. Short and fat.4. A Samoyedic-speaking person in northwest-ern Siberia.5. Extremely robust.6. Government agency created in 1974 tolicense and regulate nuclear power plants.7. Made from baking chocolate or cocoa pow-der and milk and sugar.8. One of the most common of the five majorclasses of immunoglobulins.9. An archaic name for Easter or Passover.10. Make use of.11. A projection at the end of a piece of woodthat is shaped to fit into a mortise and form amortise joint.12. An accidental hole that allows something(fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape.13. A river in central Europe that arises in north-western Czechoslovakia and flows northwardthrough Germany to empty into the North Sea.14. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.22. The bill in a restaurant.24. Title for a civil or military leader (especially inTurkey).26. Informal terms for money.27. A historical region in central and northernYugoslavia.29. A thermionic vacuum tube having threeelectrodes.33. A Bantu language spoken by the Chagapeople in northern Tanzania.34. (used of living things especially persons) Inan early period of life or development orgrowth.35. An ancient region on the coast of westernAsia Minor.37. The capital and largest city of Yemen.39. The square of a body of any size of type.40. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.44. A person who lacks good judgment.46. An ancient country is southwestern Asia onthe east coast of the Mediterranean.47. Obvious and dull.49. An intensely radioactive metallic elementthat occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.51. A nonmagnetic housing for a ship's com-pass (usually in front of the helm).57. A metric unit of volume equal to one tenthof a liter.59. A quantity of no importance.61. English film actress (1913-1967).62. (Old Testament) The second patriarch.63. A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissueseparating or binding together muscles andorgans etc.64. A member of the Siouan people formerly liv-ing in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.65. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on askewer usually with vegetables.66. Jordan's port.68. Rock that in its molten form (as magma)issues from volcanos.69. Any of various small biting flies.73. A chronic skin disease occurring primarily inwomen between the ages of 20 and 40.75. A workplace for the conduct of scientificresearch.78. A New England state.79. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

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inf or m at ionTUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

Ahmadi Sama Safwan Fahaeel Makka St 23915883Abu Halaifa Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd 23715414Danat Al-Sultan Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd 23726558

Jahra Modern Jahra Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 24575518Madina Munawara Jahra-Block 92 24566622

Capital Ahlam Fahad Al-Salem St 22436184Khaldiya Coop Khaldiya Coop 24833967

Farwaniya New Shifa Farwaniya Block 40 24734000Ferdous Coop Ferdous Coop 24881201Modern Safwan Old Kheitan Block 11 24726638

Hawally Tariq Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25726265Hana Salmiya-Amman St 25647075Ikhlas Hawally-Beirut St 22625999Hawally & Rawdha Hawally & Rawdha Coop 22564549Ghadeer Jabriya-Block 1A 25340559Kindy Jabriya-Block 3B 25326554Ibn Al-Nafis Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25721264Mishrif Coop Mishrif Coop 25380581Salwa Coop Salwa Coop 25628241

OphthalmologistsDr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426

General PractitionersDr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501

UrologistsDr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427

For labor-related inquiries and complaints:

Call MSAL hotline 128

Sabah Hospital 24812000

Amiri Hospital 22450005

Maternity Hospital 24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700

Chest Hospital 24849400

Farwaniya Hospital 24892010

Adan Hospital 23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300

Al-Razi Hospital 24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9

Kaizen center 25716707

Rawda 22517733

Adaliya 22517144

Khaldiya 24848075

Kaifan 24849807

Shamiya 24848913

Shuwaikh 24814507

Abdullah Salem 22549134

Nuzha 22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764

Qadsiya 22515088

Dasmah 22532265

Bneid Al-Gar 22531908

Shaab 22518752

Qibla 22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla 22451082

Mirqab 22456536

Sharq 22465401

Salmiya 25746401

Jabriya 25316254

Maidan Hawally 25623444

Bayan 25388462

Mishref 25381200

W Hawally 22630786

Sabah 24810221

Jahra 24770319

New Jahra 24575755

West Jahra 24772608

South Jahra 24775066

North Jahra 24775992

North Jleeb 24311795

Ardhiya 24884079

Firdous 24892674

Omariya 24719048

N Khaitan 24710044

Fintas 23900322

GOVERNORATE PHARMACY ADDRESS PHONE

Plastic Surgeons

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf 22547272

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari 22617700

Dr. Abdel Quttainah 25625030/60

Family Doctor

Dr Divya Damodar 23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists

Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians

DrAdrian arbe 23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin 2572-6666 ext 8321

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan 22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami 25343406

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly 25739272

Dr. Salem soso 22618787

General Surgeons

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart

Dr. Adnan Ebil 22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada 22666300

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra 25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub 24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani 25654300/3

Paediatricians

Dr. Khaled Hamadi 25665898

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard 25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar 22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof 25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare 23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew 24334282

Dermatology

Dr. Mohammed Salam Bern University 23845955

Dentists

Dr Anil Thomas 3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar 22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed 22562226

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer 22561444

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Dr. Farida Al-Habib 2611555-2622555 MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

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TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

l if e s t y l eG o s s i p

Kylie Minogue is recording a Christmas album. The 47-year-old star is believed to be halfway through mak-ing the LP, which will be her 13th studio album, set

to be released on a one-album deal throughWarner/Parlophone. A source revealed: “Kylie is halfwaythrough recording it. It’s believed all the tracks will be dis-co-influenced.” The ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ hitmaker - whoselast album ‘Kiss Me Once’ performed poorly when releasedlast year - recently parted ways with her record labelParlophone following a partnership of over 15 years but ishoping she can return to the charts with her latest collec-tion, which will feature a variety of covers and originaltunes. The source told The Sun newspaper: “It’s likely the

album will include a mixture of festive classics and evensome original material.”She wants to take her time on anew release but can’t be away from the charts for long, soa Christmas album is the obvious choice.” The news comesafter Chic legend Nile Rodgers confirmed he was workingwith the Australian beauty, who originally kick-started hercareer in the soap opera ‘Neighbours’. Last month he said:“Working with so many people is its own reward. I’ve got athing I’m doing with Kylie Minogue and Elton John.”

Minogue makingChristmas album

Adele postponing

album to have baby

Adele’s third album could be postponed so she canhave another baby. The ‘Rolling in the Deep’ hitmak-er - who already has two-year-old son Angelo with

her long-term partner Simon Konecki - is reportedly eagerto have another tot, throwing the release of her long-awaited third album into uncertainty. A pal of the singersaid: “Adele’s made it clear she wants at least one more kidand is starting to get broody. “She goes through phases ofbeing completely inspired by her third album and then justwanting to have more kids and to live a normal life.” The27-year-old star released her second record, ‘21’, in 2011,but has stayed silent about plans for her next LP, which wasrumored to have an autumn release date. However, asource close to the singer continued to say her family takesprecedence, despite the fact fans of the 10-time GrammyAward winner are desperate to hear new music. The sourcetold the Daily Star newspaper: “While most people wait forthe right time for a baby to fit into their life, Adele is prettyforthright in her view that if and when she gets pregnantagain her career will have to fit around her family.”Meanwhile, it was previously reported the mother-of-onehad been writing and recording with Genesis rocker PhilCollins, having previously blanked him. He said: “She gaveme a piece of music to finish and, at first; I didn’t knowwhether I had failed the audition as I didn’t hear back fromher.” However, a source later added: “Over the past fewmonths, Phil has been working on the tracks onceagain.”Adele put all her work on hold for a while, so itwasn’t anything personal. It was just delayed.”

Avicii recorded 600 versions of a song with ChrisMartin before the final cut was made. The ‘WakeMe Up’ hit-maker, 25, was called upon to pro-

duce the electronic track ‘Heaven’ for the Coldplayfront-man and revealed that the 38-year-old ‘Paradise’singer is hard to please. He said: “Chris is one of themost artistic people I’ve ever met. And a perfectionist.We did like, 600 versions of the song and still he’s ask-ing me to tweak the vocals. But the superstar DJ - whoreportedly made £28 million on gigs across the globelast year - isn’t fazed by the pressure and is grateful thathe is being recognised as a musician as well as a pro-ducer and songwriter. He said: “The most gratification I

get is acknowledgment from musicians who knowabout song-writing. Chart success is one thing. But itwasn’t until recently - honestly - that I really believed Iwas musical. “It took other people to tell me - Chris, NileRodgers, Mac David. That’s been my biggest dreamcome true.” Meanwhile, the Swedish DJ could be on thelook out for a new British collaboration as he says he isin love with the accent. He told The Sunday Times: “Iadore British accents. Your way of speaking is insane.You don’t say ‘dance’, you say ‘daah-nce’. What’s not tolove about that?”

Avicii: I made 600 versions of Chris Martin’s track

‘Wolverine 3’ will see HughJackman explore an older ver-sion of his character Logan.

The 46-year-old actor - who’s already con-firmed the upcoming movie will mark thelast time he plays the iconic comic bookcharacter - has offered fans an insight intowhat they can expect from his third stand-alone Wolverine movie. Looking forward tothe new film, Hugh said: “I’ve got threewords for you guys - Old Man Logan. Readinto that what you will.” The teaser comesshortly after Hugh said that the much-anticipated new movie will be the “perfectway to go out”. He shared: “It felt like it wasthe right time to do it. And let’s be honest,17 years. I never thought in a million yearsit would last, so I’m so grateful to the fansfor the opportunity of playing it “I kind ofhave in my head what we’re going to do inthis last one. It just feels like this is the per-fect way to go out.” The announcementcame as no surprise as Hugh posted acryptic message on Instagram in Marchthat read: “WOLVERINE... ONE LAST TIME.(sic)” ‘Wolverine 3’ is set for release in March2017.

Jackman previews Wolverine 3

Amanda Seyfried will work “less andless” as she gets older. The ‘Ted 2’actress - who is in a relationship with

Justin Long - is expecting her “priorities toshift” in the future as she wants to havechildren eventually. She said: “The chancesavailable to me are something I will nevertake for granted, but I know I’ll work lessand less as I get older. I’d like my prioritiesto shift towards family. I think that wouldbe something really fantastic to experi-ence. “But I don’t know, it’s really aboutbeing happy with the now, and I feel likeit’s good right now.” Though she turns 30 in

December, Amanda isn’t worried aboutgetting older. She told OK! magazine: “I likegrowing up, it doesn’t scare me. It’s silly tothink like that. It means a new stage and anew chapter for my life and my career. “As Igo towards my 30s, it’s starting to makesense. Everything I’ve done is working upto this point where I’m getting the respectin my career that I’ve been looking for. Ialways recognised myself in every role anddidn’t know if I could see myself playingsomeone different, but now I can. Thatcomes with age.”

Seyfried slowing down

Channing Tatum:Magic Mike marketing

was ‘genius’

Channing Tatum thinks the marketing for‘Magic Mike’ was “genius”. The 35-year-oldactor - who produced and acted in the

film about male stripping and its sequel ‘MagicMike XXL’ - has admitted the 2012 film and theadverts - which made the serious drama looklike the perfect film for a girl’s night out - had a“disconnect”. Channing said: “You can’t blamethem; it was a genius move. But there is a dis-connect there. They sell what will work, notwhat the truth of the movie is. I actually thinkthe second movie is more like what peoplethough the first movie was. “I mean, look, malestripping is lame. It’s still cop routines and fire-man routines. And it hasn’t changed since itbegan.” However, the ‘22 Jump Street’ star - whobased the film on his own life, having been astripper in his youth - also admitted that ‘MagicMike’ has had an unintended effect on his lifewhen it comes to female fans. Speaking to GQmagazine, Channing said: “Women will come upto me and say, you know, no offence, but Iwould love to do you. You know: I would dowhatever you wanted me to do. And I’m like,that is offensive! You do mean offence! I’m notan amusement park!”

Nicky Hilton wore a $70K Valentino wedding gownfor her wedding to billionaire James Rothschild. Thehotel heiress exchanged her vows at Kensington

Palace’s The Orangery in the haute couture dress, whichdesigners Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli madefrom “precious vintage lace”, “three different tones of ivory”and “richly embellished crystals”. The official Instagram forValentino posted a description of the lavish wedding outfit.They wrote: “[The gown] was composed with three differ-ent tones of ivory and silver guipure richly embellishedwith crystals. The high neck bodice stitched to a preciousballoon skirt ending with a three meter long train. Covered

with a long veil is enriched all around the edge with a pre-cious vintage lace (sic).” Prior to the couple’s big day Nicky -who is the sister of Paris Hilton - told of her dream to haveValentino design her dress and pinned the elite designerlabel as “the definition of timeless”. She previously said:“Ever since I was a little girl I wanted Valentino to designmy wedding dress. Valentino is the definition of timelesselegance; I don’t think there’s another couture house likeit.” — Bang Showbiz

Hilton wore $70K Valentino wedding gown

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

l if e s t y l eM u s i c & M o v i e s

If ever there was a sworn devotee - a chanting, face-painted worshipper - of the Big, it is Marvel. So theprospect that Ant-Man, the miniscule Mighty

Mouse of Marvel’s stable of powerhouses, might jointhe brawny big-screen ranks of the Hulk, Thor and therest has long held some pleasing irony. But thatenticement - Oh, if it was something different! - wentout the helicarrier window when, just weeks beforeshooting was to commence, Edgar Wright, the Britishblender of genre and comedy who had worked on theproject for eight years, departed over “creative differ-ences” - a sacrifice, seemingly, to the Marvel colossus.

The precise source of the dispute is unknown, butit’s clear enough from the final product, pushed for-ward with the quick insertion of director Peyton Reed(“Bring it On,” “The Break-Up”) and a rewrite by AdamMcKay and others, that “Ant-Man” became bedeviledwith staying true to its more modest size and idiosyn-cratic nature, and with the larger, blander demands ofbeing a Marvel movie complete with superherocameos and (optimistic) sequel set-ups. The result is afilm not quite sure of itself, like it’s wearing clothes asize too big. Paul Rudd plays Scott Lang, a politicallymotivated cat burglar being released after three yearsin San Quentin. He has an ethnically diverse group ofpetty criminal friends: Tip “T.I.”

To break freeHarris, David Dastmalchian and Michael Pena, the

only actor rightly convinced he’s in a comedy. Lang istrying to right himself for the sake of his youngdaughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Forston), and for payingchild support to his ex-wife (Judy Greer, an actress toogood to be twice relegated to the domestic sidelinesin this summer’s blockbusters). But spryness (anessential quality for any movie about an insect super-hero) or any much purpose, at all, is missing from

these scenes. The movie is too controlled for Rudd’sgoofball charm - best on display when simply stand-ing in front of a mirror (“Wanderlust”) or animatedabout music (“I Love You, Man”) - to break free.Through some strained plot mechanics, Lang isrecruited by the original Ant-Man, the scientist HankPym (Michael Douglas), to succeed him in the suit.

Along with his daughter (a bob-sportingEvangeline Lilly), he’s conspiring to prevent a formerapprentice (Corey Stoll) from unlocking the atomicsecrets that led to Ant-Man in the first place: the abili-ty to shrink down to bug-size, yet maintain strength.Somewhere in Wonderland, Alice is tapping her foot.With the press of a button, he can toggle between bigand small, and appear all but invisible when tiny. Theperspective change allows for some unlikely super-hero foes, like a bathtub drain. During training, whileLang tries to perfect his communication with otherunderground ants, he sometimes pops out of theground like a sprouted cabbage. With a screenplaycredited to Wright, Joe Cornish, McKay and Rudd,“Ant-Man” unfolds in pleasingly human-sized fashion.

Stomped underfootIt’s a heist movie. Not one city is leveled; it’s like

Marvel has gone on a diet. But it’s only in the climacticscenes where the movie unlocks the antic potential ofits shape-shifting. Rather than taking place above theskyline of a metropolis, the big action scenes are setinside a briefcase and in Cassie’s bedroom. Suchmoments, sprinkled throughout, are like glimpses of abetter “Ant-Man” that might have existed. Change, weare told, is afoot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Ant-Man” is the final movie in the studio’s “PhaseTwo,” with promises of bigger, intergalactic battleslooming in “Phase Three.” But as a parent might say,it’s just a phase. Because you have to squint pretty

hard to spot the differences from Marvel movie toMarvel movie. If “Ant-Man” proves anything, it’s thatany diversion in this universe is likely to get stompedunderfoot. “Ant-Man,” a Walt Disney Co. release, is rat-ed PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of

America for “sci-fi action violence.” Running time: 124minutes. Two stars out of four. MPAA definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may beinappropriate for children under 13. — AP

Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’ is smaller but still not fun size

Review

At a time when most theater performersare paranoid about getting everyoneto turn off their cellphones - hello, Patti

LuPone - Penn & Teller want them on. And theringer on loud. “Take out your cellphones,turn them on, hold them up!” Penn Jillette,the larger, speaking half of the magic duosays as he kicks off their new show onBroadway. What happens next seems tobetray physics. I t involves a volunteerdivorced from his phone, a bucket, a sealedbox found in the audience and a dead fish,out from which the phone miraculously reap-pears.

The fish - like the trick - is as fresh as ever.Celebrating 40 years of performing together,Penn & Teller’s new show that opened Sundayat the Marquis Theatre celebrates new andold tricks, and, as typical, mixes in plenty ofcomedy that bursts the traditional preten-sions of stage magic. There’s a subversivewhiff to their show, whether it’s explodingmyths about the metal detectors used by theTransportation Security Administration or vili-fying so-called clairvoyants who prey on vul-nerable people. “The people who claim thesepowers are liars, cheaters, swindlers and rip-off artists. The tricks themselves are evil,immoral - and I know how to do them all,”Penn says.

The show’s tent poles have the pair pullinga rabbit out of a hat, sawing a woman in halfand making what they call an African SpottedPygmy Elephant vanish. But there’s some-thing here for everyone, including a nail-gunbit that will make you wince, some cleverclose-up magic and a trick that has Tellerswallowing needles and the audience gag-ging. Volunteers are often needed onstageand treated with respect.

Too expensiveThese are a pair of self-acknowledged

skeptics and libertarians who believe in tricks

- not real risk - and don’t believe in usingplants in the audience - “We believe it is justtoo expensive,” Penn jokes. They tease thecrowd like trained strippers, revealing justenough, but not all. How Teller managed toget a red ball to do his bidding like a dog isdivulged. But how Penn correctly predictedthe punch line from a single random jokefrom dozens of books is not. We learn sometantalizing clues about sawing people, buthow a large animal managed to disappearinto thin air is on us.

There’s even a break-down of the commonstunts, with Teller performing and Penn play-ing double bass. You learn about palming,loading, misdirection and ditching - but soonlearn that the joke is on you: Those reveals arelow-hanging fruit. How did that elephant dis-appear? Teller, the single-monickered silentpartner, gets to shine in a few solo tricks thatsmell of classic magic, including one withgoldfish and a shadow bit. He’s like a silentmovie star, a nice juxtaposition from his bom-bastic partner. Directed by John Rando, Penn& Teller’s tricks here celebrate the sideshow ofyore, the slight-of-hand gags of practicedpros, not the empty-calorie flash of the likesof Criss Angel. Penn says he wants the audi-ence to wonder not how they do their tricks,but why. The show takes a thoughtful turn atthe end with a long monologue by Pennabout his childhood glee at seeing the circusfreaks and some extended fire-eating. “You’rein our tent and the side show ain’t dead,”Penn says. Then the duo are done, a littlewiped out, both smoking cigarettes, as ifpost-coitally. But where that darn elephantwent is still a mystery. — AP

Anthony Anderson, who won an NAACPImage Award this year for his starringrole on ABC’s “Black-ish,” will host the

fifth edition of the MTV Africa Music Awardson July 18 in Durban, in the South Africanprovince of KwaZulu-Natal. The Mamas, as theawards are known, were revived last yearafter a three-year hiatus and aired live in 48countries, including for the first time acrosssub-Saharan Africa on multiplatform networkMTV Base. They also trended globally, includ-ing in the US, on Twitter.

Anderson, who besides starring in “Black-ish” is the show’s executive producer, and alsohosts Food Network’s Carnival Cravings withAnthony Anderson, enthused about the gigin a statement. “I’m so looking forward to myfirst trip to Durban and KwaZulu-Natal andhonored to be hosting Mama 2015 on NelsonMandela’s birthday - it’s going to be awe-some!,” he said. Anderson also known forleading roles on NBC’s “Law & Order,”where he played Detective Kevin Bernard, aswell as shows “K-Ville” and “The Shield,” andsemi-biographical sitcom “All About theAndersons,” is fresh from his recent stint as co-host of the Black Entertainment TelevisionAwards 2015 in LA in June.

He has also earned praise for his film workon “Barbershop” and Martin Scorsese’s “The

Departed.” “Funny, charismatic and engaging,Anthony Anderson is guaranteed to makeMama 2015 a memorable event thanks to hisunique comedic presence and boundlessenergy.” Commented Alex Okosi, senior VPand managing director at VIMN Africa.Anderson follows in the footsteps of previousMAMA hosts Marlon Wayans (2014), Eve(2010), Wyclef Jean (2009) and Trevor Nelson(2008). As previously announced, US R&Bstar Ne-Yo will perform to promote his sixthstudio album, “Non-Fiction,” as will singerJhene Aiko and rising American hip-hopperYoung Thug.

Performers set for Mama 2015 also include2FACE, AKA, Big Nuz, Black Motion, Bucie,Cassper Nyovest, Da LES, Davido, DiamondPlatnumz, DJ Fisherman, DJ Tira, Jhene Aiko,NaakMusiQ, Toofan, Wizkid, and Yemi Alade.The event, sponsored by the KwaZulu-NatalProvince in association with Absolut Vodkaand in partnership with the City of Durban,will take place at the Durban InternationalConvention Centre. — Reuters

Penn & Teller show plenty up their sleeves

Anderson set to host MTV Africa Music Awards

In this image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Penn Jillette, left, and Teller perform in‘Penn & Teller On Broadway,’ a limited engagement through August 16 at the MarquisTheatre in New York. — AP

Jamie Lee Curtis took her first slice out ofComic-Con. The veteran actress made herinaugural appearance at the pop-culture

convention Sunday during a panel for FX’s“American Horror Story” and Fox’s “ScreamQueens,” the upcoming horror whodunit starringCurtis as the cutthroat dean of a college where aserial killer is on the loose.

Why hasn’t the star of the “Halloween” seriesever attended Comic-Con? “I’ve been sellingyogurt that makes you (expletive),” joked thespokeswoman for the Activia yogurt brand.

“American Horror Story” and “Scream Queens”mastermind Ryan Murphy told the 6,500 fansgathered inside the San Diego ConventionCenter that he didn’t want to make “ScreamQueens” if Curtis didn’t agree to play CathyMunsch, a college administrator who takes aim ata posh and exclusive sorority on campus in theshow’s first episode.

“If you’re going to hire Jamie Lee Curtis, youwant to see her kicking (expletive) and fightingback,” Murphy said. “We’re actually writing ascene now where she’s fighting three killers.”

Curtis, who portrayed survivor Laurie Strode inseveral “Halloween” films, said she’s including anod to the character. “In episode two, there is awordless homage I threw in just as my tipping ofthe hat to all the Laurie Strode fans out there,”she said. Murphy noted that the show’s actorsdon’t know the exact identity of the killer and arefilming different takes of cast members acting asif they are behind the murders.—AP

‘Scream Queens’ star Jamie Lee Curtis reigns at Comic-Con

Actors promoting the television show, ‘Scream,’ foreground, andChildhood’s End work the crowds on Fifth Avenue outside the conventioncenter.

Sarah Paulson, left, and Kathy Bates attend the ‘American Horror Story’ and‘Scream Queens’ panel. — AP photos

Angela Bassett, left, and Matt Bomer attend the ‘American Horror Story’and‘Scream Queens’ panel.

Ryan Murphy, left, and Jamie Lee Curtis attend the ‘American Horror Story’and ‘Scream Queens’ panel.

US bachata singer Romeo Santos performs on stage during a concert at the BarclaysCenter in the Brooklyn borough of New York. — AFP

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

l if e s t y l eF e a t u r e s

It was home to the army of colonial bureaucrats who ranIndia, so it was perhaps inevitable that the original 18th-century plans for Kolkata’s Writers’ Building would be found

buried under reams of paperwork. “We even wrote to theBritish Library in the hope that some of the drawings mighthave been preserved there,” says architect Madhumita Roy asshe talks through some of the problems her team has facedtrying to restore one of India’s most iconic buildings to itsoriginal glory. “They were able to provide photographs of thebuilding’s facade from the early 1880s but they said thatcopies of the original plan were not available,” she said.

“And when we had almost given up hope, these threedrawings surfaced in our public works department under vol-umes of drawing plans for various other buildings in the city.”The discovery was a rare piece of good news in a project thatis more than a year behind schedule and has drawn wide-spread criticism in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata. The red-brick complex dates back to 1776 when Warren Hastings, thefirst governor general of British-run India, commissionedThomas Lyon to construct a building that would serve as theoffices and living quarters for the East India Company’slegions of clerks, known as writers.

The East India Company was the de facto ruler of India

until a revolt in the ranks of its private army in 1857. The writ-ers stationed in what was then India’s capital shaped the livesof tens of millions. Over the years, a host of extra wings andadornments were added, including the Greek-style statues ofgoddesses on the roof which symbolize everything from jus-tice to agriculture.

Capital shifts Although the British shifted the capital from Calcutta (now

called Kolkata) to New Delhi in 1911, the building known sim-ply as Writers’ continued to serve as the administrative head-quarters of the massive state of Bengal. It enjoyed a new leaseof life after India gained independence in 1947 as home to thegovernment of the state of West Bengal but slowly fell intodisrepair and was blighted by several fires. When current ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee ordered a $30 million refit in 2013,work was only supposed to take around six months. The aimwas to revamp the interior, prune the building of later addi-tions and restore courtyards which had been used as carparksor dumping grounds to their former glory.

Banerjee and her government relocated in October 2013to a nondescript office block on the other side of riverHooghly in the twin city of Howrah, expecting to be back in

Writers’ within the year. But the process of clearing the build-ing-home to around three dozen different departments-tookmany months more than anticipated. And while some workwas able to start last year, Roy, who heads the architecturedepartment in the city’s Jadavpur University, said the quest tofind the original masterplan caused major delays.

The documents were finally unearthed in May this year inthe public works department, one of a handful of offices tohave stayed put. But the project soon encountered more tur-bulence when civic groups recoiled at the plans to demolishthe newer wings.

Bulldozers move in “We have decided to keep the main building and all the

five blocks intact since they are part of the heritage structure,but we will raze all the other eight blocks which have beenbuilt in the post-independence era,” explained Roy during atour of the renovation work. When notices were posted lastmonth stating “this block/building will be demolished”, therewas an immediate backlash. Anger intensified when bulldoz-ers began reducing part of the structure to rubble, a movecampaigners say lacked approval from the city’s conservationwatchdog.

“Writers’ is listed with the civic body as a Grade I heritagestructure,” said Subrata Sil, director of the city’s HeritageConservation Committee. “The state public works departmentdid not seek prior permission for carrying out renovation oralteration work,” he said. Surya Kanta Mishra, leader of thestate’s main opposition Communist party, said the “renovationplan is flawed” and made no mention of what it intended todo with some of the building’s key features.

West Bengal urban development minister Firhad Hakiminsisted the work would be handled sensitively. “Writers’ is oneof British India’s earliest, grandest and most important struc-tures. Its restoration is a challenge to our government.” Royagreed that the sensitive nature of the work meant that itwould be some years yet before bureaucrats could move backin. “Opposition from some quarters has slowed down thework but we are determined to restore the glory of this iconicheritage structure,” Hakim said. — AFP

Indian laborers undertake renovation work on the Writers’ Building in Kolkata. — AFP photos Indian laborers undertake renovation work.

Kolkata’s Writers’ Building refit plagued by problems

An anonymous donor has offered a $1 millionreward for credible information leading to thepair of Judy Garland’s sequined, ruby red slip-

pers stolen from a museum in her Minnesota home-town. The late actress wore the slippers in “The Wizardof Oz.” Three other pairs still exist, including one on dis-

play at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.John Kelsch, executive director of the Judy Garland

Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, says the donor isfrom Arizona and is a huge fan of Garland and the1939 movie. The reward offer requires the exact loca-tion of the slippers and the perpetrator’s name. The 10-

year anniversary of the theft is in August. The slipperswere insured for $1 million. Kelsch says they could beworth $2 million to $3 million now. — AP

$1 million reward offered for stolen Judy Garland slippers This April 10,1996 file photoshows one of thefour pairs of rubyslippers worn byJudy Garland inthe 1939 film ‘TheWizard of Oz’ .—AP

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Tunisian-born, Paris-based couturier Azzedine Alaia poses during the press preview of the exhibition ‘Azzedine Alaia’s soft sculpture’ at the Galleria Borghese in Rome on July 10, 2015. The exhibition will run from July 11 toOctober 25, 2015. Visitors can see Alaia’s work displayed in the middle of the permanent collection of sculptures and furniture’s of the Villa Borghese. — AFP photos

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

l if e s t y l eF e a t u r e s

Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” is always near-by in the southwest Alabama town of Monroeville. Thequiet city is the birthplace and current home of the 89-

year-old author, and it inspired the fictional town of Maycombin her Pulitzer Prize-winning book about race and injustice inthe Deep South of the 1930s.

And with the “Mockingbird” sequel “Go Set a Watchman”just days away from publication, Monroeville has sites aplentythat draw fans searching for remnants of that “tired old town”where attorney Atticus Finch defended a wrongly accusedTom Robinson while Finch’s children Jem and Scout watchedfrom the courtroom balcony. There’s a Mockingbird Inn and arestaurant named for Boo Radley, the recluse-turned-hero inthe book. Both fill up with visitors each spring when the com-munity puts on a stage adaption of “Mockingbird” that drawsvisitors worldwide.

Also, bronze statue on the courthouse square and a wall-size “Mockingbird” mural on the side of a building are con-stant reminders of the town’s claim to fame. But all thosethings are based on the book, not part of it. There are otherspots around town that actually helped make “Mockingbird,”released 55 years ago.

Start at Mel’s Dairy Dream on South Alabama Avenue, abusy main road in the town of 6,300 people, and walk northtoward the square. The small block restaurant, ringed by serv-ice windows and a counter where customers plop down mon-ey for ice cream cones, stands on the site of Lee’s childhoodhome, which was torn down decades ago. Mel’s is just a short

walk from the school where Lee attended classes and, byextension, her alter-ego Scout and Jem began their “longestjourney together” at the book’s climax.

A historic markerLee shared the old house with siblings, her mother and

father AC Lee, an attorney and Alabama legislator who wasthe basis for Atticus Finch. Finch returns in “Watchman” as hisdaughter goes home to Maycomb 20 years later as an adult tothe town that shaped her, according to the publisher. Nextdoor to Mel’s and across a weathered stone fence is a grassylot with the remains of a house foundation and a historicmarker that recalls the site as the one-time home of authorTruman Capote, Lee’s childhood friend and the inspiration forthe character “Dill” in Mockingbird. As adults, the two collabo-rated on Capote’s classic crime story “In Cold Blood,” publishedin 1966.

The homes of Lee’s - and Finch’s - neighbors are long gone,replaced by parking lots and stores, and the paved street is nolonger shaded by big trees or transformed by rain into “redslop,” as Lee described in the book. But the courthouse and jailthat recall pivotal moments in “Mockingbird” are still less thana half-mile away on the courthouse square.

Now a museum, the old Monroe County Courthouse wascompleted in 1903 and is home to the balconied courtroomthat served as the model for the crucial legal scene in the filmversion of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” A tall white dome tops thebuilding; magnolia trees shade the lawn outside.

Well-wishersInside, visitors can walk across the shiny wooden floor and

sit in the old witness chair where Robinson, who was black,would have defended himself against false charges of raping awhite woman before an all-white jury. A pot-bellied stovestands beside the jury box. The jail where Atticus would haveprotected Robinson from a lynch mob is now an office acrossthe street. In the atrium outside the courtroom, part of agnarly old tree trunk taken from near the original Lee homesite is encased in plastic. With a notch in the side, the logevokes the knotty hardwood where Boo Radley emerged fromhis spooky, rundown home to leave gifts for Scout and herbrother in “Mockingbird.”

Radley was believed to be based on a seldom-seen neigh-bor of the Lees, Alfred Boulware, who died in 1952 and isburied in the same cemetery as Lee’s father, who died in1962. The graveyard is beside the town’s United MethodistChurch, just a few blocks from the courthouse. And Lee is intown, too, “although very quiet,” as she wrote in 1993. Mostlydeaf and blind, the author spends her days in an assisted liv-ing home in Monroeville. Recently, Lee attended a luncheonat the downtown restaurant Prop and Gavel, which is ownedby her lawyer and the attorney’s husband. Lee received thefirst copies of her new book from the publisher and chattedwith well-wishers. But mostly, like Boo, she is seldom seenaround town. — AP

Photo shows the old Monroe County Courthouse.A Bible opened on the judge’s desk in the old Monroe County Courthouse inMonroeville, Ala. — AP photos

Looking for traces of ‘Mockingbird’in Harper Lee’s hometown

Traditional African aesthetics meet modernist architec-ture in the latest exhibit at the Cooper-HewittSmithsonian Design Museum: a selection of textiles

from West and Central Africa that have inspired the work ofGhanaian-British architect David Adjaye. “I have always beeninterested in the abstraction and range of techniques associ-ated with African textiles,” said Adjaye, who has designed 50architecture projects around the world, including theSmithsonian’s new National Museum of African American

History and Culture, slated to open next year in Washington,DC.

Adjaye sees the fabrics as “collective form - a structure,”and the show examines the intersection of traditional craftand structure. The textiles are hung from a frame designedby Adjaye for this show; they form four loosely constructedwalls suggestive of an architectural structure.

The exhibit, which remains on view through nextFebruary, is part of the museum’s “Selects” series, in whichprominent designers, artists and architects are invited tomine and interpret the museum’s extensive permanent col-lection. “Textiles, which are a vital element of the visual lan-guage of West Africa, embody this interplay between geogra-phy and culture, and are rich sources of inspiration for mydesign work,” Adjaye said in an interview.

Ability to communicateBorn in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents and raised in Britain,

Adjaye “grew up with African textiles around me. I grew upunderstanding certain ceremonial cloths, and it became veryclear, particularly when I started creating public work, that Ihad a lot of inspiration from textiles and their ability to com-municate.” “I really see my work as weaving, not literally, but fig-uratively. Weaving is bringing people together. I am weavingthe facades and the structures. Walls and windows alone can

only go so far, but textiles can teach you how to negotiatecomplicated agendas in architecture,” he explained.

In textiles, as in architecture, “the nature of the availablelocal materials, such as plant fibers and dyes, defines the tex-tiles’ construction.” The show, which is housed in a single roomand may seem small at first glance, consists of 14 diverse tex-tiles hung on an enormous frame, designed by Adjaye to echothe room’s ornate 19th century architecture. The works, all tra-ditionally used as clothing, can be viewed up close, withoutglass as a barrier, with both sides of the fabric visible.

They are also meant to play off one another, giving a senseof the varied cultural geography of Africa. As a whole, theshow is a sort of mosaic of the best African textile techniquesand aesthetics. From the Bamana peoples of Mali, there’s abold, black-and-white mud cloth created from the painstaking

process of strip-weaving locally grown, hand-spun cotton,sewing the strips together to form a large rectangle, and thendyeing and re-dyeing the fabric, using iron-rich mud ferment-ed for a year, until it takes on a deep, warm shade of black. Thedesign is created by leaving some parts of the fabric white,while the artists paint on the fermented mud everywhere elseon the fabric. “It’s woven in eight narrow strips and dyed by agroup of people, often a family,” explained Susan Brown, asso-ciate curator of textiles at the museum.

Pan-African symbolBeside it hangs a large Adinkra wrap traditionally worn for

funerals. A potent symbol of graphics as communication, it ismade from factory-woven cotton, which has been hand-dyedblack. In squares painted onto it with a glossier shade of blackare patterns stamped with carved gourds. Each pattern holds amessage, understood as communication between the livingand their ancestors. On the other side of Adjaye’s big framehang two different styles of Kente prestige cloths from Ghana,one from the Ewe people and another from the Asante. Wornat religious festivals and important life events, the cloths’ volu-minous size and radiant colors give a majestic appearance.“These became a pan-African symbol, representing black prideand also the civil rights movement,” said Brown.

And in a different aesthetic, using different techniques is anAdire wrap from Gambia, with resist-dyed indigo on damask,its pattern barely visible beneath the rich blue dye. The fabric ispleated by hand, with rows of stitching near the folds creatingstraight or curving lines or dashes, which later stand out inwhite against the natural indigo dye once the stitching hasbeen removed. Elsewhere, from the Kalabari people of Nigeria,is a delicate, almost lacy wrap from the 1930s. Here, the art is insubtracting, not adding and adorning. Made from a simple,checked Indian madras fabric, threads have been selectivelyremoved, one by one, to create a new pattern, in this case bolddiamond shapes.

Besides the hanging textiles, each corner of the galleryhouses a small, traditional African hat. One features brightlycolored spikes, and another has sausage-like “horns.” “I love thehats,” Adjaye said. “They use local matter, like dead vegetablematter, and transform them into geometry and form,” The newSmithsonian museum, which will be Adjaye’s largest project sofar, has a facade that resembles pleats, perforated to create analmost rhythmic, geometric pattern. “The textiles are part of anarchitectural continuum,” he said. — AP

African textiles meet modernist architecture in Adjaye show

A ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ mural painted on the side of acar dealership.

Ruins of the childhood home of author Truman Capot. A sign welcoming book fans to Monroeville, Ala., thehometown of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author Harper Lee.

Cathleen Randall friend of Harper Lee, author of ‘To Killa Mockingbird’ accepts the Alabama Writers Hall ofFame award on behalf of Lee.

A truck passing a sign decorated with a mockingbird.

This undated image provided by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum shows, a rendering by AdjayeAssociates of the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington.

A man’s cap (laket) from the Kuba people, in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, late 19th to early 20thcentury. — AP photos

This photo provided by Cooper Hewitt, SmithsonianDesign Museum shows a Indigo-dyed damask-woven cot-ton, Adire wrapper, ca 1990, from Gambia.

39Looking for traces

of ‘Mockingbird’ in Harper Lee’s hometown

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015

A Malaysian woman walks past mannequins displaying traditional head scarves or tudung at a Ramadan market ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr festival in Kuala Lumpur. — AFP

With flashes of flesh and impressiveresumes, Miss USA was crowned Sunday,after the pageant was shunned by major

networks following controversial comments onMexican immigrants by presidential candidateDonald Trump. Miss Oklahoma, Olivia Jordan,took top honors at the contest, which is co-ownedby Trump and came under fire after his controver-sial claim that Mexico was sending criminals to theUnited States.

Broadcaster NBC and Spanish-languageUnivision both said they would not air the showand a co-host pulled out, but the pageant wentforward and included numerous contestants withties to Mexico. While the question of immigrationand Trump’s comments never came up onstage, the competitors nonetheless facedquestions on topical issues. For one ofher winning questions, Jordan said racerelations is the number one issueAmerica still needs to tackle.

“We really need to work on beingan accepting society, and being asociety where every single person-nomatter your race, no matter your gen-der-is given the same rights and privi-leges and opportunities,” the modelsaid at the show in Baton Rouge,Louisiana. Women with careers rang-ing from modeling to law strutted inbikinis and gowns, and answeredquestions as the glamorous squadwas whittled down to one. MissUSA aired on the cable channelReelz after NBC and Univisioncut ties with Trump.

The billionaire business mag-nate sparked a firestorm over hiscomments, saying Mexico was“sending people that have lots ofproblems... They’re bringingdrugs. They’re bringing crime.They’re rapists.” “WhenMexico sends its people,they’re not sending theirbest,” the RepublicanWhite House hopefulsaid on June 16.

Trump did not attend the pageant, tweeting thathe was busy campaigning in Arizona. Several com-panies and countries have decried Trump over thecomments.

Costa Rica pulled out of the Miss Universe com-petition following the remarks, and said theywould not be sending their contestant to theinternational pageant. But Trump’s voluble andunfiltered style has won him a surge of supportamid a chaotic Republican field with few frontrun-ners. While the mogul’s business interests havetaken a hit, his political profile has soared. He ispolling as the number two contender in the par-ty’s showdown for the 2016 election. — AFP

Miss USA crowned amid Trump controversy

Miss Oklahoma OliviaJordan celebrates afterbeing named Miss USA.

Miss Oklahoma OliviaJordan walks during theevening gown session.

Miss Nevada Brittany McGowan, Miss Maryland MameAdjei, Miss Rhode Island Anea Garcia, Miss Texas YliannaGuerra and Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan compete.

Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan celebrates after beingnamed Miss USA during the 2015 Miss USA pageant.

— AP/AFP photos

Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan is crowned Miss USA byMiss USA 2014 Nia Sanchez.

Miss USA Olivia Jordan of Oklahoma on stage.