Portugal PM defiant despite another resignation

July 02, 2013

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal's prime minister defied calls to resign Tuesday after his coalition government was rocked by a second Cabinet resignation in as many days over tough budget cuts that have sharply reduced living standards in one of the poorest countries that uses the euro.

The uncertainty over the future of the Portuguese government creates a new flashpoint in the austerity strategy that's been pursued by the 17-country eurozone to deal with its debt crisis. With the center-right government looking to be on the verge of collapse and facing mounting pressure from opposition parties, Pedro Passos Coelho made a televised evening address to the nation to say he would seek to heal the rift between the two coalition partners and examine the reasons for the surprise resignation of Foreign Minister Paulo Portas earlier in the day.

Portas, leader of the junior coalition partner, quit a day after Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar also walked out. Gaspar, a non-political economist specially selected by Passos Coelho to push the austerity drive, said he lacked the political and public support for his ongoing program of cutting public sector pay and pensions and raising taxes.

Portas, the leader of the Popular Party who has demanded greater emphasis on growth measures, said he could not accept Gaspar's replacement, former Secretary of State for the Treasury Maria Luis Albuquerque.

She has endorsed the austerity approach that the country, one of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro, has pursued since its 78 billion euros international bailout ($102 billion) in 2011 after a decade of weak growth and mounting debt pushed it to the verge of bankruptcy.

Passos Coelho, who is leader of the senior coalition member, the Social Democratic Party, said he wouldn't be rushed into accepting Portas's resignation because "the threat of political instability brings risks for the country nobody wants and could be grave."

"Let me be clear," Passos Coelho said, "I won't resign, I won't give up on my country." The Social Democrats have just 108 seats in the 230-seat Parliament, meaning that without its Popular Party partner's 24 seats it wouldn't have the majority it needs to push through its policies.

Though Portas did not say whether his party would pull its support from the government, the resignations pitched what for two years had been a stable administration into disarray within the space of 24 hours. It recalled the political strife that has dogged Greece's efforts to recover from its own bailout — last month, a junior partner quit Greece's government, leaving the remaining two coalition partners with a slender majority in parliament.

For over three years now, the austerity demanded by creditors has met with growing resistance from politicians, trade unions and business leaders. Austerity has been widely blamed for driving the jobless rate in Portugal to 17.6 percent and for what is forecast to be a third straight year of recession in 2013.

Investors have watched developments in Portugal with concern — the interest rate Portugal pays on its debt has spiked sharply amid fears that the resignations could lead to the government falling apart and making it harder for the country to pay what it owes.

The yield on Portugal's 10-year bonds — a benchmark of investor faith in the country — has climbed to 6.42 percent. Over the past year of political stability, those rates had fallen to a low point of 5.23 percent in May.

Amid the growing tensions in financial markets, opposition parties demanded elections for a new government. Antonio Seguro, leader of the main opposition Socialist Party, called for the government to stand down.

"The government is falling apart and we need a new one," he said. The Socialists were the party in power at the time of the bailout and agreed to a deficit-reducing program demanded by the International Monetary Fund and other EU countries. If Portugal doesn't abide by the terms of the bailout agreement, the creditors can halt disbursements of the rescue loans.

Portugal's government debt stands at almost 124 percent of its annual gross domestic product. That's the third-highest in the EU after Greece and Italy. Its deficit last year was 6.4 percent of annual GDP— above the 5 percent target but below the 2010 figure of 10.1 percent.

Portas had repeatedly spoken out against former finance minister Gaspar's strategy. But Gaspar had the support of Passos Coelho and of the European officials who monitor the bailout agreement, as does his replacement.

A Quarter of Russians Want Rid of Chechnya

02 July 2013
The Moscow Times

A quarter of Russians would be happy if the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya was no longer part of the Russian Federation, according to the results of a Levada Center poll released Monday.

Twenty-four percent of Russians polled said they "would be glad" if Chechnya left, while 27 percent said they wouldn't care much if it happened.

Twelve percent of the 1,601 respondents said they thought that Chechnya, where rebels fought two wars of independence in the last 25 years, is already a de facto independent state.

The Kremlin gives Chechnya much larger subsidies than most regions and has granted Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov a great deal of independence in return for loyalty to the federal government.

Levada Center deputy director Alexei Grazhdankin, commenting on the poll results, told Kommersant that xenophobic attitudes were growing and that people had a desire to "shut out" the North Caucasus.

Chechnya is "not perceived by citizens as part of the Russian Federation," but instead "as a time bomb," Grazhdankin said. "Citizens get the impression that federal agencies do not control what is happening there."

Human rights organizations have described Chechnya as Kadyrov's personal fiefdom and a place where civil activists and journalists can be silenced, attacked or even killed without consequences. Kadyrov denies wrongdoing.

Twenty-three percent of those polled said they were nonetheless against Chechnya leaving the federation, and 10 percent said the republic should be prevented from becoming legally independent, even by military means.

Regarding the federal funds given to Chechnya, 28 percent of Russians told the Levada Center that they believed the subsidies were mainly "stolen," while 21 percent said they believed the funds were "spent ineffectively."

The poll was carried out in 130 regions and had a margin of error of 3.4 percent.

Source: The Moscow Times.
Link: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/a-quarter-of-russians-want-rid-of-chechnya/482527.html.

WikiLeaks Party approved for Australian election ballot

July 2, 2013

CANBERRA, Australia, July 2 (UPI) -- WikiLeaks said its founder Julian Assange may be on the election ballot for the Australian Senate.

Australia's Electoral Commission approved the registration application for the WikiLeaks Party Tuesday, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Party founder Julian Assange previously indicated he will run for the Senate.

He is currently holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning in a sexual assault case.

WikiLeaks said if Assange is elected to the Senate but unable to return to Australia another candidate could fill his spot.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/07/02/WikiLeaks-Party-approved-for-Australian-election-ballot/UPI-94351372765731/.

Brave food sovereignty heroes destroy 6,000 genetically-modified sugar beets in Oregon

Tuesday, July 02, 2013
by: Jonathan Benson

(NaturalNews) It appears as though some Americans may finally be waking up to the grim reality that calling their politicians and signing petitions is simply not enough to stem the tide of evil that has overtaken this once free country. For perhaps the first time since genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) were introduced back in the 1990s, food freedom activists have literally taken to the fields to destroy them, making a bold public statement that We The People have had enough of being forcibly poisoned by these genetic abominations.

According to new reports, a total of 6,000 GM sugar beets planted in fields in southern Oregon were found uprooted in recent days. On June 8, roughly 1,000 GM sugar beets were found destroyed in fields leased and managed by the private, Switzerland-based biotechnology company Syngenta, while another 5,000 plants on a different plot, also owned by Syngenta, were found destroyed on June 11, just three days later.

Since the crops were GM, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) immediately got involved with the case, declaring this brave act of ecological conservation to be "economic sabotage." And those involved with the investigation have been timid about releasing any details, expressing fears that "copycats" might try to take similar action at other GM fields in Oregon and elsewhere -- we simply cannot add any further risks to the multi-billion dollar "Frankenfood" supply now can we?

Meanwhile, biotech giant Monsanto's blatant negligence with a long-abandoned GM wheat crop recently led to real economic sabotage in the form of widespread contamination of the general wheat supply. A conventional wheat field in eastern Oregon, in case you missed it, was recently found to have been contaminated by illegal GM wheat traits, a discovery that very quickly disrupted the entire export market for wheat in the U.S. and put the livelihoods of thousands of American farmers at risk.

But the FBI is nowhere to be found in pursuing and prosecuting the culprit in this debacle. No, Monsanto and others in the biotech industry that are responsible for polluting the entire earth with their transgenic atrocities are shielded from all liability for their repeated acts of economic sabotage, while freedom fighters who intervene on behalf of humanity are relegated to the ranks of terrorists.

"When GM pollen blows into a non-GM farmer's fields and irreversibly contaminates his crop with 'biopollution,' who does the law side with?" asks Sayer Ji in a recent piece for GreenMedInfo.com.

"When Monsanto's unapproved and therefore illegal GM wheat is found years after open field trials growing freely in an Oregon wheat field, the entire state crop's export fate is held in limbo, jeopardizing the present and future living of thousands of farmers and their dependents, with Monsanto receiving little more than a reprimand, followed by rapid USDA assurance that despite a lack of approval their GM wheat is 'safe.'"

Syngenta's GM sugar beets are not even legal in Switzerland

One major irony in the Syngenta case is that the company's GM sugar beets are not even legal in its own home country of Switzerland. Americans are expected to consume the company's poisonous "Frankenbeets," which received government approval apart from any adequate environment and human safety data, but the people of Switzerland are protected from this agricultural assault because of strict GMO regulation.

"Syngenta is committing acts that are criminal in its own country, yet our government invites them," wrote one commenter on an OregonLive.com article discussing the destruction of the beets. "I thank you rebels! I applaud you for your action and your bravery."

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/041044_GM_sugar_beets_food_freedom_fighters_Monsanto.html.

Venezuela eyed as Snowden seeks asylum

July 02, 2013

MOSCOW (AP) — NSA leaker Edward Snowden's best chance of finding refuge outside the United States may hinge on the president of Venezuela, who was in Moscow on Tuesday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With a string of countries appearing to offer Snowden little hope, President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela told Russian reporters on Tuesday that his country has not received an application for asylum from Snowden and dodged the question of whether he would take Snowden with him when he left.

But Maduro also defended the former National Security Agency systems analyst who released sensitive documents on U.S. intelligence-gathering operations. "He did not kill anyone and did not plant a bomb," Maduro said ahead of his meeting with Putin, the Interfax news agency reported. "What he did was tell a great truth in an effort to prevent wars. He deserves protection under international and humanitarian law."

During his Kremlin meeting with Putin, Maduro spoke about plans to build on the strong ties with Russia formed under his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, but neither he nor Putin mentioned Snowden in their public statements.

The Kremlin-friendly newspaper Izvestia reported Monday that the two presidents would discuss Snowden, adding to speculation that arrangements would be made for him to travel to Venezuela. Snowden had initially booked flights to Havana, Cuba, and then on to Caracas, Venezuela, before becoming trapped in legal limbo, believed to be unable to leave a Moscow airport transit zone.

Another option for Snowden may be Bolivia, whose president also met with Putin during a summit of major gas exporters in the Kremlin. President Evo Morales said in an interview with Russia Today television that Bolivia would be willing to consider granting asylum to Snowden.

On Tuesday evening, Maduro again spoke out in support of Snowden, without giving any more indication of whether he would help him leave Russia. "Who must protect Snowden? This is the question. This young man of 29 was brave enough to say that we need to protect the world from the American imperial elite, so who should protect him?" Maduro said in response to a question from journalists covering a ceremony to rename a Moscow street after Chavez. "All of mankind, people all over the world must protect him."

Maduro was scheduled to spend Wednesday in neighboring Belarus before returning to Venezuela. Snowden, who recently turned 30, withdrew a bid for asylum in Russia when he learned the terms Moscow had set out, according to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin said on Monday that Russia was ready to shelter Snowden as long as he stopped leaking U.S. secrets.

At the same time, Putin said he had no plans to turn over Snowden to the United States. Snowden has applied for asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and 18 other countries, according to WikiLeaks, a secret spilling website that has been advising him. Many European countries on the list — including Austria, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland — said he would have to make his request on their soil.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, whose consent for asylum would be required, said in a message posted on Twitter that he would not grant the request. Germany's Interior Ministry specifically ruled it out too, saying that "the conditions to take him in are not there."

WikiLeaks said requests have also been made to Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, India, Italy and Nicaragua. India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said Delhi has carefully examined the asylum request and decided to turn it down. And Brazil's Foreign Ministry spokesman Tovar da Silva Nunes said the government "does not plan to respond" to the asylum request.

WikiLeaks also posted a statement attributed to Snowden on its website late Monday, in which he slams President Barack Obama for "using citizenship as a weapon." "Although I am convicted of nothing, (the United States) has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," Snowden says in the statement. "Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

"Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me." The Russian government says that Snowden, who has been on the run since releasing the sensitive NSA documents, has remained in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23.

Ecuador, where he had initially hoped to get asylum, has been giving mixed signals about offering him shelter. Britain's Press Association news agency said it had obtained a letter from Snowden to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa thanking him for considering his asylum request.

"There are few world leaders who would risk standing for the human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on earth, and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world," PA quoted the letter as saying. The agency said it had obtained the Spanish-language letter from sources in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

Correa, however, appeared cool to Snowden in an interview with the Guardian newspaper. Asked whether he would like to meet Snowden, Correa was quoted as saying: "Not particularly. He's a very complicated person. Strictly speaking, Mr. Snowden spied for some time."

He was quoted as saying that Ecuador would not consider an asylum request until Snowden was on its territory and his government would not help him travel to Ecuador.

Austria begins withdrawing its peacekeepers from Golan Heights

June 11, 2013

VIENNA/MANILA: Austria has begun withdrawing peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, winding down a four-decade mission due to spillover fighting from the Syrian civil war, the Defense Ministry said.

A Reuters journalist on the Golan said that Austrian soldiers had already moved from the Qunaitra crossing point to a United Nations base inside the Israeli-held part of the heights Tuesday.

“The first 60 to 80 soldiers will land in Vienna tomorrow afternoon, so you can already see the withdrawal on site,” Defense Ministry spokesman Andreas Strobl told Reuters in Vienna.

A top Israeli government official told AFP Tuesday that several dozen Austrian troops had already left the mission’s headquarters. Israeli public radio said they were administrative staff.

The Austrians have patrolled the buffer zone between Israel and Syria as part of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force since it was set up in 1974.

The Vienna government said last week it would pull out after worsening fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces sent its soldiers running for cover.

Two soldiers were wounded last week after Syrian rebels captured a border post then were driven out by government troops.

Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said Austria would now negotiate with the United Nations about an orderly handover to the next contingent, “if there is one,” but reserved the right to stick to its timetable for a full exit within four weeks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week offered to send Russian troops to the Golan Heights to replace the Austrians, but this was quickly shot down by Josephine Guerrero, a spokeswoman for the U.N. peacekeeping department.

She said that the disengagement agreement does not allow the participation of troops from a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

Austria Chancellor Werner Faymann defended neutral Austria’s decision to withdraw from Golan Heights, where its roughly 380 soldiers make up the biggest contingent in the 1,000-strong force.

“We never could have and would never have wanted to take on a military mission to mediate or intervene between the opposition rebels and governmental troops,” he told reporters after the government’s weekly Cabinet meeting. “We took over a different mandate, which was appropriate for a neutral country.”

He denied that Austria, which also has peacekeeping troops in hot spots including Lebanon, Kosovo and Bosnia, would suffer in international stature from the move.

Also Tuesday, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said that he wanted better protection and a robust mandate for the country’s U.N. peacekeeping contingent in the Golan Heights if he decides to keep them there at the risk of violence coming from Syria.

Aquino said he was weighing a proposal made by his foreign secretary to withdraw all 342 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers, but announced no decision right away.

“We need to get some clarification from the U.N. before we could come up with a decision,” Aquino spokesman Ricky Carandang said. “There are no deadlines set.”

The recommendation to withdraw troops follows two separate abductions and shelling by Syrian rebels inside the U.N.-patrolled demarcation line separating Syria from the Israeli-occupied plateau.

Two peacekeepers from the Philippines and India were wounded last week during fighting between Syrian government and rebel forces.

Austria’s withdrawal leaves the Philippines as the largest single contributor. Croatia withdrew in March for fears its troops would be targeted.

“There are a lot of countries pulling out. There is heightened fear that if the whole U.N. detachment or the U.N. forces there pull out, there will be no buffer between Israel and Syria,” Aquino said, adding that if that happens, “the two forces will draw closer … and there will be a flare-up of hostilities again.”

Aquino said the changes needed include additional equipment and enhanced security for the peacekeepers, and different rules of engagement.

“If there is no change in the conditions, it might be an undoable mission and our poor troops will be in the middle of two potentially clashing forces and they cannot defend themselves,” Aquino said.

Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jun-11/220044-austria-begins-withdrawing-peacekeepers-from-golan.ashx.

Brazil vs Spain: Score, Grades and Highlights from Confederations Cup 2013 Final

By Joseph Zucker
June 30, 2013

Brazil firmly put themselves in discussion of the 2014 World Cup favorites after their 3-0 demolition of Spain in the 2013 Confederations Cup final Sunday night in Rio de Janeiro.

Although Brazil were the host, OptaJoe noted how difficult a task it would be to knock off La Roja.

The Selecao wasted little time in getting the early advantage, though, at the Maracana.

Two minutes in, Fred poked the ball in to put Brazil up, 1-0. It was not the kind of goal you'd associate with beautiful Brazilian football. Hulk delivered in a cross from the right that Gerard Pique and Alvaro Arbeloa failed to deal with. As the ball was bouncing around, Fred took a tumble and knocked it in with his right while on the ground.

You have to give Fred a lot of credit for reacting so quickly and being able to get it in past Iker Casillas.

It was the quickest goal Spain have ever conceded with Vicente del Bosque as coach.

Things didn't go much better for Spain from there. Brazil were the aggressors and gave not even an inch to the visitors. It was a bit of the same game plan Cesare Prandelli used to help Italy hang with La Roja and almost get the win in the semifinal.

Luiz Felipe Scolari sent his players out with the express purpose of hounding Spain whenever they had the ball, and then using Hulk and Neymar out wide to break quickly. It was a strategy that worked to perfection in the first half.

Even with Brazil's brilliance in the attack, perhaps the best play of the first half came when David Luiz cleared a shot off the line in the 40th minute. Pedro was bearing down on goal and looked sure to score. He managed to place it past Julio Cesar and headed for the bottom left corner. That was, until Luiz came from nowhere to slide in and eliminate the threat.

Rory Smith of The Times wonders if the play will do something to silence some of Luiz's critics.

Arguably the player of the tournament heading into the game, it was only appropriate that Neymar scored in the final. And what a goal it was. It was so impressive, if only for the sheer force of will the young prodigy used. Neymar's left-footed effort flew right over the head of Casillas.

That was Neymar's seventh goal in nine matches, and fourth of the tournament, after he scored once in each of Brazil's three group stage matches.

It was a monumental goal in terms of how it put Spain in a situation it hadn't seen in years, per OptaJose.

That was the last real action of the first half in what was 45 minutes of dominance for Brazil. They looked phenomenal on both ends of the pitch.

Two minutes into the second half, it was Fred again who found the back of the net. It was a smooth, well-placed finish and a good attacking move from Brazil.

Now a three-goal gap, the score essentially ended any chance Spain would have in its comeback effort.

In the 54th minute, La Roja were given a lifeline, when Jesus Navas was fouled in the box by Marcelo. The referee pointed to the spot, and it was a penalty shot for Spain.

Sergio Ramos, of all people, stepped up to take the kick. As you'd expect from a centre-back, Ramos missed, firing it wide left.

Spanish paper AS wondered why Ramos was the player chosen to take the kick.

Pique made things go from bad to worse when he was sent off for a foul on Neymar. There will be plenty arguing that the foul only deserved a yellow. However, it was a clear and silly foul, as Neymar was bearing down on goal. Pique and Spain didn't have much of an argument to make.

The Dirty Tackle's Brooks Peck tried to get in the mind of Pique.

Brazil looked sure to make it 4-0, but had to settle for beating the reigning world champions by just three goals.

It was shocking just how poor Spain were in this match. It was a match very similar to Barcelona's two legs against Bayern Munich in the Champions League this past season. La Roja looked tired and were thoroughly outclassed by a far superior opponent on the night.

ESPN's Paul Carr noted that Spain had won 26 competitive matches coming in.

Coming into the match, Brazil were right there with Spain as one of the best teams in the tournament. They're deserved winners after a bravura performance. FIFA announced the major award winners on Twitter. It doesn't come as a huge surprise that Neymar won the Golden Ball.

After this match, the 2014 World Cup can't come soon enough.

Source: Bleach Report.
Link: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1689732-brazil-vs-spain-score-grades-and-highlights-from-confederations-cup-2013-final.

35,000 march in Dublin against Irish abortion bill

July 06, 2013

DUBLIN (AP) — Bearing rosary beads and placards declaring "Kill the bill! Not the child," more than 35,000 anti-abortion activists marched Saturday through Dublin to demand that the Irish government scrap plans to legalize terminations for women in life-threatening pregnancies.

Demonstrators from across Ireland, a predominantly Catholic island of 6.5 million, marched for two hours through the capital to Leinster House, the parliament building, where lawmakers next week are expected pass the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill. Speakers demanded that the government put its bill to a national referendum. "Let us vote!" the crowd chanted.

The two-year-old coalition government of Prime Minister Enda Kenny drafted the bill following last year's death of a miscarrying woman in an Irish hospital. Three investigations since have determined that Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist, died from blood poisoning one week after admission for a miscarriage. Doctors denied her pleas for an abortion, even though her uterus had ruptured, because the 17-week-old fetus still had a heartbeat. By the time it stopped, investigations concluded, Halappanavar already had contracted a lethal dose of septicemia.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said Saturday that, had the bill been law last year, Halappanavar might have received a prompt abortion and survived. He appealed to anti-abortion rebels in the main government Fine Gael party to accept the bill or abstain from the final vote expected Wednesday night. The bill received overwhelming backing in an initial vote this week.

Ireland outlaws abortion, a position underscored by a 1986 referendum amending the constitution to declare that the unborn have a right to life. But the Supreme Court in 1992 ruled that the constitution equally defends the pregnant woman's right to live, therefore life-saving abortions were legal.

Crucially, Ireland's highest court said this meant a woman should receive an abortion even if the only threat to her life was caused by her own suicide threats. Six governments since have refused to pass legislation backing that 1992 judgment, leaving obstetricians divided and confused over whether certain life-saving abortions can be performed legally.

In 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ireland's failure to legislate meant pregnant women in dangerous medical conditions were forced to travel overseas, chiefly to neighboring England, for abortions. It said travel and bureaucratic delays meant some women's medical conditions worsened unnecessarily.

The government bill would permit an abortion for a suicidal woman if a panel of three doctors — one obstetrician and two psychiatrists — unanimously agree that the woman's threats are real. Abortion rights advocates say this rule means women in such circumstances still will travel to England, where abortion was legalized in 1967.

But those marching Saturday warned that women would conspire with sympathetic doctors to fake suicide threats, putting Ireland on a slippery slope to wider abortion access. Ireland is just one of two European Union members, alongside Malta, that outlaws the practice.

Before the march, Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin led a central Dublin church in prayers for Ireland to keep abortion illegal. But in a nuanced sermon Martin told the crowd, among them families sitting on the floor beside packed pews, that pro-life campaigners must be careful not to come across as heartless to those on the other side of the debate.

Martin said those seeking to keep abortion out of Ireland must make their case "not through slogans but through the witness of life that we give." If not, he said, "what we say will appear, to quote Pope Francis, as being cold, impersonal and oppressive for people's day-to-day lives."

England out of U20 WCup after 2-0 loss to Egypt

June 29, 2013

ISTANBUL (AP) — Uruguay defeated Uzbekistan 4-0 to secure a place in the Under-20 World Cup knockout stage on Saturday.

Gino Acevedo scored with a low 25-meter shot in the 38th minute, and Nicolas Lopez, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Ruben Bentancourt added in the second half. Uruguay finished Group F second to Croatia, and will take on Nigeria in the playoffs. Uzbekistan also advanced as one of the best third-placed teams and will meet Greece.

Croatia, already qualified, beat New Zealand 2-1 with goals from Stipe Perica and Ante Rebic. Louis Fenton scored New Zealand's only goal in the tournament from the penalty spot in the 84th. Iraq beat Chile 2-1 to win Group E. Both teams were already through to the last 16. Iraq will face Paraguay, while Chile is up against Croatia.

Egypt beat England 2-0 and finished third but came up one goal short of advancing. Instead, Ghana went through to the first knockout round as the 16th and last team because of a better goal difference and will play Portugal.

England hasn't won a match in the competition since 1997, and stretched its winless streak to 17 games. England dominated the match but was thwarted by poor finishing and strong saves from Egypt goalkeeper Awad Mossad.

Trezeget gave Egypt the lead in the 79th, and Ahmed Hassan doubled the score in injury time. The U20 World Cup continues on Tuesday with the first four matches of the knockout stage, including tournament favorite Spain against Mexico.

Spanish town goes green by turning sewage into clean energy

By Tracy Rucinski
CHICLANA DE LA FRONTERA, Spain

(Reuters) - A Spanish resort town with sprawling golf courses and tree-lined beaches has added another green site to its attractions: the world's first plant to convert sewage into clean energy.

The facility in Chiclana de la Frontera on the southwest tip of Spain uses wastewater and sunlight to produce algae-based biofuel as part of a 12 million euro ($15.7 million) project to pursue alternative energies and reduce reliance on foreign oil.

The use of algae for biomass, once touted by U.S. President Barack Obama as the fuel of the future, has been written off by some critics who say the large quantities of energy, water and chemicals needed to produce it makes the process unsustainable.

The project in Chiclana, called All-gas to sound like "algas" or seaweed in Spanish, seeks to prove otherwise, becoming the first municipal wastewater plant using cultivated algae as a source for biofuel.

While industries such as breweries or paper mills have produced biogas from wastewater for their own energy needs, All-gas is the first to grow algae from sewage in a systematic way to produce a net export of bioenergy, including vehicle biofuel.

"Nobody has done the transformation from wastewater to biofuel, which is a sustainable approach," said All-gas project leader Frank Rogalla, standing outside a trailer-laboratory set up beside an algae pond at the waste treatment site in Chiclana.

Carbon dioxide is used to produce algae biomass, and the green sludge is transformed into gas, a clean biofuel commonly used in buses or garbage trucks because it is less polluting.

All-gas' owner Aqualia is the world's third largest private water company. It is owned by loss-making Spanish infrastructure firm FCC which is betting on its environmental services business to relieve pain from a domestic construction downturn.

While energy efficiency projects have gained pace in other European countries, Spain has been held back by a yawning budget gap that was at the centre of concerns the country would need an international bailout last year.

The All-gas project is three-fifths financed by the European Union FP7 program to determine the effectiveness of the methane produced from algae-derived biomass in cars and trucks.

TOILETS TO TANKS

The Chiclana plant, still in a pilot phase and 200 square meters in size, harvested its first crop of algae last month and expects to fuel its first car by December.

All-gas expects it to be fully up and running by 2015, when it aims for 3,000 kg of algae on 10 hectares of land, roughly 10 football fields, to generate annual biofuel production worth 100,000 euros - that's enough biofuel to run about 200 cars or 10 city garbage trucks a year.

Spain is battling a record 27 percent unemployment rate, with the south worst affected, and cash-strapped consumers have struggled under the weight of wage cuts and tax hikes over the past two years aimed at reining in the public deficit.

Chiclana, which relies on tourism and salt-processing fields for its livelihood, was chosen for the site because of its ample sunlight and a long stretch of land that runs along oceanside salt fields where algae can be easily grown in man-made ponds.

All-gas says its sewage plant is over 2 million euros cheaper to set up and run than a conventional sewage plant.

But whether the project is able to fuel cars on a large scale will depend on the amount and quality of bioethanol it can eventually produce, and at what cost.

Researchers so far have concluded that it may take years before algal biofuels are economically viable, though they may eventually be able to replace some portion of petroleum.

The All-gas model has drawn interest from other efficiency-minded municipalities in southern Spain with populations between 20,000 and 100,000 and with enough land to develop the algal ponds, said Rogalla, who has identified at least 300 small towns where such projects could work.

Aqualia has also had contact with Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and a French company over the possibility of building and operating similar water treatment plants under a concession.

Rogalla is optimistic.

"The opportunity is such that 40 million people, roughly the population of Spain, would be able to power 200,000 vehicles from just flushing their toilet!" he said.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/26/us-spain-bioenergy-idUSBRE95P0JG20130626.

Uruguay beats Spain in extra time for U20 WC semis

July 06, 2013

ISTANBUL (AP) — Substitute Felipe Avenatti scored in extra time to give Uruguay a 1-0 win over Spain in the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup on Saturday.

Avenatti had been on for five minutes when the 1.96-meter tall striker scored with a fierce header at the near post from Giorgian De Arrascaeta's corner in the 103rd. It's the fourth time Uruguay has reached the last four in the competition. It will play Iraq or South Korea for a place in the final.

Earlier Saturday, France beat Uzbekistan 4-0 to set up a semifinal against Ghana or Chile. The remaining quarterfinals are scheduled for Sunday. Spain was the only team in the quarterfinals to have won all matches and was widely regarded as a favorite for the title.

In a high-paced first half, Spain dominated possession with its typical short passing in midfield. Winger Gerard Deulofeu's curling corner kick hit the crossbar in the 19th and midfielder Suso forced Uruguay keeper Guillermo De Amores into a diving safe in the last minute of the first half.

Leonardo Pais and Giorgian De Arrascaeta came close for Uruguay but they both sent their headers just off target. The match slowed down in the second half, causing booing from the stands. In the last 20 minutes, Spain stepped up a gear again after coach Julen Lopetegui brought Paco Alacacer. The central striker immediately created danger but directed his header over the crossbar.

In the second minute of injury time, Spain goalkeeper Daniel Sotres just managed to push the ball away from the goalline following a backward header from Uruguay substitute Diego Rolan. Sotres hit his head against the goalpost and was replaced by Ruben Yanez for extra time.

Spain created few chances to score the equalizer, though Israel Puerto came close when he was left unmarked in the area but sent his header wide. Earlier, France outplayed Uzbekistan to cement its status as one of the tournament favorites.

Yaya Sanogo scored in the 31st minute, and Paul Pogba and Florian Thauvin both added goals from the penalty spot to give France a 3-0 halftime lead. A diving header from defender Kurt Zouma in the 64th made it 4-0 for France, which beat host Turkey 4-1 in the previous round.

France will at least match its best previous result in the competition — finishing fourth two years ago in Colombia. France dominated the match from the start but missed several clear chances. Sanogo hit the post in the second minute, and Thauvin did the same in the 17th, before left winger Jean Christophe Baheback helped France break the deadlock.

Bahebeck first set up Sanogo for an easy tap-in, giving the team's top scorer his fourth goal. Four minutes later Baheback earned France's first penalty when he was brought down by Uzbekistan right back Tohirjon Shamshitdinov, who was later sent off for a second yellow card in the 65th.

Two minutes before halftime, Diyorjon Turapov handled the ball, enabling Thauvin to give France a comfortable lead. France lowered the pace of play in the second half and put less pressure on Uzbekistan, which received five yellow cards for rough play.

Zouma added the fourth as he converted a corner from Thauvin. Substitute Alexy Bosetti missed four clear chances to make it 5-0, which would have matched France's defeat of Iran in 2001, its best ever win in the competition.

Reaching the quarterfinals was Uzbekistan's best achievement. It had never won a match at an Under-20 World Cup before at two previous attempts.

Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian protesters express solidarity with Morsi

by Muath Freij | Jul 06, 2013

AMMAN — Around 300 Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian activists gathered outside the Egyptian embassy in ‎Amman on Friday night to protest against the ouster of ‎Egypt’s Islamist president ‎Mohamed ‎Morsi.

Demonstrators carried Egyptian flags and portraits of Morsi, who was removed from power last week by the Egyptian army in response to popular protests that called for his ouster and accused him of hijacking the Egyptian revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

The activists shouted slogans against the Egyptian army leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, and members of the opposition who sided with his decision to remove Morsi and appoint an interim leader.

During the demonstration, protesters also performed the isha prayer.

Muath Abu Al Rub, one of the demonstrators, said he was there to express his support for Morsi.

“Some people claim that he [Morsi] did not achieve anything for the good of the country. On the contrary, he boosted the economy of Egypt,” the 21-year-old told The Jordan Times outside the Egyptian embassy.

He charged that some countries do not want to see Egypt under Islamic rule.

“These countries do not want the stability of Egypt. They want Arabs to be busy fighting each other so that we keep depending on them,” Abu Al Rub noted.

Maher Othman, an Egyptian who took part in Friday’s demonstration, said his compatriots should have given Morsi more time to prove himself.

“We waited for 30 years until Hosni Mubarak’s regime collapsed. We could have waited for four years to see what Morsi was planning to do,” Othman noted.

“The army did not take the right decision by giving Morsi only 48 hours to put an end to instability,” he said.

“They should have met with him and discussed all the details,” added Othman, who took part in demonstrations against Mubarak.

Another protester, Mohammad Shanabo, said Morsi was legitimately elected to be the president of Egypt, and everyone should have respected that.

“He was elected in fair elections.”

One woman, who refused to give her name, said Egyptians were calling for democracy and what happened was the exact opposite.

“A military coup simply does not represent democracy. Also, after the ouster of Morsi, many Muslim Brotherhood members were detained and some TV channels were closed down. Is that democracy?”

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/jordanian-egyptian-and-syrian-protesters-express-solidarity-with-morsi.

Jordan: Radical cleric Abu Qatada arrives

July 07, 2013

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada arrived in Jordan on Sunday to face retrial on terrorism charges after his deportation from Britain, a Jordanian military prosecutor said.

The arrival is a victory for Jordan, whose extradition request was blocked in British and European courts for over a decade. Jordanian and Western intelligence accuse Abu Qatada of being a key al-Qaida operative in Europe. He had been previously sentenced in absentia to life in jail, but that has been lifted now that he faces a new trial.

Information Minister Mohammed Momani said Jordan "is keen on credibility and transparency" in handling Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman. The deportation of the Palestinian-born Jordanian cleric, he said, "sends a message to all fugitives that they will face justice in Jordan."

The move comes after Britain and Jordan ratified a treaty on torture aimed at easing human rights concerns that had blocked previous attempts to deport him. In London, British Home Secretary Theresa May had announced Abu Qatada's departure in a statement, expressing confidence that the U.K. public would welcome the conclusion of efforts dating back to 2001 to remove the radical cleric.

"This dangerous man has now been removed from our shores to face the courts in his own country," May said. The Home Office then posted a picture on Twitter of Abu Qatada climbing the steps of a plane.

Britain had tried since 2001 to deport Abu Qatada but courts had blocked extradition over concerns that evidence obtained under torture could be used against him. After years of successfully fighting the numerous attempts to expel him from the U.K., the 53-year-old preacher recently indicated he would voluntarily return to Jordan if that country and Britain ratified a treaty on torture.

That treaty — which explicitly bans the use of evidence "where there are serious and credible allegations that a statement from a person has been obtained by torture or ill-treatment" — was ratified by Britain and Jordan last month.

It paved the way for the long-awaited removal of the man described in courts in Britain and Spain as a senior al-Qaida figure in Europe who had close ties to the late Osama bin Laden. In 1999, a Jordanian military court sentenced Abu Qatada to death in absentia for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks, including a plot on the country's American school in Amman. But the sentence was immediately commuted to life in jail with hard labor.

In 2000, the same court sentenced him to 15 years for plotting to carry out terror attacks on Israeli and American tourists and Western diplomats during the country's millennium celebrations. In both trials, Abu Qatada was in London, where he entered on a forged passport in 1993 and was granted asylum a year later.

Associated Press writer Cassandra Vinograd in London contributed to this report.

UK deports radical cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan

July 07, 2013

LONDON (AP) — Radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada was deported early Sunday from Britain to Jordan to face terror charges, ending over a decade-long battle to remove a man described as a key al-Qaida operative in Europe.

The move comes after Britain and Jordan ratified a treaty on torture aimed at easing human rights concerns that had blocked previous attempts to deport the Palestinian-born Jordanian preacher. British Home Secretary Theresa May announced Abu Qatada's departure in a statement early Sunday, expressing confidence that the public in the U.K. would welcome the conclusion of efforts dating back to 2001 to remove the radical cleric.

"This dangerous man has now been removed from our shores to face the courts in his own country," May said in a statement. The Home Office then posted a picture on Twitter of Abu Qatada climbing the steps of a plane.

Abu Qatada was wanted in Jordan for retrial in several terror cases in which he was sentenced in absentia. Britain had tried since 2001 to deport Abu Qatada — whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman — but courts have blocked extradition over concerns that evidence obtained under torture could be used against him.

After years of successfully fighting the numerous attempts to expel him from the U.K., the 53-year-old preacher recently indicated he would voluntarily return to Jordan if that country and Britain ratified a treaty on torture.

That treaty — which explicitly bans the use of evidence "where there are serious and credible allegations that a statement from a person has been obtained by torture or ill-treatment" — was ratified by Britain and Jordan last month.

It paved the way for the long-awaited removal of the man described in courts in Britain and Spain as a senior al-Qaida figure in Europe who had close ties to the late Osama bin Laden. Abu Qatada is accused by Britain of links with Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States over the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and with shoe bomber Richard Reid. Audio recordings of some of the cleric's sermons were found in an apartment in Hamburg, Germany, used by some of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Authorities first tried to deport Abu Qatada in 2001, then detained him in 2002 under anti-terrorism laws, which at the time allowed suspected terrorists to be jailed without charge. Though he was released in 2005 when the unpopular law was overturned, the cleric was kept under close surveillance and detained in various ways. He most recently was being held at London's Belmarsh prison after breaching a bail condition in March which restricted the use of mobile phones and communication devices.

The British home secretary acknowledged the delays in the legal process in her statement announcing that "at last" Abu Qatada had been deported, saying it is "clear that we need to make sense of our human rights laws and remove the many layers of appeals available to foreign nationals we want to deport."

Ex-prisoner chosen to lead Syria opposition group

July 06, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — A former Syrian political prisoner with close links to Saudi Arabia was picked Saturday to lead Syria's main Western-backed opposition group, filling a post long vacant due to divisions among President Bashar Assad's opponents.

Inside Syria, government troops advanced into rebel-held areas of the central city of Homs, pushing into a heavily contested neighborhood after pummeling it with artillery that drove out opposition fighters, an activist said.

The election of Ahmad al-Jarba as the head of the Syrian National Coalition came during a meeting in Turkey in what was the second attempt in recent months by Assad's opponents to unify their ranks. The opposition bloc is primarily composed of exiled politicians with little support among Syrians back home who are trying to survive the third summer of conflict that has killed more than 93,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.

Al-Jarba's election suggests the opposition is trying to unite despite its differences after Assad's forces gained ground last month in and around the strategic town of Qusair near the border with Lebanon.

It also underscored the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Qatar who are vying for influence among the Sunni-dominated Syrian opposition. Both have been prominent backers of forces struggling to oust Assad.

The Saudi-backed al-Jarba won 55 votes, edging out Qatar-endorsed businessman Mustafa Sabbagh who got 52 votes, according to a statement from the 114-member SNC in Istanbul, where many of Syrian opposition figures are based. The SNC statement did not say who the remaining members voted for.

Al-Jarba, a 44-year-old lawyer with a law degree from Beirut's Arab University, is from Syria's northeastern province of Hassakeh and is a member of the powerful Shammar tribe that extends into Iraq. He was a little-known anti-Assad figure before Syria's civil war though he was detained in March 2011 — days after the uprising against Assad began. It was his second arrest, following one in 1996 when he was held for two years because of anti-government activities.

After his release, al-Jarba left Syria in August in 2011 and became active in the opposition. He is close to secular politician Michel Kilo's Democratic Bloc, which recently joined the SNC. Al-Jarba could not be immediately reached for comment after his election Saturday.

An SNC statement quoted him as saying that his priorities will be "to follow-up on the situation inside Syria, especially in Homs," and that "all efforts should be in this direction." But even with al-Jarba's election, it is unclear if the SNC can overcome deep divisions among its politicians.

Also, the council has in many ways become irrelevant to rebels battling regime troops in Syria, despite its appointment in March of Ghassan Hitto as head of an interim government meant to administer areas seized by the rebels. So far, Hitto has not formed a Cabinet.

The vote in Turkey came as the U.S. and Russia hope to bring the warring sides in Syria together at an international conference in Geneva. The SNC said recently it will not attend the Geneva talks unless they are about Assad handing over power.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. welcomed al-Jarba's election and would work with him "to prevent the total collapse of Syria into chaos." The U.S. also urged the Syrian opposition to unite, Psaki said, adding that a "united opposition is essential to achieve a negotiated solution."

Assad has repeatedly dismissed his political opponents as foreign-directed exiles who don't represent the people of Syria. The president also has shrugged off international calls to step down, saying he will serve the rest of his term and may consider running for another one in next year's presidential elections.

In Syria, meanwhile, government troops gained ground in the rebel-held Khaldiyeah district of Homs. The push was the first significant gain in the city for Assad's forces. Government troops have been waging an eight-day campaign to seize parts of the central Syrian city that has been in rebel hands for more than a year.

Tariq Badrakhan, an activist based in the neighborhood, said government troops used rockets, mortars and cannon fire to flush out the area's "first line of defenses" on Friday evening. The offensive continued Saturday morning, he said via Skype, as explosions were heard in the background.

"We feel like they are shaking the sky," Badrakhan told The Associated Press. Another activist said eight rebels were killed in the fighting. He requested anonymity because rebels have accused him in the past of damaging their morale by reporting their casualties. He could not confirm that government forces had entered Khaldiyeh but said the report was consistent with the fighting he was following there. State-run media said government forces had seized buildings in the nearby Bab Houd area.

Fighting also continued Saturday in the northern city of Aleppo, a crucial stronghold for the rebels, as well as the Damascus suburb of Qaboun. The Syrian conflict, which began with months of peaceful protests against the Assad regime more than two years ago, deteriorated into an all-out civil war after a violent government crackdown.

Government forces, sometimes backed by fighters of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, have recently launched a major countrywide offensive to reclaim territory lost to rebels, who operate in chaotic groups with ideologies ranging from secular to hard-line Islamic extremists. Hard-line Sunni Muslims from other countries have also joined the fighting.

The fighting in Syria has increasingly taken on sectarian undertones as Assad enjoys support from many in his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the rebels are mainly Sunnis. Activists, who consider Homs "the capital of the revolution," say the regime wants to capture the entire city to include it in a future Alawite state stretching to the coast, where many believe Assad would take refuge in a last resort.

In the vote in Turkey, the SNC also elected three vice presidents, including Mohammed Farouk Taifour, a senior official with Syria's Muslim Brotherhood. The other two vice presidents are Salem al-Muslit and prominent opposition figure Suhair Atassi. Badr Jamous was voted in as the SNC's secretary general.

Associated Press writer Diaa Hadid contributed to this report.

Egypt's new president asserts authority

July 07, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's new president moved to assert his authority and regain control of the streets Saturday even as his Islamist opponents declared his powers illegitimate and issued blood oaths to reinstate Mohammed Morsi, whose ouster by the military has led to dueling protests and deadly street battles between rival sides.

But underscoring the sharp divisions facing the untested leader, Adly Mansour, his office said pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei had been named as interim prime minister but later backtracked on the decision saying consultations were continuing. A politician close to ElBaradei said the reversal was due to objections by an ultraconservative Islamist party with which the new administration wants to cooperate.

Mansour's administration, meanwhile, has begun trying to dismantle Morsi's legacy. He replaced Morsi's intelligence chief and the presidential palace's chief of staff. Prosecutors, meanwhile, ordered four detained stalwarts of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood held for 15 days pending an investigation into the shooting deaths of eight protesters last week.

No major violence was reported between supporters and opponents of Morsi as the two sides sought to regroup after a night of fierce clashes that turned downtown Cairo into a battlefield. Clashes were also fierce in the port city of Alexandria, where thousands from both sides fought each other with automatic rifles, firebombs and clubs.

Friday's violence left 36 dead, taking to at least 75 the number of people killed since the unrest began on June 30, when millions of protesters took to the streets on the anniversary of Morsi's inauguration as Egypt's first democratically elected president.

Morsi, a U.S.-trained engineer who was widely accused by critics of monopolizing power for himself and the Brotherhood as well as his failure to implement democratic and economic reforms, remained under detention in an undisclosed location.

Tensions were still high as tens of thousands of Morsi supporters rallied for a third day near a mosque in a Cairo neighborhood that has traditionally been a stronghold of Islamists, chanting angry slogans against what they called a coup by Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The general has denied the military staged a coup, saying he was acting on the wishes of millions of Egyptians protesting the ex-Islamist leader.

"El-Sissi is a traitor," declared an English language banner bearing an image of the army's chief and hoisted by Morsi's supporters. Setting up another showdown, the youth opposition group behind the series of mass protests that led to Morsi's ouster called on Egyptians to take to the streets on Sunday to show support for the new order.

Mansour, 67, the former chief justice of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court who was installed by the military as an interim leader, is little-known in international circles and the choice of ElBaradei would have given his administration a prominent global face to make its case to Washington and other Western allies trying to reassess policies.

But news of ElBaradei's appointment, which was reported by the state news agency MENA and others, proved divisive. The 71-year-old Nobel laureate was an inspiring figure to the youth groups behind the 2011 revolution that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak as well as the uprising against Morsi. His appointment as prime minister would cement Mansour's support among the young anti-Morsi protesters.

But a senior opposition official close to ElBaradei, Munir Fakhry Abdelnur, told The Associated Press that the last minute reversal was because the ultraconservative Salafi el-Nour party was opposed. Mansour's spokesman Ahmed el-Musalamani denied that the appointment of the former U.N. nuclear negotiator was ever certain. However, reporters gathered at the presidential palace ahead of his news conference were told earlier that the president would arrive shortly to announce it.

The dispute over ElBaradei underlines the fragmentation of Egypt's politics as the country continues to be roiled by bout after bout of unrest and violence since Mubarak's ouster. The 2011 uprising opened the way for the political rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was long suppressed by Mubarak's Western-backed regime, and Morsi was elected last year by a narrow margin. The fundamentalist movement swiftly rejected ElBaradei's appointment.

The Brotherhood has vowed to boycott the political process, saying the military maneuver was a coup that overturned a democratically elected government. "Now it's clear that the Mubarak regime has the upper hand," Brotherhood spokesman Ahmed Aref alleged. "We cannot accept the strategy of arm twisting; we cannot accept the authority being snatched by force," he told The AP.

The group's powerful deputy Khairat el-Shater, former leader Mahdi Akef, Rashad Bayoumi and Saad el-Ketatni have been accused of inciting violence against protesters in Cairo. The silver-haired new president, meanwhile, insisted national reconciliation was his top priority.

"Enough already with divisions," he told reporters on Saturday. "We need to mobilize our forces to build this nation," he said. He also called on the Brotherhood to join the political process. "The Brotherhood is a part of this nation, if they decide to join, we will welcome them."

"I want everyone to pray for me. Your prayers are what I need from you," he told worshippers on Friday in comments published Saturday by the independent el-Tahrir daily. On Saturday, he met with el-Sissi and Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police. Later he met with the three young leaders of Tamarod, or Rebel, which organized the massive opposition protests that began June 30.

Despite his words, both sides braced for the possibility of more violence as Egypt's political unraveling increasingly left little room for middle ground or dialogue. In the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, gunmen shot dead a Christian priest while he shopped for food in an outdoor market on Saturday. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was linked to the political crisis, but minority Christians have faced increased attacks in the wake of the Islamist rise to power in the nation of 90 million people.

South of the Sinai city of el-Arish, security officials said suspected Islamic militants bombed a natural gas pipeline to Jordan. The attacks early Sunday on two points on the pipeline started fires that were soon put out, but the flow of gas was disrupted, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

It was the first attack on Egypt's natural gas pipelines in Sinai in over a year. In Cairo's eastern suburb of Nasr City near the Rabaah al-Adawaiya mosque — the main rallying Muslim Brotherhood rallying point — lines of fighters brandished homemade weapons and body armor at road blocks decorated with Morsi's picture.

"The people here and in all of Egypt's squares are ready for martyrdom to restore legitimacy," said Abdullah Shehatah, a senior leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political arm. "This coup and all its institutions are illegal."

Next door in the relatively upscale Heliopolis district, people chanted against Morsi and honked car horns in appreciation of roadblocks manned by Egypt's military. Security forces boosted their presence with armored personnel carriers and checkpoints across the nation's capital.

By nightfall, however, the number of Morsi supporters swelled with people hoisting Morsi posters and, at one point, chanting in English for the benefit of the foreign media. "Free Egypt," they chanted. Smaller crowds gathered elsewhere in Cairo, including about 2,000 outside the headquarters of the Republican Guard, where Morsi was first confined by the military before he was taken to an undisclosed Defense Ministry facility.

Soldiers in full combat gear watched from behind razor wire. A Cairo court, meanwhile, adjourned to Aug. 17 the retrial of Mubarak over charges of corruption and involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ousted him. Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, who are on trial for corruption, appeared at the court session on Saturday.

Associated Press writers Paul Schemm, Mariam Rizk and Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report.

Egypt's emerging leaders after Morsi's overthrow

July 07, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — Contours are slowly emerging of Egypt's new leadership, even though an initial announcement that a chief rival of deposed President Mohammed Morsi was named as interim prime minister was taken back later on Saturday.

Hours after the main opposition grouping said interim President Adly Mansour would swear in Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei as premier, a spokesman for Mansour said consultations on the post were still ongoing.

Here is a look at the top three figures today in Egypt. —INTERIM PRESIDENT: Adly Mansour, 67, a judge. Mansour emerged from near-obscurity when he became head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, two days before Egypt's military chief announced Wednesday that Morsi had been deposed and was to be replaced by the chief justice.

Mansour's career in the judiciary took a prominent turn in 1984, when he became a judge on the state council and then its vice president. In 1992, he was appointed vice president to the Supreme Constitutional Court. He became chief justice following his predecessor's retirement on June 30.

He was sworn in as Egypt's president on Thursday. —ARMY CHIEF: Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, 58, also the defense minister. El-Sissi stepped onto the center stage of Egyptian politics when the military on Monday gave Morsi a 48-hour ultimatum to resolve his differences with the opposition after millions took to the streets on June 30 to demand the Islamist leader leave power. On Wednesday, el-Sissi announced Morsi's removal.

A graduate of the Egyptian military academy and the U.S. Army War College, el-Sissi was appointed commander in chief of the Egyptian armed forces in August 2012, replacing Field Marshall Mohammed Hussein Tantawi who was ordered into retirement by Morsi.

—INTERIM PRIME MINISTER: After an initial announcement that Mohammed ElBaradei, 71, a former director of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was named interim prime minister, a Mansour spokesman, Ahmed el-Musalamani, said that appointment was still being discussed.

Another senior official, Munir Fakhry Abdelnur, told The Associated Press that the reversal came after the ultraconservative Salafi el-Nour party objected to ElBaradei's appointment. With a long career on the international scene, ElBaradei first served as an Egyptian diplomat to the United Nations and later as an aide to Egypt's foreign minister. He was the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency for nearly 12 years. He and the IAEA shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

After popular protests toppled longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, ElBaradei emerged as a prominent democracy advocate and later as an opposition leader in the National Salvation Front. After a series of widely criticized moves by Morsi, ElBaradei said members of the dominant Muslim Brotherhood lived "in a delusion" for thinking they could manage the country on their own.

Egypt's opposition risks a dangerous hypocrisy

Rachel Shabi
Friday 5 July 2013

A Muslim Brotherhood witchhunt and an army takeover are not be celebrated. The principles of the revolution are at stake

There is a terrible smell of hypocrisy coming out of Egypt's opposition camp. As Adli Mansour, the transitional president, was sworn following the ousting of Mohamed Morsi, the army has been busy rounding people up. But instead of condemning the arrest of hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members (including the group's spiritual leaders) and the forced closure of Islamist media, key opposition figures have been justifying it.

Speaking to the New York Times, the prominent opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei gave some caveats and guarantees, but broadly deferred to the military: "They are taking some precautionary measures to avoid violence; well, this is something that I guess they have to do as a security measure," he said.

That's an alarming stance to be taking right now, whilst also claiming to be dedicated to building consensus and inclusion – including for the Brotherhood.

One of the opposition's many valid beefs with the Muslim Brotherhood was that arrests on jumped-up charges persisted under Morsi, and were in some ways worse than under the hated, overthrown dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. So how is it now OK for the opposition that fought so hard for such freedoms to be condoning what looks like a witchhunt of Brotherhood members?

It fits in with a wider pattern of dangerous inconsistency. Most obviously, the fact of inviting the army in to enforce this transitional period to begin with. To be clear, president Morsi was a disaster – power-grabbing and divisive, his majoritarian take forced the opposition out of any formal political process and left them with no choice but to play him at his own majority game, on the streets. The opposition's resolve is both formidable and admirable: refusing to let go of those guiding principles of bread, freedom and dignity no matter what the military council and president Morsi have thrown at them over the past two years. That's an enviable level of political engagement, as viewed from jaded, apathetic Britain.

But the manner of Morsi's removal is nonetheless a tactical error. That's not just because it gives the Brotherhood – already insular and defensive after years of persecution – a justified grudge to bear about being forcibly ejected from politics. It also comes across as an unprincipled flouting of the rules – the sort of flouting, in fact, that the Brotherhood became so hated for.

And, with Egypt being such a weather vane and influence in the Arab world the consequences of what just happened are far-reaching. Morsi's foreign policy adviser Essam al-Haddad (now detained) had a point when he warned: "The message will resonate throughout the Muslim world loud and clear: democracy is not for Muslims."

The Brotherhood has always been mocked by al-Qaida and other violent extremists for choosing democratic politics. Now, those same extremists can use this turn of events in Egypt to prove their point.

The trouble now is that the media focus on political polarization in Egypt – and its seeking out of voices to confirm that – has obscured the shading that exists between those two stark positions. Many Brotherhood supporters think that they messed up and need to learn hard lessons from the experience. Many revolutionaries are horrified at the sight of the army seemingly being welcomed back into power by cheering crowds. And some campaigners and protesters, such as Human Rights Watch Egypt director Heba Morayef, are speaking out over the arrest of Brotherhood members.

Those voices are critical now more than ever – and they need to be heeded. Like it or not, the Muslim Brotherhood is a sizeable part of the political landscape and has to be a part of Egypt's political future.

Source: The Guardian.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/05/egypt-opposition-hypocrisy-muslim-brotherhood.

Belgian king to abdicate in favor of crown prince

July 03, 2013

BRUSSELS (AP) — Weighed down by the years, Belgium's King Albert announced Wednesday that he will hand the throne of his fractious kingdom to his son, Crown Prince Philippe, on the country's national holiday, July 21.

The move had been rumored for weeks and will end nearly two decades of steady reign over a country increasingly torn apart by political strife between northern Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking southern Wallonia.

Belying his frailty and 79 years of age, Albert stood upright and confident as he delivered the nationwide message to the cameras. Behind him, a massive portrait of Leopold I, the nation's first king in 1831, sternly looking down on him.

Albert said his age and health no longer allowed him to carry out his functions as he'd want to. "I would not fulfill my duties," he said, "if I clung at all cost to my position in these circumstances."

Belgium has had six kings since independence and Albert is the first to voluntarily abdicate the throne. But he was the second European monarch to do so in barely two months. Beatrix of the Netherlands stepped down in April after a 33-year reign in favor of her eldest son, who was appointed King Willem-Alexander.

"After a reign of 20 years I believe the moment is here to hand over the torch to the next generation," Albert said in a nationwide address carried by all of Belgium's major broadcasters. "Prince Philippe is well prepared to succeed me."

That has long been an issue of deep contention. When Albert's brother, the devoutly Roman Catholic king Baudouin, died in 1993, it was widely expected that Philippe would take the throne instead of his father.

Yet, he was considered unprepared for the task at hand. Even now, at 53, the silver-haired Philippe has plenty of critics who see him as awkward and reclusive. "He was always faced with the dictum, 'He's not up to it.' It still weighs on him," historian and author Marc Reynebeau told The Associated Press.

Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said that Prince Philippe "has shown a great sense of responsibility in preparing" for the throne. Under the reign of his father, Philippe was groomed for the job as a leader of foreign trade delegations. Married to Princess Mathilde, the couple has four children.

The hesitations about Philippe may well last past July 21. If the Dutch royal handover on April 30 became a huge party across the nation, there might not be such exuberance in Belgium. The kingdom has increasingly become a divided nation, with the 10.5 million Belgians split into distinct Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons.

Belgium found itself without a government for a record 541 days before the team of Di Rupo could take the oath late in 2011. Albert had to be involved in the protracted talks because one of the few real powers a Belgian monarch has is to appoint government brokers.

Reflecting the strife, a few dozen protesters of the extreme right Flemish Interest party posted themselves in front of the royal palace Wednesday with a huge banner that said "Flanders Independent." Belgium is enjoying something of a political lull as it prepares for potentially bruising nationwide and regional elections next spring, with the question of greater division expected to at the heart of debates. An abdication at that stage would have been inconceivable.

Reynebeau said that as Flanders and Wallonia drifted further apart, Albert's "most important gift is that he provided a sense of stability." In his personal life, however, Albert has had his ups and downs.

After he succeeded his brother Baudouin, he became embroiled in a major royal scandal when he had to acknowledge he'd had a daughter out of wedlock, throwing his marriage with Queen Paola into a major crisis.

The issue came to the fore again this spring when the daughter, Delphine Boel, opened court proceedings to prove Albert is her father. "He is not alone. Many royals around the world have extramarital children. But there has been a change in the sense that this becomes much more public now," Reynebeau said.

Even Albert acknowledged on Wednesday that the public's sympathy had not been unconditional. "We thank you for your trust, sympathy and support, even if it was sometimes laced with criticism," he said.

After the formal and stiff Baudouin, Albert did bring some earthy and easygoing charm to the royalty. Di Rupo said Albert won over people "thanks to enthusiasm, sense of humor and attitude." Local resident Isabelle De Crayencour said she'd hoped he would stay on as long as possible.

"He kept our country standing for 20 years," she said. "So isn't it a bit 'Goodbye Belgium' now?" It was no secret that the years were taking their toll on Albert. The king with a love of sleek motorcycles had become increasingly frail, sometimes relying on a walking stick.

Also, unease has grown about the lavish finances of the royal household. "Such things used to be accepted, but they no longer are. It eats away at his image," Reynebeau said. So many said the time to leave was well-picked.

"He took a good decision," said student Jeremy Desfougeres. "He arrives at retirement like everyone. We young people are also going to retire one day, so I think it is good for him that he does that."

Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands and Robert Wielaard in Brussels contributed to this report.