{{ The Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialised nations may agree at their summit this week to try to develop an energy strategy, a senior German official said on Tuesday.
“In concrete terms I can imagine the G7 agreeing to launch a process in parallel with the EU’s energy strategy,” the official said ahead of the meeting of G7 leaders in Brussels this week.}}
agencies
{{The fate of the 2022 soccer World Cup could be decided within weeks after the man leading the internal investigation into how Qatar won the right to host it announced on Monday he would complete his probe next week and report back in July.}}
Former U.S. prosecutor Michael Garcia appears to hold the future of Qatar’s multi-billion dollar World Cup bid in his hands after new allegations of bribery brought loud calls for the tournament to be moved if corruption is proved.
In a statement, he set out a timetable that would see him file a report just after this year’s World Cup ends in Brazil.
Garcia, who heads an investigative committee for world soccer’s governing body FIFA, was in the Middle East, where he was expected to meet Qatar soccer officials as part of the probe. Speaking to Reuters in Muscat, capital of nearby Oman, he declined further comment on the inquiry, noting that he was “restrained by ethics”.
Qatar has strongly denied reports in Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper that bribes were paid to officials to bring the sporting world’s biggest global event to the tiny Gulf emirate, where temperatures during the summer when the tournament is played can soar above 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).
The allegations of corruption at the heart of soccer’s governing body threaten to overshadow the run-up to the four-yearly World Cup, which begins in 10 days in Brazil.
“After months of interviewing witnesses and gathering materials, we intend to complete that phase of our investigation by June 9, 2014, and to submit a report to the Adjudicatory Chamber approximately six weeks thereafter,” Garcia said in a statement released by FIFA and referring to a FIFA panel.
“The report will consider all evidence potentially related to the bidding process, including evidence collected from prior investigations.”
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A new Palestinian unity government has been sworn in, marking a key step towards ending a major rift between factions in the West Bank and Gaza.
The government, comprising technocrats, was agreed by Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.
The two sides have governed separately since Hamas, which won elections in 2006, ousted Fatah from Gaza in 2007.
Israel says it will not deal with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction.
Israel suspended crisis-hit peace talks with the Palestinians in April in response to the announcement of the reconciliation deal.
Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by Israel and other countries, opposes the peace talks, though President Abbas has said the new government will abide by previous agreements.
The new government comprises politically independent ministers and will be tasked with organising elections to be held within six months.
It is headed by incumbent Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that world leaders should not “rush to recognise” the new government.
“Hamas is a terrorist organisation that calls for Israel’s destruction, and the international community must not embrace it. That would not bolster peace, it would strengthen terror,” he told a cabinet meeting.
Israel has said it would cease all but security co-ordination with the Palestinians if the government was formed.
A statement from Mr Hamdallah’s office denounced Mr Netanyahu’s remarks, calling them part of a campaign intended to “cement [Israel’s] occupation by all means”.
The US, which has sponsored the Israel-Palestinian peace talks, has expressed concern over any Hamas role in the new government.
In a phone call with President Abbas on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the new government must “commit to the principles of non-violence, recognition of the State of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements with it,” the State Department said.
{{King Juan Carlos of Spain has announced his intention to abdicate, after nearly 40 years on the throne.}}
“A new generation must be at the forefront… younger people with new energies,” the 76-year-old king said in a televised address.
His son, Crown Prince Felipe, 45, will take over the throne.
For much of his reign, Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world’s most popular monarchs, but recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him.
His reputation has been tarnished by a long-running corruption investigation into the business dealings of his daughter and her husband.
King Juan Carlos, 76, has had health problems in recent years
Support for the king fell further when it was discovered he had been on a lavish elephant hunting trip to Botswana in April 2012, in the middle of Spain’s financial crisis.
The first announcement about the abdication came from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who told reporters: “His Majesty King Juan Carlos has just informed me of his desire to renounce the throne and begin the process of succession.”
Later, the king himself said in a televised address that it was time for a “new era” in which a new generation could take on the transformations and reforms required.
He said his son, Prince Felipe, had the maturity and preparation to be king.
A file photo taken on October 11, 2005 shows Spain’s King Juan Carlos (R) chatting with his son Prince Felipe
Prince Felipe will take over from his father
{{Iran on Sunday hanged a man said to be affiliated to an exiled opposition group, state media reported, despite international pressure on the Islamic republic to halt the execution.}}
According to the official IRNA news agency, Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani was convicted of “waging war against God” (moharebeh) by helping the People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI).
The announcement of the hanging came just hours after Amnesty International said Khosravi Savadjani’s trial in 2010 had been unfair.
The rights group said the condemned man’s family were informed by prison officials on Saturday that they must go to a jail west of Tehran, sparking fears his execution may be imminent.
Khosravi Savadjani was until then being held in solitary confinement at Evin Prison in the capital. Death row prisoners in Iran are generally transferred to isolation units before their executions take place.
Prior to his death, Amnesty said the execution would be a breach of domestic and international law, as Khosravi Savadjani — held since 2008 — should have benefited from a subsequent law that imposed lighter penalties for the crimes he was convicted of.
The PMOI was founded in the 1960s to oppose the pro-western shah.
After the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah, the PMOI took up arms against Iran’s clerical rulers and Tehran holds it responsible for murdering thousands of Iranian civilians and officials.
Iran says PMOI members currently in exile in Iraq should be extradited to face charges.
Khosravi Savadjani was arrested in 1981 and jailed for several years. He was detained again in 2008 for having contact with the PMOI and has been in custody since.
According to the Iranian judiciary, documents, including photos and papers from sensitive facilities such as military bases, were recovered when Khosravi Savadjani was arrested. These had been given to the PMOI and their affiliated media, officials said.
Khosravi Savadjani had also been accused of facilitating financial aid for the opposition group. He was convicted by a revolutionary court and the verdict was later upheld by a branch of Iran’s Supreme Court.
Amnesty International said Khosravi Savadjani had reportedly been held for more than 40 months in solitary confinement in various detention centres.
“Yet again Iranian authorities are about to execute a man who did not even receive a fair trial,” Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said on Saturday.
Iran remains the second biggest executioner in the world, after China, according to the United Nations.
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{{China has denounced the Japanese PM and US defence secretary for making “provocative” speeches against China at an Asian security forum in Singapore.}}
Chinese army general Wang Guanzhong said Chuck Hagel and Shinzo Abe’s comments at the Shangri-La Dialogue were “unacceptable”.
Mr Hagel had earlier said China was “destabilising” the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe had vowed to give greater support to South-East Asian countries.
The forum, which brings together the US and South-East Asian countries, comes amid growing tensions between China, Vietnam and the Philippines, with Japan-China ties also strained over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
{{‘Unwanted criticisms’}}
Apparently deviating from his prepared speech, Mr Wang accused Japanese Prime Minister Abe and Defence Secretary Hagel of coordinating and encouraging each other to attack China in their remarks.
He said it was “unimaginable” to receive such “unwanted criticisms against China”.
In a keynote address on Friday, Japan’s Shinzo Abe outlined his vision for a more robust role in resolving territorial disputes in the region.
{{The son of the Brazilian football legend Pele has been sentenced to 33 years in jail for laundering money raised from drug trafficking.}}
Edinho is a retired footballer who played goalkeeper for Pele’s old club, Santos, in the 1990s.
He was first arrested in 2005 and has served a sentence for drug trafficking offences and links with a notorious drug dealer in the city of Santos.
He admits he had a drug problem but denies the trafficking charges.
The ruling was issued by a judge in the nearby coastal city of Praia Grande, in Sao Paulo state.
Brazilian media have not been able to contact Edinho, whose real name is Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, but they say he is expected to appeal.
Edinho, 43, works as a goalkeeping coach at Santos.
{{US childhood}}
Pele, or Edson Arantes do Nascimento, played all his professional career in Brazil for Santos.
Playing for Brazil, he won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and was acclaimed as the greatest footballer of his generation.
He retired in 1974, but made a comeback a year later for New York Cosmos.
Edinho is Pele’s third son from his first marriage. He was five when the family moved to New York to play for Cosmos.
When he returned to Brazil he decided to pursue a career in professional football – as a goalkeeper, much to his father’s surprise.
He was Santos’ goalkeeper in 1995 when the team reached the Brazilian league final, losing the title to Botafogo.
His detention and alleged involvement with drug gangs took most people in Brazil by surprise.
Pele, now 73, went to visit his son several times in jail.
“God willing, justice will be done. There is not a shred of evidence against my son,” he said in 2006.
Edinho said that his father was his idol.
Four other people have also been convicted for many laundering, including a man accused of controlling much of the drug trafficking in the region – Ronaldo Duarte Barsotti, known as Naldinho.
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{{Fifa is facing fresh allegations of corruption over its controversial decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, Reports the Sunday Times.}}
has obtained millions of secret documents – emails, letters and bank transfers – which it alleges are proof that the disgraced Qatari football official Mohamed Bin Hammam made payments totalling US$5m to football officials in return for their support for the Qatar bid.
Qatar 2022 and Bin Hammam have always strenuously denied the former Fifa vice-president actively lobbied on their behalf in the run-up to the vote in December 2010.
But, according to emails obtained by the Sunday Times, it is now clear that Bin Hammam, 65, was lobbying on his country’s behalf at least a year before the decision.
The documents also show how Bin Hammam was making payments directly to football officials in Africa to allegedly buy their support for Qatar in the contest.
Qatar strongly denies any wrongdoing and insists that Bin Hammam never had any official role supporting the bid and always acted independently from the Qatar 2022 campaign.
When approached by media to respond to their claims, Bin Hammam’s son Hamad Al Abdulla declined to comment on his behalf.
Although the vast majority of the officials did not have a vote, the Sunday Times alleges Bin Hammam’s strategy was to win a groundswell of support for the Qatari bid which would then influence the four African Fifa executive committee members who were able to take part in the election.
The Sunday Times also alleges that it has documents which prove Bin Hammam paid 305,000 Euros (£250,000) to cover the legal expenses of another former Fifa executive committee member from Oceania, Reynald Temarii.
sundaytimes
{{The sole American prisoner of war held in Afghanistan was being flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Sunday, after he was dramatically freed in a swap deal for five Taliban militants who were released from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.}}
Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had been held for nearly five years and his release, following years of on-and-off negotiations, suddenly became possible after harder-line factions of the Afghan Taliban shifted course and agreed to back it, according to U.S. officials.
A U.S. defence official said Bergdahl was able to walk and became emotional on his way to freedom, after being handed over to U.S. special forces in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday. “Once he was on the helicopter, he wrote on a paper plate, ‘SF?’” the official said, referring to the abbreviation for special forces. “The operators replied loudly: ‘Yes, we’ve been looking for you for a long time.’ And at this point, Sergeant Bergdahl broke down.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he hoped the successful prisoner exchange deal might lead to breakthroughs in reconciliation with the militants.
“We had been … working to find ways to open up some possibilities with the Taliban to try to get Sergeant Bergdahl back. This didn’t just start,” Hagel told reporters travelling with him on a visit to Afghanistan.
“This has been an ongoing effort that our government has been involved in at every level … We found some openings … that made sense to us,” he added. “The timing was right, the pieces came together.”
Bergdahl, 28, was handed over about 6 p.m. local time on Saturday, a senior official said. The U.S. forces, who had flown in by helicopter, were on the ground very briefly, said the officials, who would not specify the precise location.
“Fortunately … no shots were fired, there was no violence,” said Hagel. “It went as well, not only as we had expected and planned but I think as well as it could have.”
reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she wants former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker to become the next EU Commission president.
But some European leaders have voiced opposition to the move.
Correspondents say the UK government sees Mr Juncker as too much of an EU federalist. It pointed to the need for “a lengthy process to find consensus”.
Mr Juncker belongs to the European People’s Party, which won the most seats in the European polls last week.
The centre-right party, which also includes Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrat party, won 213 out of 751 seats in the European Parliament and chose Mr Juncker as its candidate for the presidency succeeding Portugal’s Jose Manuel Barroso.
Mr Juncker’s main rival is the Socialist candidate Martin Schulz.
EU leaders traditionally choose the Commission head on their own, but under new rules have to “take into account” the results of the European parliamentary elections.
Chancellor Merkel said on Friday that the EPP “with its top candidate Jean-Claude Juncker has become the strongest political power which is why I am now conducting all talks exactly in this spirit, that Jean-Claude Juncker should become president of the European Commission”.
It is seen as her clearest statement of support for the veteran politician, who once chaired the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers that had to make tough decisions about struggling debt-laden countries.
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