8 theSun | MONDAY JULY 6 2009

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Costa Rica tops

happiness poll
SAN JOSE: Costa Rica is the happi-
est place on earth, and one of the
most environmentally friendly, ac-
cording to a new survey by a British
non-governmental group.
The New Economics Founda-
tion looked at 143 countries that
are home to 99% of the world’s
population and devised an equation
that weighed life expectancy and
people’s happiness against their
environmental impact.
By that formula, Costa Rica is the
happiest, greenest country in the
world, just ahead of the Dominican
Republic. Latin American countries
did well in the survey, occupying
nine of the top 10 spots.
Australia scored third place, but
other major Western nations did
poorly, with Britain coming in at
74th place and the United States at
114th.
The New Economics Foundation’s
measurements found Costa Ricans
have a life expectancy of 78.5 years,
and 85% of the country’s residents
Six cops hurt in demo
say they are happy and satisfied with
their lives.
REUTERSPIX
Those figures, taken along with
the fact that Costa Rica has a small
“ecological footprint,” combined to
push the small nation to the top of
the list.
A 2006 New Economics Founda-
tion study designated Vanuatu the
world’s happiest nation, with Costa
Rica at second place.
Sociologist Andrea Fonseca said
Costa Rica gives its citizens the
“tools” to be happy, but cautioned
that happiness cannot be calculated
just by looking at life expectancy and
environmental practices.
She added that the country’s
rise to the top of the Happy Planet
Index “has a lot to do with social
imagination.”
Costa Rica has a peaceful
reputation because it does not
have an army, and is also known
for its protected ecological zones
and national slogan “pure life,” she
said. – AFP
Jackson fans prepare
farewell to ‘King of Pop’
An autopsy on Jackson’s
body was carried out on June
26 but the Los Angeles County
Coroner’s office has said it will
not issue a final cause of death
until the results of exhaustive
toxicology tests are known in
“several weeks.”
Police investigators have
meanwhile zeroed in on the pos-
sible role of drugs in Jackson’s
death. Close friends and as-
sociates of the star have angrily
alleged that Jackson was sur-
rounded by a coterie of medical
professionals willing to provide
him with potent prescription
medication.
US media reports citing
unidentified law enforcement
sources say investigators found
the powerful sedative Propo-
fol, also known as Diprivan,
amongst a variety of prescription
Jackson’s LOS ANGELES: Hundreds of Santa Barbara wine country. medications at Jackson’s home.
fans gather millions of fans across the world However, Jackson’s elder The discovery has raised
in Mexico will bid a final farewell to Michael brother Jermaine said he would the stakes in the probe, which
City to pay Jackson tomorrow in a lavish still like the pop legend to be widened last week as the Los An-
tribute to
him.
memorial to the tragic “King of
Pop” expected to bring America
buried at the estate, a tribute to
Jackson’s fascination with child-
geles Police Department enlisted
the support of the federal Drug

against US military base to a standstill. An exclusive guest

VICENZA (Italy): Six policemen
were hurt in clashes on Saturday
with demonstrators at a rally of
more than 3,000 people against
the US$500 million (RM1.7 billion)
enlargement of a US military base in
Italy, police said.
Some 300 youths, wearing hel-
mets and carrying plexiglass shields,
pelted riot cops with rocks and bot-
tles during the American Independ-
ence Day demo. The police replied
with tear gas and baton charges.
The work at the base, a former
airport in northern Vicenza – which
has a current troop capacity of 2,750
– will enable 1,800 soldiers currently
based in Germany to be stationed
there.
list of family and VIPs will be
joined by around 11,000 fans
Demonstrators who have regu- crowded into the Staples Centre
larly cut their way through barbed in Los Angeles for the send-off,
wire guarding the site cried “No which Jackson once said he
arms here” and “We won’t be a rear hoped would be “the greatest
base for the killing of Afghan kids.” show on earth.”
Local authorities have backed the Precise details of the service
extension, with around 1,200 jobs have been kept under wraps, but
created, while successive govern- amid speculation that some of
ments led by centre-left Romano the biggest names in showbusi-
Prodi and current Prime Minister ness may perform in an event
Silvio Berlusconi have each green- intended as a celebration of
lighted the work. the tortured pop icon’s life and
A delegation from the organisers times.
– a coalition of Communists, Greens Jackson’s death from an ap-
and far-left groups – will travel to parent cardiac arrest at the age of
central L’Aquila to protest at the 50 on June 25 sent shockwaves
scene of next week’s G8 summit of rippling around the world, trig-
world leaders including US President gering an avalanche of tributes
Barack Obama. – AFP from Beverly Hills to Beijing.
Thousands of fans continue
to flock to Jackson’s star on Hol-
lywood’s “Walk of Fame” in Los
Angeles while a makeshift shrine
of flowers, cards and toys has
steadily grown outside the gates
of the singer’s Neverland Ranch.
Jackson sold more than 750
million albums during a glitter-
ing four-decade career that was
ultimately overshadowed by re-
peated allegations of child abuse,
his startling physical transforma-
tion and eccentric behaviour.
Jackson’s family has not re-
vealed where the singer will be
buried. The musical clan earlier
quashed the idea of a poignant
ceremony at Neverland Ranch,
which posed logistical headaches
due to its remote location in ritzy
hood that in its heyday boasted
giraffes, tigers and a private
amusement park.
“I feel his presence because
this is his creation,” Jackson said
on Thursday. “This is where
he should be rested because it’s
him.”
Organisers of tomorrow’s
memorial, which gets under way
at 10am (1am on Wednesday
in Malaysia) have appealed to
ticketless fans to watch the event
on television, fearing chaos if
hundreds of thousands take to
the streets to mourn.
Eleven thousand free tickets
were made available for fans
hoping to attend the tribute at
the Staples Centre while 6,500
were available for seats at a
neighbouring venue where giant
screens will show the event live.
A website set up to manage
an online lottery of the available
tickets received more than half a
billion hits within two hours on
Friday, reflecting the huge inter-
est in the event.
“Potentially, this could be
enormous,” said Robert Thomp-
son, an expert in pop culture
at Syracuse University in New
York. “Everything that has to do
with Michael Jackson was done
huge, super-sized.”
While all eyes turn to Jackson’s
memorial, multiple law enforce-
ment agencies are continuing to
probe the circumstances of his
death while an army of lawyers
prepare to tussle over the fate of
his estate and children.
Enforcement Administration.
Propofol is commonly used in
hospitals to induce unconscious-
ness in patients before major
surgery. Healthcare experts say
it should never be used at home
and should only be administered
by trained anaesthesiologists.
Police have questioned Jack-
son’s personal physician Conrad
Murray but have stressed he
is not suspected of criminal
wrongdoing. As the investigation
into Jackson’s death deepens,
lawyers are preparing to head to
court next week to tussle over his
legacy.
Jackson’s 79-year-old mother
Katherine was placed in tempo-
rary control of her son’s assets
last week and appointed guard-
ian of the singer’s three children,
Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11 and
Prince Michael II, 7.
A 2002 will filed in Los Angeles
Superior Court last week named
Katherine Jackson as guardian
but the singer’s ex-wife Debbie
Rowe indicated she planned to
seek custody of the children. A
custody hearing scheduled for
July 6 has now been reset for
July 13. On Monday, the two men
named as executors of Jackson’s
are scheduled to appear in court
with lawyers for the star’s family
in the first full hearing on the
star’s assets, reportedly worth
hundreds of millions of dollars.
– AFP
» See also Page 19
Lethal legal doses

Rescuers find debris of Yemenia aircraft

SANAA: Search crews have located a
large piece of debris from a Yemeni jet
that crashed into the Indian Ocean off
the Comoros islands last week and are
working to retrieve it, the Yemeni trans-
port ministry said on Saturday.
A 14-year-old girl appears to be the
sole survivor of the crash. International
rescuers have been unable to find any
of the remaining 152 passengers and
crew since the Yemenia Airbus A310-
300 crashed in strong winds in the early
hours of Tuesday.
“The American team was able to
locate a large piece of the the aircraft’s
parts and is currently retrieving it,” the
ministry said in a statement.
The plane plunged into the sea as it
came in to land at Moroni, the capital of
the formerly French-ruled Comoros ar-
chipelago, which comprises three islands
off mainland east Africa and northwest
of Madagascar.
The aircraft had taken off from the
Yemeni capital Sanaa, but many of the
passengers had come from France
aboard an Airbus A330 which flew the
Paris-Marseille-Yemen leg of the flight.
Yemenia has suspended flights from
Paris, the Paris airports operator said on
Friday.
At least 10,000 people of Comoran
origin marched through the streets of
the southern French city of Marseille on
Saturday to mourn those who perished
and to vent anger at the airline.
Comorans have long complained
about the standard of flights from France
to the Comoros. – Reuters