NEWS,23.09.2013

Obama unlikely to name new Fed head soon

President Barack Obama is unlikely to unveil his pick to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairperson of the Federal Reserve this week, and the current Fed No. 2, Janet Yellen, remains the leading contender, a source familiar with the process said on Monday.
Bernanke's second four-year term at the helm of the US central bank comes to a close in January, and speculation has swirled around Obama's plans for the replacement.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, considered the president's preference, withdrew his name from consideration a week ago, saying his confirmation would incite acrimony.
Besides Summers, Yellen and former vice chairperson Donald Kohn are among those Obama said he has been considering for the job. Yellen is still the top prospect, the source said.
The Senate needs to hold hearings and confirm the nominee, and with a compressed legislative schedule before the end of the year, time is growing tighter.
Lawmakers are currently preoccupied with measures to keep government funding going beyond Oct. 1 to keep the government from shutting down and to raise the nation's debt ceiling ahead of a mid-October date, or face the risk of default.
Yellen had been scheduled to speak to the Economic Club of New York on Oct. 1, but her speech has been postponed.

Lithuania urges push on EU farm reform

Lithuania, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, on Monday urged a final push on a major reform of the bloc's generous farm subsidy programme that is held up in talks with European lawmakers.
A reform of EU farm subsidies agreed by member states in June after three months of marathon talks favours young farmers and smallholders over big business and has been called a "paradigm shift" for Europe.
"This is the challenge we must meet," said Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Vigilijus Juknawho as he met fellow European Union ministers in Brussels.
The ministers are locked in a row with European lawmakers, who want the reforms to go further.
If a compromise is not found before the end of the month, the European Commission could choose to suspend payments to farmers.
The main sticking point is how the reform affects large-scale farmers, with lawmakers pushing for more redistribution of farm aid to small holdings and ministers maintaining the reform has gone far enough.
EU ministers were to discuss the matter further Monday with another session of talks with the Commission and lawmakers set for the evening.
Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, who spearheaded the reform during the Irish EU presidency earlier this year, said there remained little room for more compromise from states.
But he said he was confident the Lithuanian presidency could find a deal in the coming weeks.
If approved, the CAP reform is due to be implemented starting in 2014.
Under the current rules, 80 percent of CAP payments go to the top 20 percent of intensive farm businesses since several countries still link the subsidies to production levels.
As the reform stands, member states would have to ensure that by 2019 each farmer receives at least 60 percent of the average national or regional subsidy per hectare. This would remove the advantage written into the current system for the more productive industrial farms.
The deal also states that 30 percent of EU members' farm payments will also be spent on "green" measures such as crop diversification.
The CAP accounts for about 38 percent of the EU's budget.

Spain heads for record tourism year

Sunseekers spurning unrest in Egypt and Turkey flocked to Spain in record numbers last month, setting the country up for its best-ever year for visitors and giving a boost to the ailing economy.
"It is very likely that 2013 will be the best year historically for tourism," Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria told a news conference on Monday, adding that estimates for the fourth quarter were positive.
Tourism contributed over 5% of Spain's economy or GDP in 2012 and provided around 900 000 jobs, according to Euromonitor, in a country where one in four is out of work, meaning a boost to tourist figures should be good news as other sectors flag.
The number of international tourist arrivals in August rose to 8.3 million, figures from the tourism ministry showed, lifting the total for January through August by 4.5% on the year before to 42.3 million.
Those visitors spent a total of €40.4bn ($54.6bn), up 7% from 2012.
Political upheaval in other destinations has also benefited other Mediterranean countries, such as Greece.
But not everyone in Spain is celebrating the increase. Domestic travel fell by 6.9% between January and July, hitting destinations off the main tourist trail, so businesses and hotels reliant on city tourism suffered.
Two ends of the travel spectrum in particular are cashing in on the influx of international visitors - homeowners taking advantage of a growing preference for low-cost rents, and luxury stores whose clients are shielded from the worst of the economy's woes.
Many tourists have been choosing to rent private homes advertised on the Internet. And despite government efforts to tighten regulation around private renting, the trend is becoming more ingrained, with the number of rentals by tourists up 15% in August year-on-year to 1.3 million properties.
The unregulated rental industry has its risks since landlords and renters have little recourse if things go wrong, but it is worth it for homeowners who rent out year-round.
"What's happening ... because of the economic crisis is that people are preferring smaller airlines, smaller hotels and they are paying less," said Dimitrios Buhalis, a professor and director of the e-tourism lab at Bournemouth University.
Kept afloat
Spain's economy has been highly dependent on tourism since beach destinations took off in the 1960s. While Britain, France and Germany continue to send the most visitors, there has been a huge leap in the number of Russian visitors.
Some of the main beneficiaries are luxury retailers, as big spenders splash out at high-end accessory and jewellery stores. Department store El Corte Ingles for instance has offered a 10% discount to foreign shoppers since 2012 and has employed Chinese-speaking personal shoppers in a nod towards an important group of rich clients.
Value Retail, which has luxury outlets in Madrid and Barcelona, reported an increase in non-European visitors, especially Russian and Chinese, last year.
"Without a doubt, Spain's luxury sector is being kept afloat thanks to tourism," said Ana Franco, editor of Spanish luxury portal Deluxes.
Boosted by luxury, average spending by tourists rose by 2% in the first seven months of the year, from the same period of 2012, to 103 euros per day.
Regions attracting the most visitors are coastal Catalonia, the Balearic islands and southern Andalusia, home to the Costa del Sol. But Madrid saw a 22% fall in foreign visitors in August to 290 494, hit by a collapse in business travel and a decline in Italian and Latin American travelers.
There is little respite in sight for hotels operating in cities unless the domestic economy picks up, according to Ramon Estalella, secretary general of the Spanish Hotels Association (CEHAT).
NH Hoteles, which is focused mainly on city hotels, said in half-year results that Spain was its worst performing market. And Melia Hotels International reported a decline in prices and occupancy in Spanish cities in the first half, even though revenue from resort locations rose.
"There has been a strong fall in demand in Madrid because Iberia has cut flights and low-cost airlines have disappeared because of an increase in airport taxes," a Melia spokesperson said.
Spain's loss-making flag carrier Iberia, part of International Airlines Group (IAG), is undergoing a major restructuring, with dozens of routes canceled and thousands of staff being laid off.

Sudan almost doubles fuel, gas prices

Sudan almost doubled prices for fuel and cooking gas on Monday, struggling to bring its budget under control in an economic crisis that is stirring widespread discontent.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir went on television for two hours to announce the plan. He has avoided an "Arab spring" uprising of the sort that has unseated other rulers in the region, but many in Sudan complain about soaring food prices, corruption, violent conflicts and high unemployment.

"We've been just notified of the prices increases," said a petrol station worker, asking not to be named "It's huge leap and we worry that people will be angry."

The Arab African country lost three-quarters of its oil reserves - its main source of revenues and of dollars for food imports - when South Sudan became independent in 2011.

Petrol stations in the capital Khartoum raised the price of a gallon (3.8 litres) of petrol on Monday to almost $3 based on black market prices.

"The government...has no idea of what people are going through. I am ready to join any protest against the lifting," said 41-year old Ahmed Iassan, an unemployed worker.

The government started reducing some fuel subsidies in July 2012. Several weeks of small protests ended with a security crackdown.

It had hoped to sustain the remaining support by boosting gold exports to replace oil revenues, but was thwarted by the recent fall in global gold prices.

A gallon of gasoline now costs £14, up from £8.5, petrol station staff said. The prices for a cylinder of cooking gas rose to £25 from £15.

In a televised news conference, Bashir said late on Sunday Sudan was no longer able to afford the subsidies which he said cost the treasury $15.5bn every year based on the official exchange rate.

Sudan produces too little to feed its 32 million people. Even basic food imports arrive by ship in Port Sudan, before they get trucked for days across the vast country, spurring food price inflation.

The Sudanese pound is worth barely a third of its value against the dollar on the black market at the time of the south's succession.

Opposition activists have criticised the move to cut fuel subsidies but the weak opposition has yet to stir mass protest.

Singapore tightens rules for hiring foreigners

Singapore will require many companies operating in the city-state to consider Singaporeans for skilled job vacancies before turning to candidates from abroad, bowing to public pressure over a surge in foreigners over the past decade.

"The measures might mean more hassle and paperwork for companies, and it might even lower the long-term economic growth rate," said Michael Wan, an economist with Credit Suisse in Singapore.

"But I don't think this will necessarily lower Singapore's attractiveness to companies because there are other factors that they take into account -- such as tax incentives, political stability and access to the Asean region."

Starting next August, firms with more than 25 employees must advertise a vacancy for professional or managerial jobs paying less than S$12 000 ($9 600) a month on a new jobs bank administered by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency for at least 14 days, the Ministry of Manpower said in a statement.

Only after that period can the company apply for an employment pass to bring in a foreign national.

Singapore will also raise the qualifying salaries for employment pass holders to at least S$3 300 a month, up from the current S$3 000, starting in January 2014, reducing the competition for entry-level jobs that typically require tertiary education.

Singapore, a global financial centre and the Asian base for many banks and multinationals, is one of the world's most open economies. Foreigners account for about 40% of the island's 5.3 million population and take up many senior and mid-level positions as well as most of the low-paying jobs that locals shun.

The Association of Banks in Singapore, which represents financial institutions operating in the city-state, said banks will need to adjust their hiring processes to comply with the new rules.

"We need to assess the impact these rules will have," a spokesman for the association added.

Discrimination

Singapore, Asia's main centre for private banking as well as commodities trading, has seen a sharp increase in foreigners over the past decade, triggering a backlash from Singaporeans unhappy about congestion on roads and trains as well as competition for jobs.

There have also been complaints about foreign managers who prefer to hire their fellow countrymen rather than employ Singaporeans.

Earlier this year, several banks admitted to "hot spots" within their organisations "where clusters of employees from the same country appeared to have developed over time", according to advertisements taken up by an organisation backed by the manpower ministry.

The ministry said it will scrutinise all companies, including smaller firms, for signs of discriminatory hiring practices. Firms that fall into this category include those that "have a disproportionately low concentration of Singaporeans" in professional or management positions compared with others in the industry.

"Even as we remain open to foreign manpower to complement our local workforce, all firms must make an effort to consider Singaporeans fairly," Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan Jin said in a statement.

"Singaporeans must still prove themselves able and competitive to take on the higher jobs that they aspire to," Tan added, as officials took pains to stress that the new framework is not aimed at forcing firms to hire Singaporeans first.

Singapore has already been making it harder for employers to recruit cheap workers from abroad in a bid to push up the pay of low-income Singaporeans. The measures include lowering the ratio of foreigners a firm can hire relative to the number of local employees and raising the levy firms must pay to hire lesser-skilled foreigners.

Bangladesh pay protests force factory closures

More than 100 Bangladeshi garment factories were forced to shut on Monday as thousands of workers protested to demand a $100 a month minimum wage and about 50 people were injured in clashes, police and witnesses said.
Garments are a vital sector for Bangladesh and its low wages and duty-free access to Western markets have helped make it the world's second-largest apparel exporter after China.
But the $20bn industry, which supplies many Western brands, has been under a spotlight after a series of deadly incidents including the collapse of a building housing factories in April that killed more than 1 130 people.
Workers took to the streets for a third day on Monday, blocking major roads and attacking some vehicles in the Gazipur and Savar industrial zones on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka.
At least 50 people - including some policemen - were injured, witnesses and police said, as police fired teargas and rubber bullets, and workers responded by throwing broken bricks.
Some workers also vandalised factories, witnesses said.
"We had to take harsh actions to restore order as the defiant workers would not stop the violence," an Gazipur police officer said.
The monthly minimum wage in Bangladesh is $38, half what Cambodian garment workers earn.
The government is in talks with unions and factory owners on a new minimum wage.
Bangladesh last increased its minimum garment-worker pay in late 2010 in response to months of street protests, almost doubling the lowest pay.
Recently, factory owners offered a 20% pay rise which workers refused, calling it "inhuman and humiliating".
"We work to survive but we can't even cover our basic needs," said a protesting woman worker.
The recent string of accidents has put the government, industrialists and the global brands that use the factories under pressure to reform an industry that employs 4 million and generates 80% of Bangladesh's export earnings.
The April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza, a factory built on swampy ground outside Dhaka with several illegal floors, ranks among the world's worst industrial accidents and has galvanised brands to look more closely at their suppliers.
This month, a group of retailers and clothing brands failed to establish compensation funds for the victims of Bangladesh factory disasters, as many companies that sourced clothes from the buildings decided not to take part in the process.
Very low labour costs and, critics say, shortcuts on safety, makes the country of 160 million the cheapest place to make large quantities of clothing, with 60% of clothes going to Europe and 23% to the United States.

UK wants to ease sanctions on gas field

Britain could be close to agreeing a deal to ease sanctions that have stopped gas production from the North Sea's Rhum field, jointly owned by BP and the National Iranian Oil Company, the Mail on Sunday newspaper said.

Production from the field, which once supplied 5 percent of Britain's gas output, has been suspended since 2010 as a result of international sanctions against Iran.

But with signs of a thaw in relations between Iran and the West, the government now hopes to win agreement from the European Union and the United States for a sanctions waiver in the near future, the newspaper said, citing people close to the talks.

One stumbling block to a deal, however, could be concerns from companies involved in financing and servicing the field that any exemption for the producers would not fully protect them from legal action, it added.

A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: "We are working to ensure the long-term security of the Rhum gas field but no decision has been made at this time on a solution."

A spokesman for BP declined to comment on the possibility of a waiver being granted.

"As operator of the field our priorities are two-fold - to ensure the field remains safe and that we remain compliant with the law," he said. "It is up to the government to decide on the longer-term options."

Sudan to host German business conference

Sudan will host a business conference with German firms to boost economic ties with Europe's largest economy, state media said on Sunday, the second such event between Berlin and the isolated African country this year.

Sudan is trying to attract more investment to overcome an economic crisis after losing most oil reserves with South Sudan's secession in 2011. Most Western firms shun the country due to a U.S. trade embargo over Sudan's human rights record.

The Khartoum conference, from October 28 to 31, is likely to irk human rights activists who criticized Berlin for inviting top Sudanese officials to a similar forum in January.

The Berlin event had been open to South Sudan, but Juba only sent its ambassador in Berlin to avoid contact with arch foe Sudan at time of bilateral tensions, diplomats said. Sudan had sent a high-level delegation to Berlin.

The conference is organized by German and Sudanese business groups with support from both governments, according to the German-African Business Association.

While foreign investors in Sudan often complain of a massive dollar scarcity and shrinking state infrastructure projects, the Berlin-based association painted a much brighter picture.

"Sudan's economic perspectives have developed positively recently. ... The economy has been recovering since southern secession," the German-African Business Association said on its website. It cited opportunities for German firms as Sudan planned to expand its oil, gas and mining sectors.

Most Western countries have only limited ties to Sudan. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir faces charges of war crimes in Darfur at the International Criminal Court.

NEWS,05.08.2013

U.S. Embassy Closings: State Department Says Posts In 19 Countries To Remain Closed

U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Mideast and Africa will remain closed for the rest of the week amid intercepted "chatter" about terror threats, which lawmakers briefed on the information likened to intelligence picked up before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
One lawmaker said the chatter was specific as to certain dates and the scope of the operation; others said it suggested that a major terrorist attack, akin to 9/11, was being planned by the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen.
Diplomatic facilities will remain closed in Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, among other countries, through Saturday, Aug. 10. The State Department announcement Sunday added closures of four African sites, in Madagascar, Burundi, Rwanda and Mauritius. The U.S. reopened some posts on Monday, including those in Kabul, Afghanistan and Baghdad.
Last week the State Department announced a global travel alert, warning that al-Qaida or its allies might target either U.S. government or private American interests. It said Americans should take extra precautions overseas and cited potential dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists.
Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the decision to keep certain embassies and consulates shuttered throughout the week was done out of an "abundance of caution" and to "protect our employees, including local employees, and visitors to our facilities."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Monday the briefings he has received "certainly emphasize these threats are specific and credible, equal if not more serious to the kind of chatter, as the intelligence called it, that was heard prior to 9/11."
But he added: "The average American should continue to be alert and vigilant and cautious but certainly not unduly alarmed or panicky." He spoke on MSNBC.
The intercepted intelligence foreshadowing an attack on U.S. or Western interests is evidence of one of the gravest threats to the United States in years, said several lawmakers said Sunday.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the conversation was "very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11." Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was that chatter that prompted the Obama administration to order the closures and issue the travel warning.
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told ABC's "This Week" that the threat intercepted from "high-level people in al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula" was about a "major attack."
Yemen is home to al-Qaida's most dangerous affiliate, blamed for several notable terrorist plots on the United States. They include the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit and the explosives-laden parcels intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights.
Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who leads the House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence, told ABC that the threat "was specific as to how enormous it was going to be and also that certain dates were given."
The Obama administration's decision to close the embassies and the lawmakers' general discussion about the threats and the related intelligence discoveries come at a sensitive time as the government tries to defend recently disclosed surveillance programs that have stirred deep privacy concerns and raised the potential of the first serious retrenchment in terrorism-fighting efforts since Sept. 11.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has scoffed at the assertion by the head of the National Security Agency that government methods used to collect telephone and email data have helped foil 54 terror plots.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a House Intelligence Committee member, said while he takes the threat seriously he hasn't seen any evidence linking the latest warnings to that agency's collection of "vast amounts of domestic data."
Other lawmakers defended the administration's response and promoted the work of the NSA in unearthing the intelligence that led to the security warnings.
King, a frequent critic of President Barack Obama, said: "Whether or not there was any controversy over the NSA at all, all these actions would have been taken."
The State Department noted that previous terrorist attacks have centered on subway and rail networks as well as airplanes and boats. It suggested travelers sign up for State Department alerts and register with U.S. consulates in the countries they visit. The alert expires Aug. 31.
The intelligence intercepts also prompted Britain and Germany to close their embassies in Yemen on Sunday and Monday. British authorities said some embassy staff in Yemen had been withdrawn "due to security concerns." France said Monday it would keep its embassy in the Yemeni capital closed through Wednesday.
Interpol, the French-based international policy agency, has also issued a global security alert in connection with suspected al-Qaida involvement in recent prison escapes including those in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan.

Turkey's Ergenekon Trial: Alleged 2002 Coup Plotters Convicted, Including Former Military Chief Ilker Basbug

In a landmark trial, scores of people including Turkey's former military chief, politicians and journalists were convicted on Monday of plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government soon after it came to power in 2002.
Retired Gen. Ilker Basbug was the most prominent defendant among some 250 people facing verdicts after a five-year trial that has become a central drama in tensions between the country's secular elite and Erdogan's Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party.
The trial has sparked protests, and on Monday police blocked hundreds of demonstrators from reaching the High Criminal Court in Silivri, 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Istanbul, in a show of solidarity with the defendants.
But Monday's verdicts were not expected to set off the kind of violent anti-government demonstrations that were recently sparked by a government plan to build a replica Ottoman-era barracks at a park near Istanbul's central Taksim Square.
In addition to Basbug, at least 18 other defendants were sentenced to life in prison, including 10 retired military officers and Dogu Perincek, leader of the left-wing and nationalist Workers Party. At least 64 other defendants received sentences ranging from a year to 47 years, according to state-run TRT television news.
At least 21 people were acquitted. The fully tally of verdicts and sentences was not immediately available.
The defendants were accused of plotting high-profile attacks that prosecutors said were aimed at sowing chaos in Turkey to prepare the way for a military coup. The prosecutions already have helped Erdogan's government reshape Turkey's military and assert civilian control in a country that had seen three military coups since 1960.
The trial, which began in 2008, grew out of an investigation into the seizure of 27 hand grenades at the home of a noncommissioned officer in Istanbul in 2007.
The defendants were accused of being part of an alleged ultranationalist and pro-secular gang called Ergenekon, which takes its name from a legendary valley in Central Asia believed to be the ancestral homeland of Turks.
In thousands of pages of indictments, prosecutors maintained that the gang was behind a series of violent acts, including one in 2006 on a courthouse that killed a judge. Prosecutors say that the incidents were made to look as though they were carried out by Islamic militants, in a bid to create turmoil and provoke a military intervention.
Prosecutors say the gang also plotted to kill Erdogan, Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk and other high-profile figures.
The defendants have rejected the accusations, and they are expected to appeal Monday's verdicts and sentences to the Court of Appeals in Ankara.
Representatives of Turkey's main pro-secular opposition party lashed out against the verdicts, accusing the government of influencing the justice system.
"A verdict that was decided five years ago was made public today," said Akif Hamzacebi, a legislator from the opposition Republican People's Party. "All principles of rights, justice, human rights, fair trial were trampled on here."
Peter Stano, spokesman for the EU's Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, said he would not comment on the specific rulings, but noted that the European Union has expressed concern before about defendants' rights in Turkey and indictments that are too general.
Prosecutors demanded life prison terms for 64 of the defendants, mostly on terrorism charges. Others were charged with possession of firearms or merely membership in Ergenekon.
Mehmet Haberal, a surgeon and founder of a university in Ankara, and Mustafa Balbay, the Ankara representative of pro-secular Cumhuriyet newspaper, both faced life prison terms but received sentences of 12 years and 34 years, respectively. The two men were elected to Parliament in 2011, while in prison, but were not able to take their seats. The court ordered Haberal released on time served because of health considerations.
Tuncay Ozkan, a prominent journalist who helped organize a series of anti-government protests in 2007, was given a life sentence.
The case has polarized the country between those who see it as an opportunity to unravel a shadowy network of ultranationalists known as the "Deep State" that allegedly acted behind the scenes with impunity, and those who believe it is a government attempt to muzzle Erdogan's secular-minded foes and undermine Turkey's secular legacy.
In a separate case, more than 300 military officers, including Turkey's former air force and navy chiefs, were convicted last year of other plots to bring down the government in 2003 and some were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Those verdicts are being appealed.

 

Gibraltar Entrance Fee: Chief Minister Compares Spain To North Korea Over Exit Charge

The chief minister of Gibraltar on Monday accused Spain of acting like North Korea after suggesting it could impose steep new entry and exit fees for the British territory.
Spain has long laid claim to Gibraltar, and the British territory on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula is the source of occasional diplomatic friction between Madrid and London.
The latest spat involves an artificial reef being built in Gibraltar that Spain says is hurting its fishermen. It has floated the idea of charging people entering and leaving Gibraltar 50 euros ($66) as compensation.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told BBC radio that such fees would violate European Union freedom of movement rules, and said "hell would freeze over" before the reef would be removed.
"What we have seen this weekend is saber-rattling of the sort that we haven't seen for some time," Picardo said, describing threats of border fees as "more reminiscent of the type of statement you'd hear from North Korea than from an EU partner."
Under Spain's former Socialist government, relations between Madrid, London and Gibraltar eased greatly.
But in an interview published Sunday in Spanish newspaper ABC, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said the "playtime" of that era was over.
Britain's Foreign Secretary said late Monday that he had spoken to Picardo to express solidarity with territory's residents.
"The U.K. stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Gibraltar at this time of increasing Spanish pressure and rhetoric," William Hague said in a statement, repeating that the U.K. had pledged "not to compromise on British sovereignty over Gibraltar."
But he also nodded to the fact  so far the talk of sanctions had not amounted to real clampdown on the territory.
"We agreed that it was important to respond to actions, not rhetoric," he said.

North Korea Floods: Army Drills Cut Short To Provide Relief

North Korea has cut short summer military drills to mobilise troops for flood relief efforts after torrential rains left dozens killed and ravaged farmlands nationwide, according to a South Korean report.
The North's military ordered troops based in the country's west and southeast regions to hold "minimum" summer exercises and to instead focus on post-floods reconstruction, Yonhap news agency said.
It cited an unnamed Seoul government source.
"Many military units stopped the exercises and have mobilised troops for floods relief works," said the source quoted by Yonhap.
The communist state has staged summer military drills that partially coincided with the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise conducted by its rival South Korea and the United States, that usually takes place in August.
"But this year's summer drill in the North will be scaled back considerably because it needs to focus on repairing floods damages," the source was quoted as saying.
Floods caused by heavy rains that pummelled the North since early July have destroyed some 6,000 houses, displaced more than 23,000 people and washed away a large swathes of farmlands, the North's state media said late last month.
The death toll has reached 33 across the nation and some 13,300 hectares of farmlands have been damaged, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said last week, warning of "longer-term impact" on the country's food security.
Decades of deforestation and decrepit infrastructure have left the impoverished North vulnerable to floods, which led to some 170 deaths last summer.

Berlusconi: 'I Am Innocent'

Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi pledged his support for Italy's fragile coalition government to a gathering of thousands of supporters on Sunday, but he remained defiant in the face of a supreme court ruling confirming his tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence, declaring: "I am innocent."
The three-time ex-premier and media mogul, who also faces a ban from public office, said he would not resist criticizing the verdict against him, nor the judges who passed it, calling Italian magistrates "irresponsible."
Berlusconi looked energized and appeared to speaking off the cuff throughout the 15-minute rally in front of his Rome residence, in contrast to his nine-minute video address after last week's ruling in which he appeared shaken and on the verge of tears as he read a prepared statement.
The crowd, many of whom arrived on buses during the day, waved flags and posters urging Berlusconi, 76, not to give up and declaring support from cities and regions throughout Italy. Supporters repeatedly chanted: "Silvio."
"I don't believe that anyone can come and say to us that this is a subversive demonstration, as many have said," Berlusconi said. "And no one can come and say, as they have, that we are irresponsible. Because we have said loud and clear that the government needs to continue to approve economic measures that we have requested."
The confirmation of Berlusconi's conviction on final appeal has put more stress on Premier Enrico Letta's uneasy cross-party coalition government, which requires the support of both Berlusconi's conservative forces and the center-left to pass urgent economic measures.
Berlusconi said the last few days were "the most anguished and painful of my life," and he thanked supporters for demonstrating their affection.
"I am here. I am staying here. I won't give up," Berlusconi said.
Italy's highest court on Thursday upheld Berlusconi's four-year prison sentence, the first time that the media mogul was definitively convicted and sentenced in two decades of trials and other criminal probes.
A law to reduce prison overcrowding slashes his sentence to one year and since he is over 70, he can choose home confinement or perform social services instead of going to prison.
He also faces a public office ban, which would deprive him of his Senate seat and prevent him from running in elections for the duration of the ban. Another appeals court in Milan has been ordered to decide its length.

NEWS,03.07.2013

Obama leery of intervention in Mideast

From Egypt to Syria to Iraq and beyond, the Obama administration is determined to show it will only go so far to help save nations in chaos from themselves.

President Barack Obama has long made it clear that he favours a foreign policy of consultation and negotiation, but not intervention, in the persistent and mostly violent upheavals across the Mideast. And he appears determined not to deviate this week even to help reverse turbulence in Egypt, one of the United States' most important Arab allies.

US officials say the Obama administration delivered pointed warnings on Tuesday to three main players in the latest crisis to grip Egypt as hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded Tahrir Square in Cairo to demand President Mohammed Morsi's ouster over his hard-line Islamist policies. The powerful Egyptian military appeared poised to overthrow him.

The administration stopped short of demanding that Morsi take specific steps, the officials said, and instead offered strong suggestions that are backed by billions of dollars in US aid to ease the tensions.

The US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the delicate diplomacy that is aimed at soothing the unrest and protecting Egypt's status as a bulwark of Mideast stability. Yet the warnings were unlikely to placate the protesters gathered at the site of Egypt's Arab Spring revolution two years ago, many of whom have accused the US of siding with Morsi.

"The United States is only looking after their interests. They will only bet on the winning horse, and the winning horse is always chosen by the people," an ultraconservative member of the Salafist movement who would only identify himself as Amr, aged 31, said on Tuesday night at Tahrir Square. "At the end of the day it is the people who say that who stays and who goes."

Two thirds opposed to war

It should come as little surprise that Obama, who is grappling with a recovering economy, a war-weary public at home and diminished US status as a global superpower abroad, would not wade into foreign conflicts. Obama campaigned by promising to end the war in Iraq, which he did in 2011; he now plans to withdraw most, if not all, US troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year and inevitably will face pitched pleas from Kabul to reconsider as the deadline nears.

US polls indicate that two-thirds of Americans have opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The burdens of a young century cannot fall on American shoulders alone," Obama wrote in his 2010 National Security Strategy. "Indeed, our adversaries would like to see America sap our strength by overextending our power."

Despite pressure from some in Congress and its allies abroad, the Obama administration refused until last month to give weapons to Syrian rebels who for more than two years have been battling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. The arms a tepid show of guns, ammunition and shoulder-fired anti-tank grenades only came after US intelligence concluded that Assad had used chemical weapons against his own people.

Other Sunni-dominated Mideast nations, most notably Qatar, have provided heavier weapons to help the rebels beat back Iranian forces and aid that is flowing to Assad's regime. An estimated 93 000 people have been killed in the fighting.

Rebel commanders have been underwhelmed by the US support, saying they need enough firepower to stop Assad from using chemical weapons again, and to stop his tanks and heavy artillery. The Free Syrian Army, which is made up of some opposition forces, also wants allies to establish a no-fly zone over Syria to prevent Assad's superior air power from crushing the rebels or killing civilians.

Light weapons 'insufficient, insulting'

The White House is, at best, highly reluctant to create such a territory over which warring aircraft are not allowed to fly. The US and international allies have enforced them in several military conflicts over the past two decades.

Even American officials say the help to Syria is not enough.

The light weapons are "clearly not only insufficient, it's insulting", said Senator John McCain, a leading Republican proponent of taking a bigger military role in Syria.

McCain and several other hawkish Republican also have criticised Obama for withdrawing US forces from Iraq, where violence has dramatically escalated since their departure 18 months ago.

The Obama administration agreed to the longstanding 2011 withdrawal deadline, which was set by the Republican administration of President George W Bush, after negotiations fell through to keep some US forces in Iraq. But American officials involved in the negotiations have blamed the White House for making only a weak effort to keep troops in the country and being all too happy when the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad refused to let them stay.

Despite nearly nine years of war that aimed to stabilise Iraq during which nearly 4 500 US troops were killed and about $800bn in taxpayer money was spent near-daily bombings and other attacks continue. And the White House rarely, if ever, discusses Iraq except to pat itself on the back for leaving.

America's role

In June alone, 761 Iraqis were killed and nearly 1 800 wounded in terror-related violence, the UN envoy in Baghdad said in a statement this week. Comparatively, that's about twice as many killed in the deadliest month of 2011 before the American troops left, according to data from the British-based Iraq Body Count.

Tamara Cofman Wittes, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state from late 2009 until early this year, said the White House cannot afford to take its eye off the Mideast even as Obama tries to refocus on Asia and Africa. Even so, the administration's strategy in the Mideast may be a not-so-subtle reminder that the US is no longer willing or able to play either world policeman or peacekeeper.

"One of the things that many Americans questioned in the wake of the experience of Iraq and Afghanistan is whether the United States in fact can be successful in stabilising unstable parts of the world," Wittes, now director of the Saban Centre for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute think tank, said on Tuesday.

"The Obama administration has set itself the task not only of closing the chapter on a decade defined by two wars and reorienting not only America and its expectations for its role in the world, but reorienting other countries' expectations for the role America will play," she said.

US 'very concerned' about Egypt

The United States said on Wednesday it was "very concerned" about developments in Egypt's political crisis, and urged President Mohammed Morsi to "do more" to address the concerns of protesters.
"We do remain very concerned about what we are seeing on the ground in Egypt," state department spokesperson Jen Psaki said. "We feel there was an absence of significant steps laid out by President Morsi."
Washington believes he "should do more" to address the concerns of the Egyptian people, she told reporters, noting: "Actions speaker louder than words."
Psaki said Morsi's proposal for a unity government was one that had been "made in the past," and which "others in Egypt felt was not sufficient enough".
She, however, was careful to note that it was not up to Washington to judge.
When asked if Washington would consider cutting military aid to Cairo, the spokesperson said: "It would be premature to suggest that we have taken steps or are thinking about taking steps."

President scrambles to save Portugal

Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Wednesday took steps to settle a political crisis that threatened to topple the government, after two ministers resigned over austerity policies agreed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Cavaco Silva was to meet Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and party representatives on Thursday, the president's office announced.
Before that, the president was scheduled to meet Socialist opposition leader Antonio Jose Seguro.
Cavaco Silva was coming under growing pressure to dissolve parliament and to call early elections after the resignations of the finance minister, Vitor Gaspar, and the foreign minister, Paulo Portas, brought the government to the verge of collapse this week.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered to demand that Passos Coelho step down. The main trade union confederation, CGTP, has announced a rally for Saturday to demand early elections.
Passos Coelho said Tuesday he would not accept the resignation of Portas, but would try to reach an agreement with the party the foreign minister heads, the conservative-nationalist CDS-PP.
The party is the junior coalition partner of Passos Coelho's Social Democratic Party (PSD). If other ministers belonging to the CDS-PP follow the example of Portas and resign, Passos Coelho will lose his absolute majority in parliament.
That would make it difficult for him to complete the €78bn bailout programme agreed with the EU and the IMF in 2011.
The government crisis has made stock markets plunge, while the yields for Portuguese bonds has gone up.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has warned that "the financial credibility recently built up by Portugal could be jeopardized by the current political instability."
Gaspar, who was the main architect of the austerity policies applied under the bailout programme, justified his resignation by saying he had failed to meet budget deficit targets. He also cited widespread opposition to his spending cuts.
Portas said he was stepping down over the choice of Maria Luis Albuquerque as Gaspar's successor.
The CDS-PP wants to soften the government's austerity policies, while Albuquerque is known as a staunch supporter of Gaspar's budget crackdown.
Spending cuts and economic reforms have helped Portugal reduce borrowing costs and the budget deficit, which went down to 6.4% of gross domestic product in 2012, from 10.1% in 2010.
But the economy has been in recession for two years and is expected to shrink by 2.3% this year. Unemployment has climbed to nearly 18%.
The EU is confident that Portugal can weather its political crisis, an official said in Brussels.
"It's obvious that it would have been our strong preference if the stability of the government had been maintained," the EU official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"But I'm quite relaxed ... Portugal is well-financed. I have no concerns whatsoever for the whole of 2013."
Germany stressed the need for Portugal to adhere to the course of austerity. "The German government is confident that Portugal will stick to the agreed reforms," spokesperson Steffen Seibert said in Berlin.
Eurozone finance ministers are expected to discuss the Portuguese situation when they next meet on Monday in Brussels.
Experts from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF are then scheduled to launch a review mission to examine the country's economic progress and pave the way for the next stage of its bailout.
The EU official noted that the process would be more difficult if the Portuguese government announced new elections.

Union boss urges French labour reform

The new chief of France's main employers union pressed on Wednesday for a 'Round 2' of labour reform, urging President Francois Hollande for a further overhaul on the day a first, hard-fought deal entered the law books.
Pierre Gattaz's remarks on his first day as MEDEF leader showed a combative chief ready to pile pressure on a Socialist government that many economists have criticised for not going far enough in its structural reform programme.
The 53-year-old is to meet Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault this week to discuss upcoming reforms, including an overhaul of an indebted pension system.
"Our companies are terrorised by a labour code that is too complex and stops them from hiring," Gattaz told journalists in an acceptance speech. "This shouldn't last, and it won't last."
France's labour reform deal took effect on Wednesday after months of tense debate and street protests, and it is still disputed by trade unions on the far left. Few public figures have spoken out in favour of any further changes.
Gattaz, chief executive of connector maker Radiall, was the sole candidate to succeed MEDEF chief Laurence Parisot after she lost an internal battle to alter the group's statutes and extend her eight-year term.
The son of a notoriously combative former MEDEF chief, Gattaz took over the powerful group, equivalent to Germany's BDA employer association and Italy's Confindustria lobby, by rallying less well-connected rivals to his camp.
Saying he will bring a "fighting spirit" to talks on reforms to job training and pensions, his hard-charging tone breaks with Parisot's diplomatic approach.
His call to raise the legal retirement age from the current 62, in line with recommendations from the European Commission, also goes against the views of Hollande, who has ruled it out in favour of lengthening the pay-in period.
On labour rules, Gattaz will retain the services of Patrick Bernasconi as chief negotiator after he brokered a landmark deal to loosen regulation in January.
Bernasconi advocates a far-reaching second round of labour reform to end the 35-hour working week and give firms more power to reach in-house wage and work-time deals, he told business daily Les Echos in May.

Portugal's political crisis deepens

Two more Portuguese ministers from the junior ruling coalition party were ready to resign on Wednesday, local media said, deepening turmoil that could trigger a snap election and derail Lisbon's exit from an EU/IMF bailout.
Multiple newspaper radio and television reports said agriculture minister Assuncao Cristas and social security minister Pedro Mota Soares will follow their CDS-PP party leader Paulo Portas, who tendered his resignation on Tuesday.
Party officials were not available to comment as the party's executive commission was in a meeting.
Prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho told the nation late on Tuesday that he did not accept Portas' resignation and would continue to head the government to ensure political stability and work to overcome the stalemate.
Many commentators called the situation "absurd".
With no solution imminent, Portugal's bond and stock prices slumped further. The returns investors demand to hold 10-year bonds surged to above 8.1% for the first time since November and the PSI 20 stock index slumped 6%, led by sharp losses of over 10% in banks' shares.
Coelho's decision to reject his foreign minister's resignation puts the responsibility for the government's survival squarely on the shoulders of Portas. He now has to decide whether to stay in his post or pull his rightist CDS-PP party out of the coalition.
Without the CDS-PP, the centre-right government would lose its majority.
"One thing is certain, the prime minister is going to do everything to stay on, giving all possible concessions to Portas," said political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto.
"Failing that, however, we can hardly avoid an early election."
Portugal is subject to strict budget conditions imposed by a European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. It had been hoping to return to normal debt markets, but rows over continued austerity have now thrown this into question.
"We see early elections as the most likely outcome at this stage, even if we cannot fully rule out support from some CDS MPs and the continuation of the government," Barclays' economist Antonio Garcia Pascual said in a note.
"We consider that the decision of the CDS leader to step down from the government can be explained to a large extent by the fall in popular support for the government coalition."
A day before Portas tendered his resignation, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, the architect of spending cuts and tax hikes required by lenders as a condition of their support, stepped down citing an erosion in support for the bailout.
Costa Pinto also said counting on occasional support from CDS-PP in parliament would allow the government to muddle through, but not for long.
Although president Anibal Cavaco Silva is expected to promote a grand coalition government, analysts do not expect the largest opposition party, the moderate centre-left Socialists who lead in opinion polls, to play ball.
Still, while opinion polls indicate Socialists will win a snap election, they would fall short of a majority, which would also require CDS support.
The only two remaining parties in parliament, the Communists and the Left Bloc, have never entered any coalition and are unlikely to do so, analysts said.
"So, it's all in Portas' hands," Costa Pinto said.
Barclays' said a Socialist victory should not represent a radical change in the course of the bailout programme. It also said that even if there are delays in upcoming bailout reviews and disbursements, Portugal has enough funds to meet bond repayments this year.

Use W Cape as African gateway, China told

China should use the Western Cape as an investment gateway into Africa, the provincial agriculture and rural development department said on Wednesday.
Western Cape MEC Gerrit van Rensburg made this invitation to Chinese commerce officials in Beijing on Tuesday, while on a visit to stimulate trade and investment.
Van Rensburg said wine exports from South Africa to China increased by 34% between 2009 and 2012.
He invited Cao Jiachan, the deputy director general for West Asia and Africa commerce, to attend a wine tasting to be hosted by the department in Beijing later this month.
The provincial government would also support a South African wine delegation at the annual Yantai International Wine Exposition in China from July 5.
Van Rensburg said government support of promotional activities and maintaining relationships with government departments was crucial for sustained export growth to China.

North Korea restores hotline with South

North Korea on Wednesday restored its official hotline with South Korea and announced it would let the South's businessmen visit a shuttered joint industrial zone, Seoul officials said.
The move came hours after dozens of South Korean firms threatened to withdraw from the zone at Kaesong in the North, complaining they had fallen victim to political bickering between the two rivals.
"The hotline was restored this afternoon after North Korea accepted our request to normalise it," a South Korean unification ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
After months of tensions and threats of nuclear war, the North restored the hotline in the border truce village of Panmunjom last month for talks on setting up a rare high-level meeting to discuss the fate of the zone.
But it was switched off again after plans for the talks collapsed due to disputes over protocol.
In an unexpected reversal on Wednesday, the North sent a message to the South through Panmunjom saying South Korean businessmen and managers would be allowed to visit the industrial complex.
It said the businessmen could take emergency steps to avert damage to facilities and materials in the complex during the rainy season, according to a unification ministry statement.
South Korea will review the North's proposal and convey its response later, the ministry said.
Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, the industrial estate was the most high-profile casualty of months of elevated tensions that followed the North's nuclear test in February.
Operations at the complex just north of the border ground to a halt soon after the North banned entry by southerners on 3 April, amid soaring military tensions with Seoul.
About a week later Pyongyang pulled all its own workers out, prompting Seoul to withdraw its managers and officials soon afterwards.