Monday, July 4, 2011 - Edition no. 1348

Transcription

Page 9
®
Monday
4
July 2011
186th day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar
4th day of the 6th lunar month
27ºC /33ºC
55 / 90 %
Administrator Kowie Geldenhuys • Director Rogério Beltrão Coelho • Number 1348
Djokovic wins
in Wimbledon
Law expert Nelson Rose
Macau
gaming
regulation
‘invites
rumours’
Page 19
Hamas calls
on Greece
to release
flotilla
The Hamas government in Gaza called
on Greece yesterday to allow a flotilla of
aid ships to set sail for the Israeli blockaded Palestinian territory.
“We regret the position of Greece,
which has responded to international
pressure to stop the Freedom Flotilla
from sailing,” Hamas foreign minister
Mohamed Awad told a press conference at Gaza’s port.
“We call on them to reconsider their
ban on the flotilla setting sail and to allow them to leave,” he added.
Several ships participating in the socalled Freedom Flotilla have been forced
to remain docked in Greece after local
authorities warned that they did not
have permission to set sail for Gaza.
Chartered by pro-Palestinian activists,
the ships are loaded with items ranging
from aid to letters from supporters.
But the flotilla has been plagued by
setbacks, including Greece’s refusal to
let several ships head out to sea, and
the discovery that at least two vessels
had been damaged.
Activists have accused Israel of sabotaging the ships and putting political
pressure on Greece to prevent the vessels from leaving shore.
The Jewish state had warned it would
not allow the ships in the Hamas-run
territory.
our desk
Medical issues
Page 4
Blackberry email service
powered by CTM
MACAU $5.00 • HK $7.50
Thaksin allies storm
to win Thai election
Monday 4 July 2011
Pages 2,3
CP building
Libya rebels
Tiger Airways:
hopes to retain poised for push Australia may
‘historical traces’ towards Tripoli extend grounding
Page 7
1
Page 13
Page 17
macau Times
Law expert Nelson Rose
macau daily 澳門每日時報
®
Monday 4 July 2011
Local gaming regulat
‘invites rumours’
‘I think the strangest thing that Macau
has is the junkets. The other strange
thing is that you license the operators
but not the casinos, so they can open
up an unlimited number of casinos’
by Vítor Quintã
T
he regulatory framework of the local casino industry will remain incomplete until everyone involved
is licensed, including the concessionaires partners,
Nelson Rose says.
In an interview with Macau Daily Times, the gaming
law expert warned that criminals might be linked to
these partnerships. “Having a system where it’s possible that there are secret owners invites rumours and
charges,” he says.
The US scholar claims VIP gaming promoters, known as
junkets, are also resorting to organised crime in order to
get money back from gamblers. However, he adds, “casinos would be very happy if all junkets would just disappear”.
Both the local authorities and the Central Government
are becoming more active in controlling the boom of the
gaming industry, the visiting professor at the University
of Macau says. Rose goes as far as to say pressure from
authorities played a role in the public listing of operator
MGM China.
Still, the Macau Government should not have remained
silent during the Ho family dispute, he says. “There seems
to be a trading in ownership and control of casinos without really caring what the government says,” the Whittier
Law School professor stresses.
Macau Daily Times
– Ever since gaming was liberalised,
Macau has repeatedly been compared to
Las Vegas, Nevada.
What are the main
differences between
the two jurisdictions?
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Nelson Rose (N.R.) –
One of the interesting things
is that they’re both similar
that they both have very
old and very new regulatory
systems, at the same time.
Macau has its regulatory system, which dates back at least
to the beginning of the 20th
century with the monopoly
concession. It changed completely after 1999. I think the
strangest thing that Macau
has is the junkets. The other
strange thing is that you license the operators but not
the casinos, so they can open
up an unlimited number of
casinos. Therefore, when
you have given out three
concessions and all of a sudden they turn into six. You
also could have these partnerships where people who
don’t have concessions can
run the casino and share in
the profits.
MDTimes – What’s
so strange about
licensing operators
but not casinos?
N.R. – It’s the economics of it. You have supposedly six licensed gaming operators but in reality you’re
competing against a literally
unlimited number of operators who can have an unlimited number of casinos.
From an economics point of
view, that makes it very difficult. If the market weren’t
so enormously successful, it
would be difficult to justify
putting money in it. The two
great risks are: you don’t
know how many competitors
you are going to have and, of
course, if mainland China
closes the door, Macau disappears as a casino city.
MDTimes – So why
does Macau have
these gaming partnerships?
N.R. – I think it’s a historical accident. They could have
gotten rid of that in 1999 but
it would have been very dif-
ficult. What would they have
done with the more than 30
existing casinos and partnerships? Instead they grandfathered the existing operators
and agreements. It’s a way
of protecting the investment
and expectations of the operators. However, to be fair,
once you allow one operator
to do that, all the other concessionaires have the same
rights to an unlimited number of casinos and an unlimited number of partners.
MDTimes – Has
the delay in the approval of land grants
in Cotai been the
government’s way to
control the number
of casinos?
be that the mainland authorities are worried about being
embarrassed by government
officials and executives gambling. What’s also funny is
that they don’t want to grant
land to individuals and companies and then end up with
these empty plots. I think
it’s a separate problem. You
have the casino problem and
then you have the land use
problem.
‘Untraceable cash’
MDTimes – What
are the consequences of having casino
partnerships?
N.R. – I don’t see any advantages. Everywhere in the
world where anyone who
has control or a significant
share of the profits in a casino has to be licensed. And
here you have three concessions and three sub-concessions, which were licensed,
are looked at but they don’t
have a concession or a subconcession.
MDTimes – So
what are the disadvantages?
N.R. – Who are these people? The problem with legal
gambling is that it deals
with enormous amounts
of untraceable cash. If you
allow casinos to operate
without any government
oversight you will only end
up with big social problems.
If you are going to set up a
licensing system you have
to license everybody who
has any control or share in
it. The regulators might say
that it’s the concessionaires
who are responsible for
their partners. But are there
secret ownerships? That’s
definitely the greatest danger, if organised crime was
a partner in one or more casinos.
‘If you allow casinos to operate without any
government oversight you will only end up with big
social problems. If you are going to set up a licensing
system you have to license everybody who has any
control or share in it’
N.R. – Both the government of Macau and the Central Government are unhappy with explosive growth.
That appears to be the main
reason that the Chief Executive [Fernando Chui Sai On]
announced a cap on new casinos. Another reason could
they passed all the checks
and even their main executives have to be looked at.
But their partners are in effect sub-licensees. They often run the casinos or highroller suites in the casinos
and they certainly have a
share in the profits. They
Contributors:
Albano Martins, Annabel Jackson, António Espadinha Soares, Eduardo Magalhães, Harry
Troy, Joseph Cheung, Juliet Risdon, Luciana Leitão, Manuel Cardoso (photos), Paulo
Coutinho, Sofia Jesus, Thomas Schmid (Thailand)
Special Contributors:
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Emilie Tran, Emmanuel Buga Dispo, Eric Sautedé, Geoffrey Churchill, Ian Alabanza, Imelu
Mordeno, Ivo Carneiro, Jacky Ho, Jenny Oliveros Lao, Joao Garrott M. Negreiros, Johnny B
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Rato, Richard Whitfield, Romulo Alegre, Ruan Du Toit Bester, Susan Pottier
News agencies:
AFP, Lusa, Project Syndicate, Xinhua.
MDTimes – Last
year, according
to reports, a man
called Cheung Chi
Tai was identified in
a Hong Kong court
as alleged leader
of the Wo Hop To
crime triad and also
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2
Times macau
Monday 4 July 2011
ion
®
‘The two great risks are: you don’t
know how many competitors you
are going to have and, of course, if
mainland China closes the door,
Macau disappears as a casino city’
the person in charge
of one of the VIP
rooms in one local
casino. Do you think
there might be more
similar cases?
N.R. – We don’t even know
if that one is true. There have
never been any criminal convictions or even charges filed
in Macau. It certainly doesn’t
like anybody being investigated in terms of losing their licence over that. But even if it’s
completely false, it could still
bring the whole gambling industry into disrespect. Having
a system where it’s possible
that there are secret owner’s
invites rumours and charges.
MDTimes – How is
the reputation of Las
Vegas Sands after
the allegations of
wrongdoing raised
by the former head
of Sands China,
Steve Jacobs?
N.R. – To put it into context, this suit is very typical of
high-ranking ex-employees
that are fired and file a lawsuit claiming the company
did all sorts of horrible things.
The difference is that this
is a regulated industry: an
American firm regulated by
Nevada, regulated by Macau
and traded on the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange. My guess is
that there will not be criminal
charges. On the other hand,
there is going to be a lot of
what looks like borderline
stuff, also due to cultural differences. Business in China
is so personal. What about
handing out gifts? Under Chinese custom, you would be
crazy not to. But when exactly
does it become a bribe?
MDTimes – Last
September gaming
consultant David
Green said Pansy
Ho’s partnership
with MGM had been
rejected by New Jersey because there is
a prejudice against
Macau...
N.R. – Yes, definitely there
is an American mindset that
says everything else is inferior. But why did Nevada say
it’s OK for MGM to do business with Pansy Ho and New
Jersey said no? Nevada had
the exact same information.
It’s partially a historic accident. Nevada legalised casi-
nos in 1931 and had to ignore
people’s criminal background
because the only ones with
experience were criminals
who were operating illegal
gambling. But when New
Jersey legalised gambling
in the mid-1970s, they said:
‘No, that’s wrong. We won’t
allow anyone with a criminal background or even a
suspicion of associating with
criminals to get a licence in
New Jersey.’ So they’re going to somehow disqualify
the daughter simply because
she got money from the father and they don’t like the
associations of the father. I
don’t think it was so much
arrogance as the history and
culture of the regulator. The
problem is that for China this
looks like an insult, that New
Jersey has insulted China
and Macau. Number two:
they forced MGM to make
a financial decision: do they
give up New Jersey or do they
give up China? It seems like a
fairly easy choice for them to
make.
MDTimes – The Ho
family dispute seems
to be over but it did
raise the question of
how far is one family still in control of
the Macau gaming
industry...
N.R. – Well, the lawsuits
were fun for outsiders to
look at but I don’t think it
was embarrassing for the
industry. What is potentially
embarrassing and would not
be allowed in other jurisdictions is that there seems to
be a trading in ownership
and control of casinos without really caring what the
government says. Secondly,
Macau doesn’t want to have
a monopoly, a concentration of economic power. But
you have one family that has
a too larger percentage of
ownership. Perhaps that’s
why Pansy Ho reduced its
share in MGM.
MDTimes – With
MGM’s initial public
offering in the Hong
Kong market, all six
operators are controlled by publiclylisted companies.
How good is that for
the transparency of
the industry?
N.R. – I think it’s great. I
personally am a fan of having as many eyes looking at a
gambling operation as possible. So now we have another
set of government eyes, the
securities regulators. It also
means there are more controls built into the law. But
also there are a lot of good
financial and social reasons
to do that. One of them is
obviously to raise money. I
think there was also a push
by both Macau and Beijing
that they didn’t like the idea
that casinos were owned 100
percent by foreigners. Casinos are often seen as sucking money out of society and
if they put something back
into the community, it’s not
so bad.
‘You don’t
know the deals’
MDTimes – Back
to the junkets, how
strange is it from a
Western perspective?
N.R. – Well, I don’t know
of any other jurisdiction in
world where anything like
this exists. What we call junkets in the United States, for
example, simply organise a
tour and gets maybe USD
3
100 per head, it’s not a share
of the profits. Certainly it’s
not lending money and it’s
not ever running part of the
casino itself or a high-roller
suite. Here you don’t know
what deals are being made.
More importantly, how do
they collect gambling debts?
How do they lower their risk?
And I have talked to investigators who said that triads
do get involved, with force,
threat and even death.
MDTimes – Recently the United States
Department of State
claimed illegal sidebetting in Macau
could outnumber
reported revenues
by ten times. Is this
estimate realistic?
N.R. – First of all, it’s not
like for every bet there is a
ten-fold side-betting going
on. Maybe some of it happens in the mass market
but I certainly think a major part of it takes place in
the high-roller suites. It’s a
way to avoid sharing money with the casino, to avoid
paying taxes to the government. And that’s probably
incentive enough for some
people.
MDTimes – The
industry says junkets are necessary
because gambling
debts are not collectable in mainland
China and it’s not
possible to bring
huge amounts of
money into Macau.
Is there an alternative to junkets?
N.R. – Many countries
place restrictions on getting
money out of the country.
And they changed the law
Following Asia
Nelson Rose is a distinguished senior professor at
Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California, where
he taught one of the first law school classes on gaming
law. He is also a visiting professor at the University of
Macau.
“I was first in Macau in 1986 because I was working
back then in bringing ‘pai gow’ to California. Of course it
was so much different from now,” he recalls.
In 2004, just three weeks after Sands casino opened,
Rose was in Zhuhai teaching International Gaming Law
at a summer abroad program. He managed to get his
students invited to a tour of the first American-style casino in Macau.
“A week later I was invited by the Institute for the Study
of Commercial Gambling at the University of Macau to
come and give a lecture to the whole university on gaming law. And then they invited me to come and teach a
class as a visiting professor,” Rose says.
He now comes to Macau usually twice a year to co-teach
a master’s class on gaming law. “I now really follow Asia
and it’s actually easier than in other parts of the world
because you don’t have that many gaming jurisdictions,”
Rose adds.
in Macau. Casinos can now
lend the money directly to
gamblers. Number two: In
almost all countries around
the world, gambling debts
are not collectable. The ideal
solution would be for court
decisions from Hong Kong
and Macau to be enforceable
in mainland China. This has
always been a problem for the
industry but most people pay
because if not they will never
be invited back or into any
other casino. Collection rate
is usually better than in many
other industries. So you don’t
need junkets for that reason,
you probably need junkets
for other reasons.
MDTimes – What
reasons?
N.R. – They allow anonymity. Casinos can claim
they are not lending money
to someone who later turns
out to be a government of-
ficial or from organised
crime. We don’t know who
these people are, even when
they’re playing. And then
there’s the fact that China
usually works through social networks. Even if gambling debts are not collectable, you still want to know
what the risk is and junkets
can do that. You can check a
person’s financial and credit
history but paper records in
mainland China are not that
good.
MDTimes – Are
casinos comfortable
with having somebody else take that
risk?
N.R. – No, they would like
to do it themselves instead of
sharing the profits. That part
of the argument has been way
overblown. Casinos would
be very happy if all junkets
would just disappear.
Macau Times
Our Desk
by Alexandra Lages
Medical issues
Early this month, only two out of 316 applicants passed the
latest medical internship entry exam of the Health Bureau.
Result: only two doctors were selected for the 30 openings.
It is common knowledge that Macau needs to recruit
more doctors for the public health services and, probably
due to that, some raised their voices against the
government, calling the exams ‘irrationally difficult’.
In an unusual turn of events, the bureau said it would
hold a new examination, but warned: the requirements
will not be relaxed. That decision should be applauded.
Good health is a person’s most precious possession
and the work of doctors and their contributions are an
important part of life – and in a broad sense, for the whole
community.
This is a profession that requires the utmost level of
responsibility. These professionals have people’s lives in
their hands. Not exactly rocket science to understand why
any loosening of requirements would not be acceptable.
On the other hand, residents seem a bit distant from
the local health care system. In other words, a confidence
issue seems to prevail.
Currently, several people would rather get medical
treatment in Hong Kong or elsewhere because there is
mistrust between patients and doctors, maybe even a lack
of confidence in their quality.
Even though our public hospital and clinics are short of
doctors, quality should be the key for the Health Bureau’s
recruitment initiatives; not quantity.
One more remarkable detail that arose from this latest
occurrence was that over 40 applicants are currently
working in local private clinics or at the Kiang Wu
hospital. This is a bit frightening.
I have heard several opinions on this matter and I found
one of them very important: the government should not
take the responsibility of recruiting health care staff alone.
More than ever, there must be a specific and independent
body to oversee the performance of doctors, just as it
exists in other countries and regions.
Singapore and Hong Kong have already established
Medical Councils. These Medical Councils not only
register eligible medical practitioners, but also administer
the Licensing Examination.
They issue guidelines and a Professional Code of
Conduct, exercise regulatory and disciplinary powers for
the profession, and answer general enquiries from doctors
and the public.
Macau is still waiting for the establishment of such a
council. The government is planning to set one up, but no
schedule is yet known.
Now that the second public hospital is under
construction it would be good to come forward with this
council as soon as possible. Furthermore, it is urgent to
keep an eye on the dozens of private clinics mushrooming
in the city to ensure the quality of the practicing doctors.
Macau is a wealthy city and there is no excuse for not
providing high quality health services to residents and
tourists alike. It makes no sense going to Hong Kong or
Thailand to seek health care.
In an interview with Macau Daily Times, the dean of
the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Macau University of
Science and Technology, Manson Fok, regretted the fact
that a large number of local patients still seek medical
services elsewhere.
According to Fok, a post-graduate training school should
be the first priority to bring in high-level and international
standards to Macau.
There has been an extensive debate on whether the SAR
should set up a medical school or not. However, I believe
there are other pertinent and urgent issues to attend to
while the debate is ongoing.
Macau should focus more on training medical staff,
whether it is overseas or locally with the help of foreign
professionals.
If we keep following this path, one day local staff will be
able to train other freshly graduated professionals and
together they will raise the quality of Macau’s health care
system. And that might be the most important step to
regain the confidence of residents.
®
Monday 4 July 2011
Muhammad Cohen on TDM Talk Show
‘Writers must know
their message’
“A
ll good writers
have a point,”
said Muhammad
Cohen, an American writer
long-based in Asia. On last
weekend’s TDM Talk Show,
Cohen shared some of his
tips on how to improve one’s
writing and how to become
an author.
What are the most common mistakes people make
when they write? According
to the writer, many people
don’t know what their point
is before starting to write.
“One of the biggest mistakes people make is they
don’t know what to say when
they start writing. You have
to know what your message
is. Every good writer has a
point,” he stressed.
To make things worse, it is
becoming harder to differentiate the most important
message from the millions
of sources that provide information at the same time.
Practicing is the key to solving the problem, he said.
“Write things down first,”
Cohen he explained. “Put
those important things
down. One of the challenges
in this environment of information is to know which part
is important,” he added.
Another vital step is to get
some feedback from what
one writes, he said. It could
be from friends, family or a
teacher, as long as it helps to
build the story.
After several years working in different media corporations, Cohen decided
to create a writing camp. He
developed writing courses
to share his insights gleaned
over four decades in corporate communications, teaching and journalism in four
continents.
“Everyone talks about how
they can be better writers,
but only a few do something
to address that.
“They have to understand
that writing is a process.
Anyone can improve his
or her writing skills. If you
practice you can get better,”
he said.
Cohen was born in the
United States but he moved
to Asia over 15 years ago. He
started working in television
in the late 80s for CNBC.
He has been writing about
the gaming industry since
2006, not only in Macau,
but also in other gaming jurisdictions. He contributes
to a number of publications,
including Macau Business
and Asian Times.
The writer believes Macau’s
gaming growth is “spectacular”. “People are talking
about this growth and how
Macau will grow even more,”
he said.
However, he added, the
growth of the gaming industry will come to an end
one day, “but maybe not in
our life times”. Nevertheless, Cohen said that is not
a concern because Macau is
diversifying away from gaming towards a leisure and entertainment destination.
Macau’s mystery
Cohen published a novel
in 2007, called ‘Hong Kong
on Air’. “It is about the time
of the Hong Kong handover
back in 1997. It’s about TV
news, love, betrayal, high
finance and cheap lingerie,”
he explained.
“It’s about an American
couple who lives in Hong
Kong. She is a TV producer
and he is trying to source
garments in China – he’s the
one with the cheap lingerie,”
he added.
“In some ways, it’s my love
letter to Hong Kong, because
it talks about what was happening at the time and people’s concerns, which were
the same of Macau people,”
he said.
For the book he also imported some of his experience while working for a
broadcaster. “I think it’s important for people to understand journalism, especially
on TV, how it works and the
kinds of concerns in terms of
editorial aspects.
“One of the interesting things
in TV as opposed to the printed news is that it is broadcasted, so it’s put out on the air for
everybody,” he said.
In the future, Cohen is
considering writing a novel
about Macau or Hong Kong
after the handover. “Macau
is good for a mystery novel,
but I’m not a mystery novel
writer,” he said.
Taxi fare hike not yet approved
The Transport Bureau (DSAT) is
still reviewing the fare hike proposals submitted by two different
groups of taxi drivers in June and
a decision had not yet been made,
said director Wong Wan yesterday.
He stressed that the bureau will
consider the affordability for consumers and whether the proposed
increases are “acceptable”, according to TDM news.
In early June, seven local taxi as-
4
sociations applied to the DSAT to
raise the flag fall rate by MOP 1 to
MOP 14. They also proposed that
the first MOP 1.5 be added after
1,500 metres instead of the current
1,600 metres and the distance for
each additional MOP 1.5 thereafter
to be reduced by 30 metres to 200
metres.
Two weeks later, three other associations requested a flag fall rate
at MOP 15 and that the distance for
each additional MOP 1.5 be reduced
10 metres to 220 metres.
Local taxi fares were last adjusted
in 2008.
On the other hand, Wong said the
bureau noticed that some tourist
coaches were used as casino shuttle
buses, adding the Macau Government Tourist Office is considering
tightening the requirements for the
purchase of tourist buses in the hope
to prevent the problem.
Times
Monday 4 July 2011
5
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Monday 4 July 2011
Certified
Public Accountant
畢世華
Luiz F. Da Silva Pedruco
( Registered Auditor since 1983 )
Bach. Fin. Admin. U.N.E (Aust.)Fellow of H.K.I.C.P.A., CPA (Aust.)
Expat from Australia. Over 200-years Family history in Macau
[email protected]
Address: No. 665 Av. da Praia Grande . Edif. Great Will, 14th “B” Macau
Tel: 28 355 388
Website: www.cpamacao.com
6
Times macau
Monday 4 July 2011
CP building hopes to
retain ‘historical traces’
D
irector of the Maritime Administration
(CP) Susanna Wong
Soi Man said she hoped the
existing CP building in the
Moorish Barracks area will
preserve its “historical traces” after the public department is relocated.
The award ceremony for
the CP Headquarters design contest and redevelopment of the UNESCO-listed
Moorish Barracks area was
held on Saturday.
All the 34 entries are
now on public display for
a month at the CP building and visitors can provide
comments in the collection
box provided.
The Land, Public Works
and
Transport
Bureau
(DSSOPT) will officially invite the winners of the five
best entries to submit a tender proposal in mid-July.
The winning tender will be
selected within two months
and responsible for the
‘deepening design” phase of
the project.
The bureau also expected
that the building plan would
be completed before mid2012, the construction tender launched in the third
quarter and construction
of the new CP premises to
begin as early as the end of
2012.
As one of Macau’s world
heritage sites, Wong said
she is concerned about the
future of the existing CP
Maritime Administration holds the award ceremony of the design contest for new
Maritime Administration Building and the optimization plan for its surrounding areas
building. Whether it continues to house offices or be
fully opened to the public,
she said the CP hoped that
its “historical traces” can be
retained and suggested it be
used to display maritime exhibits.
She added that she believed the Cultural Affairs
Bureau will give careful consideration of the future use
of the historical site.
The results of the design
contest were announced
in late May. Among the 34
entries, 10 were awarded in
Saturday’s ceremony, with
cash prizes of MOP 100,000
or MOP 50,000.
Wong said the competition
received a “very active response” with “experienced
professionals” from the architectural sector as well as
“young amateurs” who submitted “creative” designs.
Wong commented on the
MOP 18 increase in the ferry
fares to Hong Kong operated by Shun Tak-China Travel Ship Management, New
World First Ferry (Macau)
and Hong Kong Macao Hydrofoil which came into effect on July 1.
Wong stressed that the CP
has “always requested” ferry
operators to provide stable
services, and will continue
to monitor their operations
and services even after the
fare hike.
She also disclosed that
the CP is working with the
DSSOPT to study the new
Gov’t proposes to ban bars
in residential buildings
The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) has launched a public
consultation for the administrative
regulation that regulates hotels, restaurants and bars until August 31.
Amongst the proposed changes, bars
will not be permitted to be located in
residential buildings.
However, the transitional arrangements stated in the draft did not
mention the fate of the many existing
bars already established in residential
buildings and how they would be affected under the new rules.
The MGTO disclosed in the document
that the move is in response to complaints by residents of the noise and
disturbance caused by the night time
business activities.
In addition, people at or below 16
years old will be prohibited from entering a bar, which is consistent with the
current rules in karaoke lounges and
game centres.
According to the authority, the administrative regulation was drafted to
meet the “development needs of the
tourism industry”.
The MGTO has proposed that all hotels will be rated as between one-star
and five-stars, instead of “two-star to
five-star hotels, tourist complexes or
two-star and three-star apartments” as
is stated in the current regulations.
The hotel ratings will also be required
to be reviewed by a special committee
every six years.
Moreover, there will only be two
classes - ‘general’ or ‘luxury’ - for restaurants and bars.
Existing two-star and three-star
apartments will automatically become
one-star and two-star hotels without
any applications after the new administrative regulation comes into effect, whereas existing first-class and
second-class restaurants will also be
automatically classified as “general
restaurants”.
While MGTO will be responsible to
monitor and issue licenses to hotels,
‘luxury restaurants’, ‘luxury bars’, and
‘general restaurants and bars’ situated
inside hotels, the Civic and Municipal
Affairs Bureau will be the licensing
authority for ‘general restaurants and
internal design of the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal. She said renovations
will begin from the first
floor but the terminal’s
daily operations will not be
affected.
The CP chief revealed in
the Legislative Assembly last
month that the government
will take back management
control of the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal after
the current concession contract with Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau
(STDM) ends on December
20 this year.
The authority also intends to transform the
third floor of the terminal into a waiting hall for
stranded passengers.
bars’ outside of hotels.
On the other hand, the draft states
that dance halls and karaoke lounges
will no longer be an independent business. License holders of restaurants or
bars can apply for an authorisation in
order to establish a dance area or operate karaoke business inside their establishments.
According to the proposal, existing
licensed dance halls/ballrooms will
need to apply to be classified as restaurants, bars or dining establishments
within one year after the new rules take
effect.
Current karaoke lounges, which usually hold a bar license in order to sell
alcoholic beverages, will also have to
apply for the authorisation to continue the karaoke business within six
months.
All licenses will be required to be renewed every two years.
Furthermore, the MGTO has proposed an increase in various fines. For
example, a hotel operator without a
business license could be fined between
MOP 150,000 and MOP 200,000.
7
®
Lisboa Gardens project
may face changes: official
The government did not rule out the possibility that the
developer of Lisboa Gardens may be requested to make
changes in the second phase of the construction project,
said director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) Jaime Carion on Saturday.
Carion said the bureau was “sorting out” the 880 public comments collected recently regarding the application
from Ka Fai Building Investment Company to amend the
second phase of development of Lisboa Gardens on the
Small Taipa Hill.
He said the opinions covered a variety of areas such as
building height, traffic and environmental protection,
with more concern for the latter in particular.
Carion stressed that the bureau has not yet reached any
conclusions on the developer’s request.
After the Advisory Group for Land Development
analyses public opinions and submitted suggestions,
the urban planning department of DSSOPT will check
whether the project meets the regulations of urban
construction and also receive more public input, he
said.
Asked whether the government would consider changing the building height, Carion said the developer may be
asked to modify the project.
According to the preliminary plan, the developer has applied to build three residential towers, standing about 154
metres or 139 metres above sea level, while the hill itself is
about 11 metres tall.
On the other hand, the DSSOPT chief disclosed that there
were still some 40 cases of idle land but analysis of “part of
them” was already completed and the concessionaires had
submitted a response. He said reports were handed in to
the Secretary for Transport and Public Works for further
review.
Chinese medicine
surveillance to increase
The Health Bureau (SSM) said the professional registration system of Chinese medicine practitioners will be enhanced, following the alleged over-prescription of a herb
that sent a woman to hospital.
A middle-aged woman was overprescribed three grams
of datura metel, one of the fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, by a Chinese medicine practitioner in Fai Chi Kei on June 29.
The SSM said the dose was five times above the standard
limit of between 0.3 and 0.6 grams.
The woman was diagnosed as having “symptoms of adverse reactions to the central nervous system” but was discharged the next day on June 30.
The bureau said datura metel is listed as a toxic Chinese
herbal medicine and if overused, could cause respiratory
paralysis-led deaths.
In a statement Saturday, the SSM said it is concerned
about the incident, but pointed out that a reporting mechanism has been established so that local Chinese medicine
practitioners can report to the bureau about drug safety
and quality issues.
Nevertheless, the bureau said it would enhance the
professional registration system in order to increase
the quality of related doctors and practitioners. A
medical council is also going to be created so that a
“unified exam system” will replace the existing accreditation system.
On the other hand, the SSM said measures have been
taken immediately after the incident and an investigation
has been launched on the Chinese medicine practitioner
in order to prevent the same incident from happening
again.
Population count via SMS
The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) invites all residents of Macau to participate in the “Population Count via
SMS” to figure out our population size. Ten lucky winners
will win an iPhone each.
The 2011 Population Census will be conducted from 12
to 26 August. But from yesterday until 12 August, DSEC is
launching the contest “Population Count via SMS” to raise
public awareness and enhance participation in the 2011
Census. Ten participants whose answers match exactly or
come closest to the preliminary results of the 2011 Census
to be released in December 2011 will be winners.
If more than 10 participants reach the correct answer,
the final winners will be decided by lucky draw.
DSEC staff will contact the winners individually for delivery of prizes.
china Times
®
Monday 4 July 2011
Multi-party unleashes
chaos: state media
China’s state media said a multi-party political system
would unleash chaos equal to the turbulent period of the
Cultural Revolution, as the country markd the Communist Party’s 90th birthday.
The state-run Xinhua news agency, in a focus piece published late Friday after the one-party regime celebrated
the anniversary, said Western political systems did not
suit China’s “national conditions.”
“If China imitates the West’s multi-party parliamentary
democratic system, it could repeat the chaotic and turbulent history of the ‘Cultural Revolution’ when factions
sprung up everywhere,” the report said.
It added the current political turmoil, economic difficulties and social disorder in
some countries “proved” this.
The 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution was a decade of brutal chaos launched by revolutionary leader Mao Zedong
to bring down what he perceived as “capitalist” forces after other leaders sought to move away from his radical
utopian ideas.
Untold numbers died in the ensuing turmoil as students
turned on teachers, officials were purged and the country
and its economy were brought to a virtual standstill. The
subject is still sensitive today.
The Xinhua comments came as President Hu Jintao
warned the Communist Party – which was founded in
July 1921 and took power in 1949 – faced severe “growing
pains” in a speech Friday marking the anniversary.
But he gave no sign that the party intended to loosen the
iron grip on political power it has maintained for more
than six tumultuous decades.
The Xinhua report singled out huge economic growth
over the past 30 years, that had lifted more than 200 million people out of poverty, as proof that the Communist
Party was looking out for people’s “welfare” and had “legitimacy.”
But analysts say political and social reforms do not
match the nation’s economic success, adding the party is
struggling to address a range of complex problems without the flexibility that democracy affords.
Hong Kong journalists
say freedom under threat
A Hong Kong journalists’ group warned yesterday freedom of expression in the city had deteriorated, saying it
had become intolerant of dissent as Beijing strengthened
its grip on the territory.
The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in
1997 but retains a semi-autonomous status under the “one
country, two systems” model with civil liberties including
freedom of speech not enjoyed in mainland China.
“There are now growing, and disturbing signs, that the
one-country element is over-riding two systems,” the
Hong Kong Journalists Association said in its annual
freedom of expression report.
“This could have far-reaching implications for Hong
Kong’s autonomy and one of its most fundamental rights
– freedom of expression and press freedom,” said the
group, which represents some 500 journalists in the city.
It said Beijing had “become more aggressive” in pursuing its policies towards Hong Kong, which had responded
by barring visits by mainland dissidents while the city’s
police had become less tolerant of protestors.
The group said Hong Kong journalists faced increasing restrictions in reporting especially coverage of public protests,
after a TV journalist was among more than 200 people arrested following an anti-government march on Friday.
“We are moving further and further away from an open
and transparent society,” association chairwoman Mak
Yin-ting told a news conference.
“What we are more wary is the police have taken a tough
line towards protests, where even reporters have been
barred and human rights observers were pulled away
from the scene,” she said.
Daily protests are common in Hong Kong, and they are
largely peaceful and allowed by the authorities but the police have made two mass arrests in recent weeks.
Police arrested 231 people and used pepper spray to disperse demonstrators after a march Friday by tens of thousands of people venting their frustration at government
policies and soaring property prices.
Last month, they detained 53 people for illegal assembly
after a massive candlelight vigil to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.
In January, two former leaders of the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests were refused entry to attend the funeral
of a Hong Kong democracy icon, prompting criticism that
Hong Kong was bowing to pressure from China.
Rescuers work at a flooded coal mine in Pingtang county in southwest China’s Guizhou province. The level of the
underground water was still rising yesterday and the odds for the 23 miners still missing are not good, says state media
Two mining accidents
kill 3, trap 40
C
hina suffered two
mining accidents on
Saturday that left
three workers dead and 40
trapped underground, state
media said, the latest incidents to hit the nation’s dangerous collieries.
One mine collapsed in
Heshan city in the southern region of Guangxi, and
rescuers sent to help the
trapped workers found three
bodies at the site of the accident, the official Xinhua
news agency reported.
Another 19 miners were
still trapped in a difficult-toreach section of a mine shaft
more than 300 metres (990
feet) below ground, the report said.
In another accident on
Saturday morning, a mine
in the neighbouring province of Guizhou flooded
when 29 workers were underground, a separate Xinhua report said.
Eight of the workers had
made it out safely, but the
remaining miners were still
trapped in the mine in Pingtang county, it added.
China’s coal mines have a
notoriously poor safety record, which the government
has repeatedly pledged to
address.
In its latest campaign,
the government issued a
policy last year that required six kinds of safety
systems, including rescue
facilities, to be installed in
all coal mines within three
years.
In 2010, 2,433 people died
in coal mine accidents in
China, according to official
statistics, or a rate of more
than six workers per day.
Labour rights groups, however, say the actual death toll
is likely much higher than
official data indicates, partly
due to under-reporting of accidents as mine bosses seek
to limit their economic losses and avoid punishment.
Anti-China demo despite clampdown
About 100 anti-China protesters
marched peacefully in Vietnam yesterday despite a heavy security clampdown and a vow by both countries to
rein in public opinion over tensions in
the South China Sea.
Protests – which are not common in authoritarian Vietnam – have taken place in
the capital Hanoi for five weekends in a
row over the maritime dispute.
Plainclothes and uniformed security
agents poured into the area around the
Chinese embassy and sealed off surrounding roads, but about 40 protesters penetrated the cordon to gather some distance
from the embassy. They marched towards
central Hanoi, trailed by riot police and
other security personnel.
More people joined the rally along the
way, shouting that two South China Sea
archipelagos, the Spratlys and Paracels,
belong to Vietnam. “China must respect
Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone,” said
a sign held aloft by the demonstrators.
“Anti-China,” another said simply, in
English.
Both countries have longstanding
sovereignty disputes over the potentially oil-rich island groups, which also
8
Violonist Ta Chi Hai (L), 72, plays patriotic songs next to Vietnamese
protesters yesterday as they hold an anti-China rally in front of the Opera
House in downtown Hanoi
straddle commercial shipping lanes vital for global trade.
Analysts have said that Vietnamese authorities permitted the anti-China rallies,
which in the past have drawn up to 300
people, because they served the government’s purpose of expressing displeasure
with Beijing over the dispute.
But in Hanoi, some activists feel their
demonstrations were “in vain” after China
and Vietnam held talks on June 25 in Beijing, said the source who did not want to
be identified.
Two protests took place in southern Ho
Chi Minh City but there have been none
there since June 11. A person involved in
the rallies told AFP that security forces
had “intimidated” people there.
Times asia-pacific
Monday 4 July 2011
®
Thaksin allies storm to win
landmark Thai election
by Daniel Rook
A
llies of Thailand’s
fugitive ex-leader
Thaksin
Shinawatra stormed to victory
in elections yesterday, in
a remarkable comeback
after years of turmoil
sparked by his ouster in a
military coup.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva conceded defeat and
congratulated a victorious
opposition led by Thaksin’s
youngest sister, Yingluck
Shinawatra, who is now set
to become Thailand first female premier.
With 92 percent of votes
counted, Puea Thai had won
260 seats out of 500, well
ahead of the Democrats with
163, according to the Election Commission.
“The outcome is clear –
Puea Thai has won the election and the Democrats are
defeated,” Abhisit told supporters at the party’s Bangkok headquarters.
The poll was the first major
electoral test for the elitebacked government since
mass demonstrations by
Thaksin’s “Red Shirt” supporters last year paralysed
Bangkok and unleashed the
worst political violence in
decades.
A smiling Yingluck earlier
addressed jubilant supports
at the Puea Thai Party’s
headquarters in the Thai
capital, saying: “Thaksin has
called to congratulate me
Yingluck Shinawatra, opposition Puea Thai party candidate and sister of fugitive Thai ex-prime minister Thaksin,
waves to the media as she arrives yesterday at her party headquarters in Bangkok
and said there was a tough
job ahead.
“Thank you to the people
who came out to vote,” added the 44-year-old telegenic
businesswoman, a political
novice who Thaksin has described as his “clone”.
Amid fears that an opposition victory could unleash
more deadly protests or
even another army takeover, Thaksin called on all
sides to respect the outcome of the ballot.
“All parties must respect
the people’s decision otherwise our country cannot
achieve peace,” the former
billionaire telecoms tycoon told Thai television by
telephone from his base in
Dubai.
“I think people want to see
reconciliation. They want to
move forward,” he said. “We
will not seek revenge.”
Toppled by the military in
2006 and now living in selfimposed exile to avoid a jail
term for corruption, Thaksin nevertheless dominated
the election in Thailand,
where he remains a hugely
divisive figure.
He is adored by rural voters
for his populist policies while
in power such as cheap healthcare and microcredit schemes,
but hated by the ruling elite
who see him as corrupt, authoritarian and a threat to the
revered monarchy.
The election is seen as a
major test of the kingdom’s
ability to emerge from its
long political crisis, which
has seen years of street
protests by Thaksin’s “Red
Shirt” supporters and the rival “Yellow Shirt” royalists.
More than 170,000 police
were deployed to secure
the vote, but it appeared
to proceed peacefully.
Long queues were seen at
polling stations.
Political observers had
said that a close result could
have fueled a fresh round of
street protests or military
intervention, but a clear win
by the opposition will make
it harder for the generals to
justify seizing power.
Revered King Bhumibol
Adulyadej, 83, is seen as a
unifying figure in a country
often riven by violence, but
he has been in hospital since
September 2009.
Political parties took to on-
line social networking like
never before to reach voters,
but police warned anybody
caught campaigning on sites
such as Facebook or Twitter
on election day risked six
months in prison.
The Puea Thai party has
proposed an amnesty for
convicted politicians – a
move apparently aimed at
bringing Thaksin home,
where he faces terrorism
charges in connection with
the April-May 2010 protests.
More than 90 people, mostly
civilians, died in a series of
street clashes between mostly unarmed red-clad protesters loyal to Thaksin and government soldiers firing live
ammunition in the streets of
the capital.
Many doubt the Bangkokbased establishment in government, military and palace
circles would allow the onetime owner of Manchester
City football club to come
back as a free man.
If Thaksin tries to return
the army may “strike back”,
said Thai academic Pavin
Chachavalpongpun, of the
Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies in Singapore.
“If he sets foot in Thailand the military could accuse him of coming back
and trying to create disunity among Thais.”
Asked about his plans, Thaksin said yesterday he hoped
to see his daughter marry in
Thailand in December.
AFP
Myanmar must safeguard
Suu Kyi: Rudd
Myanmar must guarantee democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s safety when she
travels around the country for the first time
since her release last year, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said.
Rudd said he had met with the country’s
new president, Thein Sein, and made a personal appeal for the release of 2,000 other
political prisoners, telling him that doing so
would transform international views of the
new government.
He spoke to reporters on Saturday during
a stop-over in Singapore on his way home
from a visit to Myanmar.
A source from Suu Kyi’s National League
for Democracy party has said she plans to
travel outside the main city Yangon for
the first time since being freed from seven
years of house arrest last year, but politics
was not on the agenda.
Rudd said the global community would
be watching closely how the government
would ensure the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s security.
The issue is a major concern because during
a previous political trip in 2003, her convoy
was attacked in an ambush apparently organised by the military regime at that time.
“She has made plans that she intends to
campaign elsewhere within Burma in the
period ahead and that cause is her democratic right,” said Rudd, a former Australian
prime minister, using Myanmar’s alternative name.
“What I would say very clearly to the
Burmese authorities... is it is absolutely
critical that the Burmese government
guarantee Aung San Suu Kyi’s security
while such a tour of the country was undertaken,” Rudd added.
The home affairs ministry explicitly
warned Suu Kyi to stay out of politics in
9
Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) talks with Australian
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd (L) during their meeting at the residence of the
Australian ambassador in Yangon, on Saturday
a letter stating that her party’s activities
had broken the law.
Australia’s top diplomat said he spent “several hours” with Suu Kyi earlier on Saturday,
and she had told him she responded to the
ministry’s letter by suggesting a dialogue
and was awaiting a response.
“Aung San Suu Kyi is in very good spirits,” Rudd said. “She is a very determined
person. She is a person of enormous will,
determination, and I would say, just plain
political guts.”
7 days Times
®
Monday 4 July 2011
3
1
2
5
6
4
7
1
FRANCE: Paris – People sunbathing on the
grass in front of the Eiffel Tower on Monday in
Paris as the city sweltered under an heatwave.
PHOTO: Thomas Samson
2
NEPAL: Kathmandu – Kumari, considered
a living goddess, attends festivities on the
last day of the Rato Machindranath Chariot
festival, also known as Bhoto Jatra, in
Jwalakhel on the outskirts of Kathmandu on
Tuesday. The event is one of the main festivals
observed by Buddhist and Hindu communities
of Kathmandu and heralds good monsoon rains
to increased rice harvest, prosperity and good
luck.
PHOTO: Prakash Mathema
3
INDIA: Amritsar – Cycle rickshaw drivers sit in
their vehicles as their reflection is seen in a rain
puddle after a heavy rain shower in Amritsar
on Wednesday. Heavy rains, which fell in
several areas of northern India brought respite
to the scorching heat in previous days.
PHOTO: Narinder Nanu
4
SPAIN: Irun – ‘Soldiers’ shoot their guns in
order to celebrate Saint Martial’s Day at Irun
in the Basque Country, northern Spain, on
Thursday.
PHOTO: Javier Etxezarreta
5
THAILAND: Bangkok – A supporter of Yingluck
Shinawatra, sister of fugitive former Thai
prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and
candidate for the Puea Thai Party, holds a giant
number one during a rally, ahead of the July 3
general election, at the Rajamangala National
stadium in Bangkok on Friday.
PHOTO: Nicolas Asfouri
6
GERMANY: Hamburg – Accompanied by 45
music trucks hit fans celebrate at the
15th Schlagermove in Hamburg, on Saturday.
Hundreds of thousands of hit fans celebrated
under the motto ‘A festival of love’.
PHOTO: Markus Scholz
7
CAMBODIA: Siem Reap – Foreign tourists
visit Baphuon temple, in Siem Reap province,
during a closing ceremony on the completed
restoration of the temple built in the mid-11th
century. A first effort to restoration begun in
1960 was interrupted by the coming to power
of the Khmer Rouge. After 51 years, in April, the
archaeologists finished the restoration of the
temple.
PHOTO: Mak Remissa
10
Times 7 days
Monday 4 July 2011
11
®
WORLD Times
Charlene’s marriage
‘winning World Cup”
Ad
Princess Charlene’s marriage
to
Monaco’s
Prince Albert II
felt like winning
the World Cup,
her father Mike
Wittstock told
South Africa’s
Sunday Times
newspaper.
“It’s just such a
proud moment
that I cannot
describe. We
are so happy
for them,” he
said. “It feels
as if we’ve just
won the World
Cup.”
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert The
South
II of Monaco cut their cake during
African
swim
the dinner at the Opera after their
religious wedding on Saturday champ married
Albert in a civil
ceremony Friday followed by a lavish church service on Saturday, but the pageantry was dimmed
by media reports on rumours that the 33-year-old
had been intercepted trying to flee home to South
Africa earlier in the week.
“I am so disappointed that people believe this nonsense. I am also very disappointed in the South
African media who picked up on the story and ran
with it before finding out the facts for themselves,”
her father told the paper.
“It’s rubbish. I was with them the entire time until
late at night. It did not happen,” he said in an interview held late Friday night.
The wedding was broadcast live on South African
television, and Johannesburg’s Sunday Times
splashed across its front page a photo of Charlene
in her veil and gown, captioned “Fairy Tale”.
®
Monday 4 July 2011
Free of house arrest,
DSK takes in New York
W
ith the sex assault
case
against Dominique Strauss-Kahn hanging
by a thread, damning new
revelations have emerged
about his accuser, whose
mounting credibility problems prompted the ex-IMF
chief’s release from house
arrest.
Buoyed by a New York
judge’s order a day earlier
to end all restrictions on
him except foreign travel,
Strauss-Kahn was enjoying
his first full day of freedom
Saturday as prosecutors
scrambled to salvage some
sort of case against the
once high-flying French
politician.
He left his rented townhouse in Lower Manhattan
with his wife Anne Sinclair
for several hours in the afternoon, chased by an army
of photographers and news
teams across the city.
Their black Mercedes sedan made several attempts
to duck the reporters, at
one point rushing into Time
Warner Center’s parking garage, whose doors closed immediately afterward, only to
reemerge out the other side.
They likely toured the
Museum of Modern Art
during their outing, as Sinclair held a guide from the
museum upon returning
home. Other destinations
were unknown.
It was a stunning reversal
of fortune for a man who
spent days locked up in
New York’s tough Rikers
Island jail in May.
While the charges against
the 62-year-old stand, the
case has nearly imploded
after prosecutors acknowledged their investigations
of the accuser, a Guineaborn hotel maid, found she
lied to a grand jury about
the case.
In a letter to defense lawyers, Manhattan District
Attorney Cyrus Vance said
the woman had provided
a “false” narrative of her
life – including a gang rape
which she later admitted
never occurred – as part of
her application process for
US asylum.
Among
other
details
gleaned about the maid
were her possible links to
criminal activities, including drug dealing and money
12
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair leave the
apartment where they are staying in New York
laundering, a law enforcement official told The New
York Times.
Within a day of the alleged
rape attempt, the maid was
recorded speaking on the
phone with a boyfriend
jailed for possessing 400
pounds (180 kilograms) of
marijuana and discussing
the benefits of pursuing
charges, according to the
newspaper.
When the conversation
was translated from Fulani,
the maid’s native language,
investigators became concerned.
“She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this
guy has a lot of money. I
know what I’m doing,’” the
Times quoted one of the officials as saying.
The paper said the man
was one of several individuals who made multiple cash deposits totaling
around USD 100,000 into
the woman’s bank account
over the last two years.
According to the accuser’s initial grand jury testimony, she fled Strauss-
Kahn’s luxury hotel suite
immediately after the May
14 attack and waited in the
hallway before informing a
supervisor.
But,
prosecutors
revealed, the 32-year-old
subsequently changed her
story, admitting she actually cleaned another room
and even returned to start
cleaning
Strauss-Kahn’s
suite before alerting her
bosses.
Strauss-Kahn’s attorneys
William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman said the
disclosures “only further
confirm that he will be fully
exonerated.”
The sensational twist
raised hopes among StraussKahn’s ardent supporters
that the case will collapse
and the Socialist party favorite will return to frontline politics, possibly even
as a candidate to challenge
French President Nicolas
Sarkozy in 2012 elections.
In a hint of just how possible a Strauss-Kahn bid may
be, fellow socialist Segolene
Royal, a candidate in the
presidential vote, said she
had no problem delaying
the process to make room
for him.
But the current deadline
for declaring in the Socialist Party primary is July 13
– five days before StraussKahn’s next scheduled
court appearance in New
York.
And authorities will keep
his passport pending possible trial, meaning he cannot travel outside of the
United States, though his
USD 1 million bail and USD
5 million bond will now be
returned.
Despite the maid’s shattered credibility, Vance
vowed to continue the investigations until prosecutors had uncovered all the
facts.
“Today’s
proceedings
did not dismiss the indictment or any of the charges
against the defendant,” he
stressed.
Legal analysts, however,
said the case was likely dead
in the water and would be
dismissed. AFP
Times WORLD
Monday 4 July 2011
Libya rebels poised for
push towards Tripoli
B
uoyed by French
arms drops and intensified NATO air strikes
on the regime’s frontline armour, Libya’s rebel army said
it is poised for an offensive
that could put it within striking distance of Tripoli.
The rebels’ announcement
late on Saturday came as a
prolonged deadlock on the
battlefield prompted mounting pressure from countries
outside the NATO-led coalition for a negotiated solution to a conflict that has
dragged on for four and a half
months.
South Africa, which has
taken a lead role in mediation
efforts, said that President Jacob Zuma would hold talks in
Moscow yesterday with representatives of the International
Contact Group on Libya as
well as Russian officials.
Rebel fighters are readying
an advance out of their hilltop
enclave in the Nafusa Mountains, southwest of Tripoli,
in the next 48 hours in a
bid to recapture territory in
the plains on the road to the
capital, spokesman Colonel
Ahmed Omar Bani said.
“In the next two days the [revolutionaries] will come up with
answers, things will change on
the front line,” he said.
The rebels had pulled back
last week from around the
plains town of Bir al-Ghanam, some 80 kilometres (50
miles) from Tripoli, in the
face of loyalist bombardment.
But last week France made a
series of controversial weapons drops to rebel fighters in
the Nafusa Mountains and
NATO has bombarded loyalist positions around Bir alGhanam and elsewhere on
the front line around the rebel
enclave.
Two armoured vehicles
belonging to Kadhafi forces
were destroyed in the town
on Friday night.
In Gharyan, another government stronghold near the
mountains, NATO aircraft
struck eight targets over the
Libyan protesters carry a 135-meter rebellion flag through the streets of Benghazi
past four days, including a
military complex used to resupply Kadhafi troops, tanks
and other military vehicles,
the alliance said on Saturday.
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi reacted furiously to the
French arms drops to the rebels, calling on his supporters
Friday to go and retrieve the
weapons.
“March on the jebel [mountains] and seize the weapons
that the French have supplied,” he said.
French Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe insisted that the
arms were meant only to defend peaceful civilians from
Kadhafi’s forces and thus fell
in line with UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict.
“It is not a violation of the
UN Security Council resolutions” under which France
and other allies launched air
strikes and imposed embargoes to protect civilians from
Kadhafi, he said.
There was no immediate
confirmation from Moscow
of the talks between Russian
and South African officials
and representatives of the
NATO-led coalition but both
countries have been outspoken advocates of a negotiated
solution to the conflict.
“President Jacob G. Zuma
will undertake a working visit
to the Russian Federation to
participate in the meeting
of the International Contact
Group on Libya to be held
on Sunday, July 3, 2011,” the
South African foreign ministry said, adding that the visit
was at Moscow’s invitation.
®
As deadline looms,
Obama hunts
for deal
President Barack Obama and his Republican foes face
off again this week in talks on reining in runaway US debt,
amid a White House warning that they have just weeks to
avert an economic meltdown.
“I’m confident that the Democrats and Republicans in Congress can find a way to give some ground, make some hard
choices and put their shoulders to wheel to get this done for
the sake of our country,” the president said on Saturday.
Under pressure from Obama and his Republican foes, the
Democratic-led Senate scrapped its cherished week-long
break for the July 4 Independence Day holiday in a bid to
make progress in the seemingly stalled negotiations.
And the Republican-held House of Representatives returns from its recess on Tuesday, meaning all of the key
players in the debt drama will be on hand as the president
mounts what could be a final push for a deal.
“We need to work out some arrangement, quickly, before the markets start to react and American families start
to feel the consequences,” said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The two sides have traded public broadsides amid private
negotiations on a package to trim the deficit while raising
cash-strapped Washington’s ability to borrow, averting a
possible default that could trigger a fresh recession.
Reid said Senate Democrats aimed to meet Wednesday
with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and huddle
Thursday with Gene Sperling, director of the White House’s
National Economic Council, along with other top aides.
It was unclear whether Republicans, who have repeatedly rejected Democratic calls for any final deal to include
tax increases on the rich, would be part of either discussions with time running short to craft an accord.
“It’s time to acknowledge that more government and
higher taxes is not the answer to our problem,” Republican Senator Dan Coats said in his party’s rejoinder to
Obama’s weekly address.
The US Treasury has publicly set an August 2 deadline
by which lawmakers must reach a deal, but the White
House has privately been citing July 22, Democratic officials said, confirming a Wall Street Journal report.
That’s in part because of the work that has to go into
transforming any agreement into legislation and clearing
any parliamentary hurdles before debating and voting.
Both sides differ on the size of cuts tentatively agreed to
thus far in the discussions, but concur that the key stumbling block has been Republican opposition to Democrats’
push for billions of dollars in tax hikes on the rich.
Republican leaders have rejected any tax increases as
part of a final deal to raise the country’s USD 14.29 trillion
debt ceiling in the face of a US budget deficit expected to
hit USD 1.6 trillion this year.
The US ran into the debt ceiling on May 16, but has since
used spending and accounting adjustments, as well as
higher-than-expected tax receipts, to continue operating
without impact on government obligations.
But by August 2, the government will have to begin
withholding payments – to bond holders, civil servants,
retirees or government contractors – if lawmakers do not
raise the ceiling.
Afghanistan: Britain to pull hundreds of troops
British Prime Minister David Cameron is to announce the withdrawal of
at least 500 troops from Afghanistan
by the end of 2012 following a similar
drawdown by the United States, reports said yesterday.
The move would take the number of
British troops in Afghanistan below
the key figure of 9,000 and mark a
major step towards Cameron’s stated
aim of having all British combat forces
out of the country by 2015.
Cameron would announce on
Wednesday plans to withdraw up to
800 troops by the end of next year, the
Sunday Times reported. The Sunday
Telegraph put the figure at 500 and
said they would leave in mid-2012.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said
that some troops would be brought
home early but refused to confirm details.
“UK force levels in Afghanistan are
kept under constant review,” a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.
“The Prime Minister has been clear
that there will be no UK troops in
combat roles in Afghanistan by 2015
and it is right that we bring troops
home sooner where progress allows
and taking account of military advice.”
The withdrawal is in addition to the
pull-out of 400 British support staff by
February 2012 announced by Cameron in May, 200 of which have already
left Afghanistan.
The Sunday Telegraph quoted a senior defence source as warning that
reducing the British force too quickly
would “send the wrong message” to
Afghanistan’s Taliban militants.
13
‘I’m confident that the Democrats and Republicans in
Congress can find a way to give some ground, make
some hard choices and put their shoulders to wheel
to get this done for the sake of our country’: Obama
Infotainment Times
What’s On
®
Cinema
Cineteatro
Room 1
Transformers - Dark of the moon
2:00/4:45/7:30/10:15pm
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie HuntingtonWhiteley and Tyrese Gibson
Director: Michael Bay
Language: English (Chinese subtitles)
Duration: 108 min
‘Taipa in the Past’ Photo Exhibition
Opening Hours: 10am-6pm (Closed on Mondays, open on
public holidays)
Venue: House of the Islands, the Taipa Houses-Museum,
Av. da Praia, Taipa
Admission: MOP5 (Free on Sundays)
Telephone enquiries: (853) 2882 7103
Ice World
The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden
on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach
it and to learn its secrets
Room 2
Time: 12pm-8pm (Mondays to Fridays)
12pm-10pm (Saturdays, Sundays & public holidays)
Until: September 18,2011
Venue: Cotai Expo Hall F, the Venetian Macau-Resort-Hotel
Admission: MOP100
Genesis and Spirit – Exhibition of China’s
Intangible Cultural Heritage
Green Lantern
2:30/4:30/7:30/9:30pm
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter
Sarsgaard
Director: Martin Campbell
Duration: 105 min
Room 3
X-Men: First Class
2:30/4:45/7:15/9:30pm
Starring: Matthew Vaughn, James McAvoy, Michael
Fassbender, Kevin Bacon
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Duration: 132 min
Macau Tower
23-June to 29-June
Green Lantern
2:30pm / 4:30pm / 7:30pm / 9:30pm
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter
Sarsgaard
Director: Martin Campbell
Duration: 105 min
TV
Canal Macau
Opening hours: 10am-6pm
Until: July 10,2011
Venue: Exhibition Hall of the Macau Forum
Admission: Free
‘Adores Macau’ Japanese Style Games Centre
Time: 11am-11pm
Venue: Sands Macau Hotel, Largo de Monte Carlo, No.203
Macau Ideas
Time: 10am-6pm (Mondays, Wednesdays to Fridays);
2pm-6pm (Saturdays and Sundays)
Venue: Rua Luis Gonzaga Gomes, G/floor of Tourism
Activities Centre
Admission: Free
13:00
TDM News (Repeated)
13:30
News at 24H (RTPi) Delayed Broadcast
14:30
RTPi Live
19:00
TDM Interview (Repeated)
19:30
Soap Opera
20:25
Publicity
20:30
Main News, Financial & Weather Report
21:00
Noon News RTPi (Live Delayed)
22:10
Soap Opera
22:55
Publicity
23:00
TDM News
23:30
TDM Sport
00:00
Miscellaneous
01:00
Main News, Financial & Weather Report (Repeted)
01:30
RTPi Live
14
Monday 4 July 2011
This Day in History
American independence declared
On the 4th of July,
1776, in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, the Continental
Congress
adopts
the
Declaration
of
Independence,
which proclaims the
independence of a
new United States of
America from Great
Britain and its king.
The declaration was formally adopted by 12 American colonies
after minor revision. New York, the 13th colony, approved it on
July 19. On August 2, the declaration was signed. The American
War for Independence would last for five years. Yet to come were
the Patriot triumphs at Saratoga, the bitter winter at Valley Forge,
the intervention of the French and the final victory at Yorktown in
1781. In 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris with Britain,
the United States formally became a free and independent nation.
The declaration came 442 days after the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts and marked an ideological expansion of the conflict that
would eventually involve France’s intervention on behalf of the
Americans.
The first major American opposition to British policy came in 1765
after Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure designed to raise revenues for a standing British army in America.
Under the banner of “no taxation without representation,” colonists
convened the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765 to vocalize
their opposition to the tax. With its enactment in November, most
colonists called for a boycott of British goods, and some organized
attacks on customhouses and homes of tax collectors.
After months of protest in the colonies, Parliament finally voted
to repeal the Stamp Act in March 1766. Most colonists continued
to quietly accept British rule until Parliament’s enactment of the
Tea Act in 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering British East
India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it a
monopoly on the American tea trade. The low tax allowed the
company to undercut even tea smuggled into America by Dutch
traders, and many colonists viewed the act as another example of
taxation tyranny.
In response, militant colonists in Massachusetts organized the
“Boston Tea Party,” which saw British tea valued at some £18,000
dumped into Boston Harbor. Parliament, outraged by the Boston
Tea Party and other blatant acts of destruction of British property,
enacted the Coercive Acts, called the Intolerable Acts by the colonists, in 1774.
In response, the colonists called the first Continental Congress to
consider united American resistance to the British. With the other
colonies watching intently, Massachusetts led the resistance to
the British, forming a shadow revolutionary government and establishing militias to resist the increasing British military presence
across the colony. The first shots of the American Revolution were
fired on April 1775 Initially, both the Americans and the British saw
the conflict as a kind of civil war within the British empire.
In the spring of 1776, support for independence swept the colonies, the Continental Congress called for states to form their own
governments and a five-man committee was assigned to draft
a declaration. The Declaration of Independence was largely the
work of Virginian Thomas Jefferson.
Offbeat
N.Koreans played despite lightning
North Korea’s women’s football coach Kim Kwang Min claimed
several players had played in the opening 2-0 World Cup loss to
two-time champions United States on Tuesday still suffering from
the effects of being struck by lightning at a pre-tournament training
camp.
“We had an accident in Pyongyang before we left for this tournament. Some of the players were left behind. Some were in hospital and came later. Until now they were not fully treated for the
match,” said Kim, through an interpreter in the post-game press
conference.
Kim said the incident occurred on June 8.
Kim added that the players most affected were the goalkeeper, four
defenders and some midfield players – without naming them.
The coach said doctors had originally decided that they were not
in a fit state to play but that they played anyway.
Kim also praised his players’ performance under these circumstances.
“The fact that they played in this match is abnormal. It is the result
of their very powerful and strong will.”
The news hit FIFA media officials like a lightning bolt as well.
“It was news to us all,” said FIFA media officer Julie Brown at the
U.S. press conference when journalists asked for the Americans’
opinions of the North Korean revelation.
Times Infotainment
Sport
Monday 4 July 2011
®
Weather
China
Min
Max
22
16
25
14
23
16
23
29
18
26
29
29
28
27
26
28
35
30
35
26
27
27
29
38
26
31
35
35
36
35
35
33
Asia-Pacific
Min
Max
Seoul
Tokyo
Manila
Hanoi
Ho Chi Minh City
Bangkok
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
New Delhi
Mumbai
Karachi
Jakarta
B.S. Begawan
Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane
19
26
27
27
26
25
25
25
29
27
28
25
24
12
10
9
28
33
34
34
33
33
34
32
36
33
34
31
33
20
15
23
World
Min
Max
Moscow
Frankfurt
Paris
London
New York
18
14
13
14
21
27
23
27
25
32
Beijing
Harbin
Tianjin
Urumqi
Xi’an
Lhasa
Chengdu
Chongqing
Kunming
Nanjing
Shanghai
Wuhan
Hangzhou
Taipei
Guangzhou
Hong Kong
The Born Loser by Chip Sansom
Condition
clear
clear
clear
cloudy/clear
drizzle
cloudy
thundershower
clear
cloudy
thundershower
cloudy/thundershower
clear/cloudy
cloudy/thundershower
cloudy
clear
clear
Condition
cloudy
cloudy
thunderstorms
thunderstorms
thunderstorms
thunderstorms
showers
thunderstorms
thunderstorms
rain
cloudy
mist
cloudy
cloudy
cloudy
fine
Easy
Easy +
Medium
Hard
Condition
cloudy/shower
cloudy/clear
clear
cloudy
thundershower
Crossword puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com
Your Stars
Aries
Taurus
Cancer
Gemini
March 21-April 19
April 20-May 20
May 21-June 21
June 22-July 22
You need to push yourself harder today — but
that’s your go-to state, so it’s not like you’re
exploring uncharted territory. Your drive for
success ought to inspire those around you to do
the same.
Your emotional state is more grounded than
usual, and you ought to be able to get your
family or mate to reconnect in a positive
way. Make sure that everyone is ready for
what you’ve got to say.
Someone is getting really bossy today, and
it’s not you! You may have to deal with a
mate or colleague who has suddenly decided
to institute a hierarchy — with you near the
bottom! Rebel quickly.
You’re either feeling pretty down, or you’re all
the way on top — there’s just no middle ground
for you today. That’s not to say your mood
can’t switch polarity quickly, though, so expect
anything!
Leo
Virgo
Libra
Scorpio
July 23-August 22
August 23-September 22
September 23-October 22
October 23 - November 21
Your self-confidence can be sexy, but it
can also put people off sometimes. Make
sure to temper it with some serious humility
today if you want to maintain the right kind of
attention.
Try not to worry too much about your love
life — it’s pretty much taking care of itself right
now! That could mean that your intuitive side is
helping you find a date, or that your mate is just
in a great mood.
Sometimes you reflect on your past, but on
days like today, it’s the other way around.
Expect a reminder — subtle or extremely
obvious — about someone or something from
quite a long time ago.
You’re finding it easier than usual to take
care of business. It’s a really good time for
you to experiment with new ways of getting
things done, as your ability to evaluate
systems is also heightened.
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Aquarius
Pisces
November 22-December 21
December 22-January 19
January 20-February 18
February 19-March 20
Something that seems small is nagging at you
quite a bit, and may end up changing the way
you see things. Let it go — you don’t mind
shifts in perspective, as long as your core
remains.
Your lasting power is legendary, and on
a day like today, you can get plenty done
without even trying that hard. It’s a really
good time for you to step up and offer to
tackle additional responsibilities.
A new rule or set of rules comes down from
on high, and makes you feel completely
ridiculous in some small way. You may find
that your energy is better spent on planning
for the future.
Life is easier than ever for you today.
You almost certainly should find a good
way to tackle that one tough problem, and
everything just feels more stable than usual
for you and your people
Across
1- Superior of a monastery; 6- Tent stick; 10- Dog star; 14- ___ is
human; 15- In this way; 16- Sea swallow; 17- Fragrant resin; 18Intentions; 19- Tidy; 20- Singer John; 21- Person who prefers staying
at home; 23- Actress Tyler; 25- Half and half; 26- Island of Hawaii;
29- Strong as ___; 32- Accumulate; 37- “…and seven years _____”;
38- Et ___; 39- Position, in Britain; 40- Cause light to pass through;
43- Messenger; 44- Blunted blade; 45- Actress Charlotte; 46- Grasslike plant; 47- Horne solo; 48- Undercooked; 49- Gee preceder;
51- Japanese drama; 53- Freebooter; 58- Bluffer’s ploy; 62- Bristle;
63- Very small; 64- “Lou Grant” star; 65- Actress Garr; 66- Entr’___;
67- Chad neighbor; 68- A long way off; 69- Miss; 70- Autocratic
Russian rulers;
Down
1- Suit to ___; 2- Cotton seed pod; 3- Sugar source; 4- Alloy of
copper and zinc; 5- Singer Lopez; 6- Egyptian deity; 7- Presidential
battleground state; 8- Clumsy person; 9- Ruhr city; 10- ___ extra
cost; 11- Bird feed; 12- Salver; 13- As a female, you could be queen
or worker; 22- Skullcap; 24- Well-founded; 26- Vows; 27- Come to
terms; 28- Accumulate; 30- Goose egg; 31- Crude carrier; 33- AOL
alternative; 34- Pong maker; 35- Old Nick; 36- Streamlined; 38- Out,
in bed; 39- That is to say...; 41- Badger; 42- News letters; 47- Secondlargest continent; 48- Aspect; 50- Deadly; 52- Praying figure; 53Ridge of rock; 54- Gillette brand; 55- Duo; 56- Tolkien tree creatures;
57- Baby blues; 59- Swenson of “Benson”; 60- Clairvoyant; 61- Blows
it; 62- RR stop;
Useful telephone numbers
Emergency calls 999
Fire department 28 572 222
PJ (Open line) 993
PJ (Picket) 28 557 775
PSP 28 573 333
Customs 28 559 944
S. Januário Hospital 28 313 731
Kiang Wu Hospital 28 371 333
Commission Against Corruption
(CCAC) 28326 300
IACM 28 387 333
Tourism 28 882 184
Airport 59 888 88
Taxi (Yellow) 28 519 519
Taxi (Black) 28 939 939
Utilities
Water Supply – Report 1990 992
Telephone – Report 1000
Electricity – Report 28 339 922
Macau Daily Times 28 716 081
Ad

Crosswords
Sudoku
15
Times
advertisement
®
Monday 4 July 2011
16
Times business
Monday 4 July 2011
®
Chinese retail giant plans
expansion with IPO
A Tiger Airways jet grounded yesterday at a maintenance hangar at Melbourne Airport
Tiger Airways: Australia
may extend grounding
A
viation regulators
were discussing yesterday whether to
seek court approval to extend the grounding of budget carrier Tiger Airways
Australia, having revoked
its permission to fly over
safety fears.
Australia’s Civil Aviation
Safety Authority (CASA) on
Saturday suspended all Tiger’s domestic services as
they posed a “serious and
imminent risk to air safety”.
The decision – the first
grounding of an entire airline in Australian aviation
history – followed a series
of incidents that raised
questions about the carrier’s airworthiness.
CASA spokesman Peter
Gibson told AFP a meeting
was scheduled with Tiger
executives early this week,
and much depended on what
they brought to the table.
“We have a team of people
working through the day on
various issues and we are
due to meet with Tiger in
the near future. A lot will on
hinge on those discussions,”
he said.
“The process is that the
Civil Aviation Safety Authority can only ground
an airline for five working
days. To go any longer than
that, we must approach
the Federal Court, and put
a case for extending the
grounding.
“We’re looking at that issue right now.”
The Australian Licensed
Aircraft Engineers Association said the low-cost carrier was likely to remain
grounded for “weeks”.
“I would doubt very much
if Tiger would be back
in the air in the next few
weeks,” said association
chief Steve Purvinas.
“They have quite a way to
go before they can satisfy
the regulator that their aircraft are going to be in a fit
state to fly.”
A subsidiary of Singapore’s Tiger Airways, Tiger
Australia operates about 60
domestic flights a day, moving up to 9,000 passengers.
Australian
authorities
have been closely monitoring the airline and issued
a “show cause” notice in
March threatening to vary,
suspend or cancel its licence
over safety worries.
It was ordered to improve
the proficiency of its pilots,
boost pilot training and
checking procedures, address fatigue management
issues and ensure “appropriately qualified people fill
management and operational positions”.
Tiger said it was cooperating fully with the indus-
try regulator and “we wish
to reassure the Australian
public that safety has and
will underpin our operations at all times”.
“Tiger Airways has already
taken steps internally to address the specific issues as
well as wider safety concerns CASA has raised,” it
said.
“We are committed to resolving these quickly and
resuming our services as
soon as possible.”
The grounding comes at
the beginning of the busy
school
holiday
period,
throwing travel plans into
chaos.
Budget rivals Jetstar and
Virgin are both laying on
extra flights to help stranded passengers while Qantas
engineers called off strike
action scheduled for next
week at the request of the
government. AFP
Juncker: Greeks to prepare for intervention
Greeks must be ready to see foreigners help decide how they will deal with
mass privatisations to pay off their
debts, Luxembourg Prime Minister
Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview yesterday.
“The Greeks’ sovereignty will be massively constrained,” he told the German magazine Focus.
“For example, to deal with the coming wave of privatisations they will require something akin to the German
Treuhand”, a trust created in 1990
to oversee the privatisation of stateowned enterprises after the collapse
of communist East Germany, Juncker,
who heads the group of eurozone finance ministers, added.
“One mustn’t offend the Greeks. But
one must help them. They have declared themselves ready to accept experts from the eurozone” to help them
deal with economic reforms, he added.
Greece is now under pressure to
swiftly implement 28.4 billion euros in budget cuts and tax hikes, and
a 50-billion-euro privatisation programme, that the parliament approved
last week despite riots in the streets of
Athens.
“The measures decided by Athens
must quickly be implemented. The
privatisations must for example begin
immediately,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said for his
part Saturday.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos
Venizelos has pledged that Athens
will fulfill its end of the bargain in exchange for massive bailout packages
by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Juncker said he was convinced that
the measures now agreed to help
Greece “will solve the Greek question”.
The crisis “was to a large extent selfinflicted,” Juncker also said.
“Between 1999 and 2010 salaries
went up by 106.6 percent even though
the economy did not grow by similar
proportions. Wage policy was totally
out of control and did not take into account productivity,” he added.
17
China’s leading hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail
Group said yesterday it plans to open over 50 new stores
by the end of 2012, as it seeks to raise up to USD 1.06 billion from a Hong Kong share sale.
The retail giant, backed by France’s Groupe Auchan SA,
will start to sell 1.14 billion shares, priced between HKD
5.65-7.20 (72-93 US cents) each, to investors today. It
plans to list on the Hong Kong bourse on July 15.
Company executives said they remained positive despite
the recent slump in global stock markets, and planned
to use half of the proceeds from the offering to open 51
stores in mainland China by the end of next year.
“We are not too concerned about the global market turmoil
– otherwise we would not be here,” chief executive Bruno
Mercier told reporters in Hong Kong via video conference.
Sun Art, which currently has 197 hypermarkets in China,
has secured locations for a total of 121 new stores but has set
no date for the opening of the remaining 70, Mercier said.
The retailer said it has secured nine cornerstone investors including Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.
The group, previously known as Sun Holdings Greater
China Ltd, is a joint venture between Taiwanese supermarket-to-cement conglomerate Ruentex Group and
Groupe Auchan, a French retailing giant.
The offering, the latest bid by a Chinese firm to tap Hong
Kong’s IPO market – the world’s biggest in 2010 – comes
despite waning investor interest amid global volatility.
Italian luxury goods maker Prada made a lacklustre
stock debut in Hong Kong two weeks ago after raising a
lower-than-expected USD 2.14 billion in its share sale.
Australian miner Resourcehouse last month shelved an
IPO originally slated to raise as much as USD 3.6 billion,
citing weak market conditions.
Japan ‘plan tie-ups’
for solar power bids
About 20 Japanese firms plan to form alliances to win orders for solar power generators and plants against Chinese
and other rivals in the global market, a report said yesterday.
They will set up consortiums of three to nine companies
each to bid for projects in five areas – Indonesia, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, Mongolia and
Thailand – the Nikkei business daily said.
The global market for solar power is expanding at a double-digit pace but Japanese companies are falling behind
rivals in China and elsewhere, the daily said.
The Japanese government plans to help these teams in
negotiations with foreign governments and by providing
financial assistance, it added.
Panasonic Corp., JGC Corp., Mitsui & Co. and three
other firms will tie up on a bid for solar power project in
Indonesia.
Yokogawa Electric Corp. plans to build a power plant in
the Middle East and North Africa using solar cells made
by Sharp Corp., Kaneka Corp. and JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, Nikkei said.
The five teams will begin operating this year, aiming to win
at least one order each by autumn 2013, the daily said.
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Monday 4 July 2011
18
Times sports
Monday 4 July 2011
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Tennis
Djokovic wins
Wimbledon title
N
ovak
Djokovic
won his first Wimbledon title yesterday, dethroning champion
Rafael Nadal with a 6-4, 6-1,
1-6, 6-3 triumph to celebrate
his coronation as new world
number one in style.
It was the 24-year-old Serb’s
third Grand Slam title, to add
to his 2008 and 2011 Australian Open victories, and 50th
win his last 51 matches.
Djokovic, who will succeed
Nadal as world number one
today, also denied the Spaniard, the champion here
in 2008 and 2010, an 11th
Grand Slam title.
Novak Djokovic went into
the final with a 11-16 losing record against Nadal over their
five-year rivalry but having
won all four of their clashes in
2011 and all in finals.
Serve dominated until the
10th game when from 30-0
up Nadal handed his opponent a set point with a forehand error which Djokovic
gobbled up, forcing another
wild forehand out of the
Spaniard to take the opener
after 41 minutes.
The Serb had been the
more convincing in the rallies and Nadal, who committed just seven unforced
errors in his semi-final
win over Andy Murray,
was already up to eight by
the time Djokovic was 1-0
Kvitova leads new
generation
Serbian Novak Djokovic
reacts after winning
the men’s single final
at the Wimbledon
Tennis Championships,
dethroning champion
Nadal
ahead in the second set.
Djokovic was taking control of the final and was a
break up at 2-0 when he brilliantly anticipated a Nadal
drop shot before scampering across court to execute
a wonderful, wrong-footing
backhand.
The Serb broke again for
a 5-1 lead when a powerful
drive left Nadal scrambling,
and off balance, and he could
only pat the return wide.
A confident hold to love
gave Djokovic the set 6-1
when Nadal found the net.
But Nadal, who had won
all five of the pair’s previous
Grand Slam clashes, carved
out his first break points of
the final in the second game
of the third set to open a 2-0
lead which was soon 3-0
courtesy of a confident love
service game.
Djokovic served up a first
double fault to be broken again
in the sixth game before Nadal
pulled off a third successive
love game to take the set.
The Serb saved a break
point in the first game of
the fourth set and made the
most of his reprieve with a
break to lead 2-0.
But a net cord fell in Nadal’s
favour and gave him the break
back in the third game.
A subdued Nadal then
slipped 3-5 down as a brilliant defensive rally from
Djokovic forced an error
from the Spaniard.
The trophy was the Serb’s
when on his first match
point when Nadal went long
with a backhand.
New Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has the world at her
feet, after her win over Maria Sharapova on Saturday, but the
softly-spoken, 21-year-old Czech now needs to prove that she can
be a big noise amongst the big beasts of women’s tennis.
With the Williams sisters struggling for form, Kim Clijsters
injured and Caroline Wozniacki increasingly unconvincing as
world number one, there is a desperate need for characters
and compelling storylines.
For Kvitova, the first Grand Slam winner born in the 1990s, it’s
a big ask to measure up to the epic rivalries in the men’s game
served up by Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
But Martina Navratilova, who was on hand to see fellow
Czech Kvitova become the third woman from her country to
win a Wimbledon title, is convinced that the future quality of
the women’s game can measure up to the men’s.
“With the women, we haven’t had the two biggest stars, the
Williams sisters, then Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters. We’ve lost
our biggest names. They’re not playing for one reason or another,” said Navratilova.
“That being said, it’s about quality, not quantity. I think the
women are coming through pretty nicely. It’s kind of nobody
really grabbed that No. 1 ranking. We’ll see what happens the
rest of the year.”
In the current world top 20, only Kvitova, Wozniacki and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova were born in or after 1990.
Russian Maria Sharapova, who captured all of her three
Grand Slam titles before she was 21, believes that Kvitova is the most promising – and powerful – of the new
generation.
“There’s always going to be a generation one after the next.
Ultimately they’re going to step up at one point. It happened
to be in this tournament. We’ll see whether that continues for
the years to come.”
Motorcycling
Lorenzo downs Stoner
in Italian MotoGP
Spanish defending champion
Jorge Lorenzo, riding a Yamaha,
held off a strong Honda challenge to win the Italian MotoGP in
Mugello yesterday.
Fresh from lowering the track record in qualifying at the Mugello
circuit on Saturday, Australian
Casey Stoner started on pole and
led for the opening 17 laps of the
23-lap circuit.
But with six laps to go, Lorenzo
took the lead with a sublime inside
pass on Stoner, pinching the inside
lane through a steep, downhill chicane with pinpoint deftness.
“I’m so happy,” Lorenzo told the
BBC. “Casey was so quick but little
by little, lap by lap I managed to
catch him. I saw the opportunity
(to take Stoner) on the downhill.”
The victory lifts Lorenzo (133
points) to within 19 of leader
Stoner (152) in the championship
standings.
Stoner was then ambushed by
Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso on the final lap, and had to
be happy with third place on the
podium.
“I did everything I could,” said
Stoner, who blamed the hotter
conditions for playing havoc with
his tyre grip that saw him noticeably slow in the latter stages.
“The tyre pressure went up too
high and I lost all grip in the
rear and you can’t do anything
without it.
Dovizioso was left bouncing by
his second place.
“To be the first Italian home in
Mugello is something special,” he
said. “Last year I was third. It’s
something not many people in the
world can feel.”
Italian legend Valentino Rossi,
came in sixth place 26.45sec off
Lorenzo’s flying pace.
Yamaha’s American, Ben Spies,
who won in Assen last weekend
to break Stoner’s series of three
straight wins, finished fourth.
Marco Simoncelli, racing under a
cloud after being at fault for a firstlap collision with Lorenzo at Assen
and a crash with Dani Pedrosa at
Le Mans, avoided any mishaps this
time around to claim fifth.
Marc Marquez of Spain on a Suter
won the Italian Moto2 Grand Prix
at Mugello yesterday.
Marquez came home ahead
of Germany’s Stefan Bradl on a
Kalex and Bradley Smith of Britain on a Tech3.
It was a third win of the season
for Marquez who closed the gap
on Bradl at the top of the overall
standings.
Earlier, Nicolas Terol of Spain
on an Aprilia won the 125cc race,
ahead of Frenchman Johann Zarco
on a Derbi and Maverick Vinales of
Spain on an Aprilia.
19
Jorge Lorenzo of Spain celebrates on podium of the Moto GP race
Marc Marquez of Spain, winner
of Moto 2 race
Nicolas Terol of Spain holds the
trophy of the 125 cc race
®
Grenade wounds 17 Afghan schoolchildren
A suspected militant on a motorbike threw a hand grenade at the gates of a school in north Afghanistan yesterday, injuring 17 children, the interior ministry said in a
statement.
The incident took place in Maimana, the main city of Faryab province, the ministry said, adding that the children had
Closing News
Morocco protesters to
take to streets after vote
M
A Moroccan polling official sits in front of two piles of
voting papers reading in Arabic ‘Yes’ (L) and ‘No’ (R)
during the referendum on constitutional reform. Despite
the vote, Moroccans returned to the streets
uprisings that ousted longserving leaders in Tunisia
and Egypt and have shaken
much of the region.
Under the new constitution, the king will remain
head of state, the military,
and the Islamic faith in
Morocco, but the prime
minister, chosen from the
largest party elected to parliament, will take over as
the head of government.
Other changes would
grant more power to par-
liament, introduce an independent judiciary and
provide new guarantees of
civil liberties.
Officials say the new constitution is the first step
in a process of democratic
reform and that protesters
should work with authorities to change the country.
“I would have preferred
that these people, who say
they are democrats, draw
conclusions from the sovereign choice made by the
Moroccan people,” Communications Minister Khalid Naciri, a spokesman for
the government, told AFP.
“They have a duty to adjust their demands to the
new reality... and make a
positive contribution to
the common creation of a
new Morocco. Protesting
in the streets should not be
an end to itself,” he said.
A security source told AFP
the authorities would not
interfere with the demonstrations as long as protesters acted within the law.
Up to now authorities
have been relatively tolerant of demonstrations and
Radi said any attempt to
crack down would backfire.
“If they try to prevent this
they will only add fuel to
the fire,” he said.
Western leaders have
hailed Friday’s vote and
the new constitution, while
pressing the king to pursue
further reforms.
On Saturday, the United
States, European Union,
France and Spain welcomed the referendum,
with the EU adding: “Now
we encourage the swift and
effective implementation
of this reform agenda.”
Analysts say it is likely
the authorities will continue to tolerate the protests,
which have been peaceful and have not urged the
overthrow of the king, who
is widely revered.
“But if it moves toward
provocation, there risks
being a more forceful response from the authorities,” he said.
New IMF chief faces
challenges on debut
The International Monetary Fund’s new Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, will make her debut under
intense pressure this coming week, as Greece’s financial
woes pose an urgent challenge.
The French executive is expected to land in Washington today, the Independence Day holiday for the United
States. She will officially begin work on Tuesday morning
and hold a press conference Wednesday.
A “busy work agenda awaits,” declared the IMF in its internal online magazine, while it stressed one of Lagarde’s
most pressing items includes the “difficult policy choices
needed to help global recovery [and] address the euro
area crisis.”
“The global economy is being buffeted by continued uncertainty in Europe, uprisings in the Middle East, signs
of overheating in some fast-growing emerging market
economies, and rising commodity prices that pose a particular challenge for low-income countries,” the publication added.
But the Greek economic crisis eclipses all other priorities.
In the immediate term, Greece is expected to receive
12 billion euros (USD 17.4 billion) from the eurozone
and IMF by July 15 after the ministers approved the fifth
tranche of aid from last year’s 110-billion-euro (USD 160
billion) financial rescue package.
This round the IMF’s share includes 3.3 billion euros
(USD 4.7 billion), according to the schedule of payments
laid out in May 2010.
As part of a longer term strategy, the IMF must find a
way to finance a country that in all likelihood will not be
able to return to the markets for long-term borrowing in
early 2012, as expected.
Passer-by saves toddler in 10-storey fall
Ad
oroccan protesters were to take
to the streets yesterday to push for democratic reforms despite the
approval of a new constitution that curbs the near
absolute powers of King
Mohammed VI.
The February 20 Movement, which has organised
weeks of demonstrations
calling for reforms in the
Arab world’s oldest reigning monarchy, has denounced the new constitution as window-dressing
and says its approval in
Friday’s referendum, passing with 98 percent support, was a sham.
The protests were to start
in the capital Rabat at 6:00
pm (1700 GMT) and in the
main economic hub Casablanca at 7:00 pm.
“This constitution does
nothing to change Morocco. What we want is a
new form of government,
the end of corruption and
a new economic system,”
Omar Radi of the February
20 Movement told AFP.
He said the new constitution would not placate protesters and that he expected more would now take to
the streets in anger over
the authorities’ unwillingness to pursue genuine reforms.
“We need to keep pressure from the streets and I
think many people will join
us after this charade of a
referendum,” Radi said.
Mohammed VI offered the
reforms last month following weeks of protests modelled on the Arab Spring
Monday
July 2011
been taken to hospital, with two in
a serious4condition.
“Police have arrested the gunman who committed this action,” said the statement, which condemned the attack.
UN reported in March that the deaths of Afghan civilians in
the war had increased 15 percent to a record high last year,
and insurgents were responsible for most killings.
A two-year-old Chinese girl survived a fall
from a 10th-floor window thanks to a passerby who raced to catch the toddler, state media reported yesterday.
Wu Juping, 31 – herself the mother of a
seven-month-old baby – was feted as a heroine on Chinese television, which showed her
in a hospital bed recovering from a broken
arm after Saturday’s accident.
The child, named “Niu Niu”, suffered internal bleeding and remains in a critical condition.
She had been left at home alone when the
accident took place, the state-run Xinhua
news agency reported.
Seeing the child dangling from the window
and about to fall, Wu kicked off her highheeled shoes and ran towards her with her
arms outstretched, Xinhua said.
20
Niu Niu struck Wu’s left arm before falling
onto the lawn, while Wu passed out from the
force of the blow.
The accident took place near Hangzhou,
capital of the eastern province of Zhejiang.
Jin Dengfeng, director of a hospital in Fuyang city which offered to treat Wu free of
charge when it heard of her actions, said the
woman had risked her life by breaking the
child’s fall.
“She could have died or been paralysed for
life if the child had hit her head or her back,”
he said.
Wu said that because of her injury she
would be forced to stop breast-feeding her
infant son earlier than planned.
“I don’t regret anything that happened,”
she was quoted as saying.
“I just hope that Niu Niu will recover.”

Monday, July 4, 2011 - Edition no. 1348

Transcription

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