IGIHE

Tag: InternationalNews

  • Berlusconi faces verdict in sex-for-hire trial

    {{Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi faces a verdict Monday in his sensational sex-for-hire trial, charges that could bring an end to his two-decade political career.}}

    Berlusconi is charged with paying an under-age Moroccan teen for sex and then trying to cover it up with phone calls to Milan police officials when she was picked up for alleged theft. Berlusconi and the woman deny having had sex with each other.

    Prosecutors are seeking a six-year jail term and a lifetime ban from politics. Whatever the verdict, the sentence can’t be effective until two appeals are heard, a process that can take months.

    Berlusconi holds no official posts in the current Italian government, but remains influential in the uneasy cross-party coalition that emerged after inconclusive February elections.

    His decision to head the center-right coalition rather than move aside for younger leaders as he said he would boosted his forces to a second-place finish behind the center-left.

    The charges against the billionaire media mogul stem from Berlusconi’s infamous “bunga bunga” parties at his Milan area mansion, where he wined and dined beautiful young women while he was premier.

    Neither Berlusconi nor the woman at the center of the case, Karima el-Mahroug, better known by her nickname Ruby, have testified in this trial. El-Mahroug was called by the defense but failed to show on a couple of occasions, delaying the trial.

    Berlusconi’s team eventually dropped her from the witness list.

    {wirestory}

  • EU split on Future Bank Bailouts

    {{EU finance ministers have failed to agree on how to rescue troubled banks in any future crisis.}}

    After almost 20 hours of talks on Saturday, ministers are still split on whether savers should bear any of the cost of a bailout.

    The impasse will now be debated at a meeting of EU heads of government on Wednesday.

    “I have no doubt we will reach a deal,” French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said.

    Talks in Luxembourg on Saturday were centred on new rules determining the order in which investors and creditors would have to pay for bank bailouts.

    Countries were divided on whether the Cyprus rescue should be a template for future bailouts, or whether losses be limited to banks’ creditors.

    The UK is reported to be one of the countries that does not want to be bound by EU rules, preferring to have some flexibility over whether to charge depositors in the case of future bailouts.

    “It is principally an issue of the non-euro and the euro,” said Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan.

    The UK is one of 10 countries in the 27-member bloc that is not part of the euro.

    {wirestory}

  • Gaza Singer Assaf Wins Arab Idol Contest

    {{Celebrations have erupted across the Palestinian territories at news that a wedding singer from the Gaza Strip has won the Arab Idol talent TV show.}}

    Mohammed Assaf, 23, was a virtual unknown until a few weeks ago but has now become a local hero.

    The contest, held in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, was watched by millions across the region.

    Fireworks were being set off in Gaza City and East Jerusalem as revellers thronged the streets.

    Assaf was declared the winner on Saturday evening, a day after he competed in a final against two other singers – Ahmed Jamal from Egypt and Farah Youssef from Syria.

    The talent contest has been broadcast on the Beirut-based MBC TV channel since March.

    His last solo song, performed on Friday, had a political edge, asking for the Palestinian traditional scarf to be raised and calling for reconciliation.

  • Rosneft to Double oil Flows to China in $270 billion Deal

    {{Russia’s Rosneft (ROSN.MM) agreed a $270 billion deal to double oil supplies to China on Friday, as the Kremlin energy champion shifts its focus to Asia from saturated and crisis-hit European markets.}}

    The deal, one of the biggest ever in the history of the global oil industry, will bring Rosneft $60-70 billion in upfront pre-payment from China, the holders of the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves.

    It will also allow Rosneft, the world’s biggest publicly listed oil firm, to steeply cut its heavy debts and develop new remote Arctic fields.

    “The estimate of the sum of the contract in today’s market prices is absolutely unprecedented – $270 billion,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told an economic forum in Russia’s St Petersburg after the deal was agreed.

    The agreement highlights a growing partnership between China, the globe’s top energy consumer, and Russia, the largest oil producer, and comes despite previously uneasy relations between Rosneft and Beijing over energy pricing.

    Rosneft’s boss Igor Sechin, a close ally of Putin, said his firm will supply China with 300,000 barrels per day over 25 years starting in the second half of the decade, on top of the 300,000 bpd it already ships to the world’s No.2 oil consumer.

    Putin later said total supplies could amount to as much as 900,000 bpd.

    The speed of change in Russian export patterns has been dramatic – switching huge volumes from Europe in only five years.

    Russia first started supplying China by railway and then by a new pipeline while opening a Pacific port, Kozmino, in 2009.

    Together with supplies to Kozmino, it is already exporting around 750,000 barrels per day to Asia, or 17 percent of its overall exports of 4.4 million bpd.

    Europe, by contrast, has lost out. A decline in deliveries in the past few years partially contributed to Russian Urals crude oil often trading at a premium to benchmark dated Brent.

    Analysts have expressed doubts Rosneft could quickly boost supplies to China from depleted fields in West Siberia, the historic homeland of Soviet and Russian oil production.

    A source familiar with the deal said the new agreement with China was timed to tie in with the launch of new streams of East Siberian crude to avoid big redirection of existing flows and allow time to expand export infrastructure.

    Rosneft and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft have already secured $25 billion from China in 2009 in upfront payments by pre-selling oil in order to accumulate cash to finance growth and new construction projects.

    Rosneft’s debt burden has spiked this year after it acquired Anglo-Russian producer TNK-BP in a $55 billion cash-and-stock deal, the largest in Russian corporate history, and became the world’s largest publicly listed oil firm.

    Industry sources have told Reuters Rosneft may secure up to $30 billion in prepayment from China as part of the new deal. On Friday, Putin said pre-payments could amount to $70 billion.

    Analysts said the possible upfront payment from China would be a big positive for indebted Rosneft.

    “If confirmed, this would be a transformational event for the company’s balance sheet: Rosneft could even potentially be able to show a net cash position, though working capital would be negative. The prepayment could minimize financing risks for the leveraged state-controlled oil company,” J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note.

  • Pakistan Gunmen kill 9 Foreign Tourists & Their Guide

    {{Gunmen stormed a hotel in a remote part of northern Pakistan on Sunday and killed nine foreign tourists and a Pakistani guide near the foot of one of the world’s tallest mountains, police and security officials said.}}

    Five Ukrainians, three Chinese, a Russian and their guide were killed in the attack in a remote resort area near the base camp for the 8,125-metre snow-covered Nanga Parbat peak, a popular destination for adventurous trekkers, officials said.

    “Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire,” Ali Sher, a senior police officer in Gilgit-Baltistan province, told Reuters.

    Sher had earlier said 10 foreign tourists were killed, but officials revised the tally as fresh reports arrived from the area.

    A Pakistani militant group known as Jundullah claimed responsibility for the attack.

    “These foreigners are our enemies and we proudly claim responsibility for killing them and will continue such attacks in the future as well,” Jundullah spokesman Ahmed Marwat told Reuters by telephone.

    The same group has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on members of Pakistan’s Shi’ite Muslim minority, known as Shias, in northern Pakistan, including an ambush in February 2012 when gunmen shot 18 bus passengers by the roadside.

    The gunmen fled after the attack on the hotel, which took place at about 1 a.m. on Sunday, Sher said.

    A senior government official said a large number of security personnel had been sent to the area.

    “Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, the bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter,” the official said.

    Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders China and Kashmir, had been considered one of the more secure areas of Pakistan, but has witnessed a spate of attacks by militants targeting members of Pakistan’s Shi’ite minority in recent years.

    It was the first time foreign tourists had been attacked in the province, which is famous for its natural beauty.

    Pakistan receives few foreign tourists, but a trickle of visitors is tempted by the spectacular mountain scenery in its northern areas, where the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalaya mountain ranges converge.

    {wirestory}

  • Hong Kong lets Snowden Leave, with Cuba as Possible Destinations

    {{A former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency, charged by the United States with espionage, was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday because a U.S. extradition request did not comply with the law, the Hong Kong government said.}}

    Edward Snowden left for Moscow on Sunday and his final destination may be Cuba, Ecuador, Iceland or Venezuela, according to various reports. The move is bound to infuriate Washington, wherever he ends up.

    Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a source at the Aeroflot airline as saying there was a ticket in Snowden’s name for a Moscow-Cuba flight. Itar-Tass cited a source as saying Snowden would fly from Havana to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

    The South China Morning Post said his final destination may be Ecuador or Iceland.

    A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was unaware of Snowden’s whereabouts or travel plans.

    The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website said it helped Snowden find “political asylum in a democratic country”. It did not elaborate, other than to say Snowden was “currently over Russian airspace” with WikiLeaks legal advisers.

    WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said last week he would not leave the sanctuary of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London even if Sweden stopped pursuing sexual assault claims against him because he feared arrest on the orders of the United States.

    U.S. authorities have charged Snowden with theft of U.S. government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, with the latter two charges falling under the U.S. Espionage Act.

    The United States had asked Hong Kong, a special administrative region (SAR) of China, to send him home.

    “The U.S. government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden,” the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

    “Since the documents provided by the U.S. government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR government has requested the U.S. government to provide additional information … As the HKSAR government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.”

    {wirestory}

  • Brazil’s President Pledges to Hold Dialogue with Protesters

    {{Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff promised on Friday to hold a dialogue with members of a protest movement sweeping the country, but also said she would do whatever is necessary to maintain order in the wake of widespread vandalism and looting.}}

    “We cannot live with this violence that shames Brazil,” she said in a nationally televised address. “All institutions and public security forces should prevent, within the limits of the law, every form of violence and vandalism.”

    Rousseff spoke even as new demonstrations broke out on Friday, including one that for several hours blocked most passengers from entering or leaving the country’s busiest international airport, outside Sao Paulo.

    The protests have come out of seemingly nowhere over the past week. More than 1 million people took to the streets on Thursday in the biggest demonstrations in Brazil in 20 years.

    The nameless, leaderless movement – composed largely of students and the middle class – has pulled together a wide range of grievances including bad public transport and healthcare, corruption, and the billions of dollars that the government is spending to host next year’s World Cup.

    Rousseff, a former guerrilla who herself protested a military rule during the 1960s, praised the peaceful majority of protesters and said she would listen to their demands.

    Speaking calmly but firmly, she said Brazil has a “historic opportunity” to harness the energy from the protests and make improvements.

    But she warned the movement could be ruined by violence like that seen on Thursday, when protesters smashed buildings, looted stores and set fires in a dozen cities.

    Rousseff said it was her “obligation to listen to the voice of the streets, as well as dialogue with all segments” of society peacefully protesting.

    The president, who is not known for initiating talks, did not specify what such a process would look like.

    After her speech, the hashtag #calabocadilma – “Shut up, Dilma” in Portuguese began trending on Twitter accompanied by withering comments attacking her government.

    Friday’s protests were much smaller than those on Thursday. There were signs of a backlash against the movement on Friday, and one prominent leftist group said it would stop organizing marches for now because of discord and violence.

    Unlike other recent protest movements such as the Arab Spring, Brazil’s demonstrators are not targeting individual politician and Rousseff remains relatively popular.

    {wirestory}

  • First Russian-made Hybrid Car Ready

    {{The long awaited Yo-mobil — the first Russian-made hybrid vehicle, produced jointly by Yarovit Motors and Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group — will be presented next month at the Central Automotive Research Institute’s testing center outside Moscow, a news report said Friday.}}

    “The presentation will take place on July 4, probably, at the Dmitrov proving ground,” said Andrei Biryukov, chief executive of the car’s manufacturer Yo-Avto, at the St. Petersburg economic forum.

    He did not comment on when the manufacturing plant in St. Petersburg would be complete, nor did he say when production would begin. Biryukov said this will be announced during the presentation, Interfax reported.

    But he said that the project was in its advanced stage, with the buildings and infrastructure “Eighty-five percent ready.”

    Onexim founder Mikhail Prokhorov is using a Yo-Mobil prototype car to get around town during the forum, Biryukov said.

    The production model will use 80 to 85 percent of the technologies and components found in the current prototype, he added.

    The cornerstone for the manufacturing plant was laid in the middle of 2011. Investment in the plant’s two phases will total 260 million euros ($360 million). The plant will produce 90,000 cars per year.

    Earlier, Prokhorov said production of Yo-Mobils will begin in the second half of 2014.

    Onexim and Yarovit own Yo-Auto via Luxemburg-registered City Car Investments.

    {The Moscow Times}

  • U.S. Files Espionage Charges Against Snowden Over Leaks

    {{The United States has filed espionage charges against Edward Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency contractor who admitted revealing secret surveillance programs to media outlets, according to a court document made public on Friday.}}

    The charges are the government’s first step in what could be a long legal battle to return Snowden from Hong Kong, where he is believed to be in hiding, and try him in a U.S. court.

    A Hong Kong newspaper said he was under police protection, but the territory’s authorities declined to comment.

    Snowden was charged with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, said the criminal complaint, which was dated June 14.

    The latter two offenses fall under the U.S. Espionage Act and carry penalties of fines and up to 10 years in prison.

    A single page of the complaint was unsealed on Friday. An accompanying affidavit remained under seal.

    Two U.S. sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was preparing to seek Snowden’s extradition from Hong Kong, which is part of China but has wide-ranging autonomy, including an independent judiciary.

    The Washington Post, which first reported the criminal complaint earlier on Friday, said the United States had asked Hong Kong to detain Snowden on a provisional arrest warrant.

    Hong Kong’s Chinese-language Apple Daily quoted police sources as saying that anti-terrorism officers had contacted Snowden, arranged a safe house for him and provided protection.

    The report said the police had checked his documents but had not discussed other matters or taken any statements.

    Hong Kong Police Commissioner Andy Tsang declined to comment other than to say Hong Kong would deal with the case in accordance with the law.

    Snowden earlier this month admitted leaking secrets about classified U.S. surveillance programs, creating a public uproar. Supporters say he is a whistleblower, while critics call him a criminal and perhaps even a traitor.

    He disclosed documents detailing U.S. telephone and Internet surveillance efforts to the Washington Post and Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

    The criminal complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Snowden’s former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is located.

    That judicial district has seen a number of high-profile prosecutions, including the spy case against former FBI agent Robert Hanssen and the case of al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui. Both were convicted.

    {wirestory}

  • EU to Decide Who Pays When Banks Fail

    The European Union sought on Friday to forge rules to force losses on large savers of failed banks, a taboo that was broken in this year’s bailout for Cyprus.

    Finance ministers in Luxembourg are trying to resolve one of the most difficult questions posed by Europe’s banking crisis – how to shut failed banks without sowing panic or burdening taxpayers.

    The talks follow Cyprus’s March financial rescue in which it had to close down one of its banks, impose losses on savers and introduce capital controls to stop a bank run.

    Although some politicians have tried to portray Cyprus as a one-off, it could mark a dramatic change in how Europe deals with troubled banks, to spare taxpayers who have been on the hook for previous bailouts.

    Some countries have grave reservations about taking such an approach and want the freedom to soften any such EU-wide rules.

    “The fact that the euro zone countries are trying to push a solution is very dangerous for the rest of us,” Sweden’s Finance Minister Anders Borg told reporters.

    The European Union spent the equivalent of a third of its economic output on saving its banks between 2008 and 2011, using taxpayer cash but struggling to contain the crisis and – in the case of Ireland – almost bankrupting the country.

    But countries are divided over how strict the new rules should be, with some worried that imposing losses on depositors could prompt a bank run while others argue the rules of the game must be made clear from the start.

    While there is no immediate deadline for a deal, indecision could hurt confidence in the ability of Europe’s politicians to repair the financial system, encourage banks to lend again and help the continent emerge from its economic stagnation.

    “Midsummer is the longest day of the year so we have plenty of time,” said Olli Rehn, the European Commission’s top economics official, referring to the northern hemisphere’s June 21 summer solstice.

    A 300-page draft EU law that forms the basis of discussions recommends a pecking order in which first bank shareholders would take losses, then bondholders and finally depositors with more than 100,000 euros ($132,000) in their accounts.

    EU countries would be required to follow these rules when closing banks.

    The regime to impose losses on savers, whether wealthier individuals or companies, could be made stricter within the euro zone, in particular for banks seeking help from the single currency’s rescue fund.

    {reuters}