Observer & Busness 3 Mar 2012 - Oman Daily Observer

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Pakistan starts Senate elections ISLAMABAD — Pakistani regional lawmakers yesterday began casting their votes for members of the Senate, the indirectly-elected upper house of the federal parliament, officials said. Each of Pakistan’s four provinces will have 23 seats in the 104-member next senate, with four going to the capital Islamabad and eight for the tribal areas in the northwest. Some of the places are reserved for minorities, women, and Islamic scholars or technocrats. “Polling has started at all four provincial assemblies and at the parliament house in Islamabad,” an official of the Election Commission of Pakistan said. Half the senate’s current 100 members retire on March 12 after completing their six-year terms, and the four minority places are an expansion of the chamber being chosen for the first time. YANGON — Myanmar has fewer phones per capita than any other country and probably the fewest Internet connections, and that has regional telecoms and IT companies licking their lips. But behind those statistics lies more than simply a virgin market waiting to be tapped. Myanmar has been run by generals for decades, leaving not only pent-up demand for connectivity, but also a complex web of interests and a unique ecosystem of technological make-do. All of which will require careful navigation by would-be investors. A recent gathering of techies in Yangon’s Myanmar Info- Tech complex illustrates the promise, changes and problems Myanmar presents as the next frontier for investors. The meeting was organised by a loose triumvirate of business-oriented folk, bloggers and the country’s IT diaspora. It was a so-called barcamp — an unstructured conference and chatfest whose format was dreamed 8 THE PHILIPPINES/SUBCONTINENT OMAN DAILY Observer Pakistan Budget: No new tax likely ISLAMABAD — While Pakistani government will introduce no new tax in the next budget, electricity prices will increase by at least 6 per cent, it was learnt yesterday. The government also intends to increase the rate of withholding tax on the purchase of luxury vehicles in the next budget for 2012-13. The tax is already applicable on the purchase of new vehicles, depending on the engine capacity of the vehicle, but purchasers of luxury cars are not properly paying the withholding tax. “We are making an attempt to ensure that the buyers of big vehicles pay the due amount of withholding tax. One of the proposals is to collect the tax at the time of booking of the car to ensure collection of withholding tax. This higher rate of tax will be adjustable at the time of filing of the income by up California techies tired of the exclusive, closed-door meets that are a regular feature of Silicon Valley. The barcamp idea has taken Asia by storm, but nowhere more so than Myanmar. In October 2009, Emily Jacobi, founder of the first barcamp, travelled to Yangon in part to rustle up interest. Independent-minded bloggers and the business-oriented Myanmar Computer Professionals Association jumped at the idea, but overcoming mutual suspicions between the groups was less straightforward. Businessmen had long been used to building ties with government to win work. “It was harder to convince my fellow independent cofounders of BarCamp Yangon that parking our activities under the umbrella of this legally standing computer association was a good idea,” says Thaung Su Nyein, secretary of the association and managing director of IT and media company Inforithm-Maze. tax return by the purchaser of the vehicle.” Mumtaz Haider Rizvi, FBR chairman, said this while briefing the NA Committee on Finance and Revenue here yesterday on the performance of the FBR in terms of revenue collection/mobilisation. He claimed that the FBR would collect Rs 2 trillion ($22.22 billion) in revenues against a target of $21.68 billion set for the fiscal 2011-12. He said no new tax will be imposed in the budget for 2012- 13, which will be growthoriented with an emphasis on documentation, simplification of tax systems, cleansing of the statutory regulatory orders (SROs) and phasing out of federal excise duties. Highlighting the performance of the FBR in revenue collection and mobilisation, the newly appointed chairman informed the committee The first BarCamp Yangon, in early 2010, had 3,000 people turn up — a barcamp record. This was all the more surprising as it took place before any public sign of a political thaw. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was then still under house arrest. By the time of the third gathering last month she was a free woman, about to contest a by-election — and the gathering’s guest of honour. The conference’s popularity is a reflection of how much interest there is in technology, but also illustrates how deprived local people are of information and networking opportunities. Thar Htet, a Singaporebased IT consultant who gave several talks at the first barcamp, said it was clear that most of those attending didn’t understand even relatively basic topics. “You could see from their eyes that they didn’t really understand,” he recalls. When he went back this year, however, he found things had changed — a little. “People are teaching themselves and that the budget would focus on government policy of moving towards only three taxes ie income tax, sales tax and customs duty. In this regard, Rizvi said, FED would be phased out gradually and FBR will take steps to move towards documentation of the economy and broadening the tax base. The growth-oriented budget will give priority to employment, industrialisation and investment and the objective of the simplification of taxes would be achieved through transparent, consistent and predictable systems. Rizvi said the FBR has been able to achieve 27 per cent growth despite a downturn in the economy. At present the FBR was ahead of the target and the unprecedented growth in revenue collection during 2011-12 showed the commitment of the tax machinery. Over 50 dead in NW Pakistan PESHAWAR — At least 55 people were killed yesterday in violence in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region of Kyhber, which borders Afghanistan, local officials said. Twenty-two people were killed in an attack in the Tirah valley, while at least 10 soldiers and 23 armed men died in an earlier clash around 10 kilometres away. Local administration official Jamilur Rehman said that the blast killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 20 others, adding the toll may rise. “The bomber detonated himself near the gate of a mosque in Tirah valley of Khyber tribal region when people were returning from the prayers,” he said. The attack and the toll was confirmed by Khyber administration chief Mutahir Zeb Khan. “The bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the mosque when the worshippers were returning after the Friday prayers,” he said. Khan earlier said at least 10 Pakistani soldiers and 23 armed men were killed in a gunfight in the Tirah valley. “At least 10 soldiers embraced martyrdom and three others were wounded,” a senior security official said, adding that the fighting lasted for nearly six hours. “All law enforcement agencies’ posts in the area were intact and the situation was stable,” the official said. Military officials in Peshawar confirmed the attack and casualties, but it was not possible to independently verify the official account of the incident as access to the area is restricted by the military. Separately, gunmen on motorbikes yesterday shot dead an intelligence official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan, police said. Bashir Khan, a 38-year-old Intelligence Bureau inspector, was on his way to work on his motorcycle when gunmen also riding a motorbike shot him, senior police official Tahir Ayub said. Ayub said it was not immediately clear who shot Khan, but Taliban fighters have previously attacked and killed intelligence officials in the area. Peshawar has a population of 2.5 million people and has long been on the frontline of violence blamed on a fiveyear insurgency led by Taliban fighters opposed to Islamabad’s alliance with the United States. — AFP ANTI-US protesters shout slogans during a rally by migrant workers in front of the US Embassy in Manila yesterday. A group of protesters called on the Philippine government to repatriate Philippine workers in Syria. — AFP Slow connection: Myanmar test for IT crowd now certainly understand the topics better. But I also made the presentations simpler.” This is perhaps unsurprising. Although Internet cafes have proliferated since 2003, helping spawn a generation of bloggers and self-taught programmers, there are limits to what they can do on slow Internet connections and without foreign training and expertise. When Pyae Phyo Maung, for example, attended the University of Computer Studies, Yangon, he had to bring his own computer. To learn more, those who can head overseas. Pyae Phyo Maung left for Singapore in 2009 where he still works as a computer consultant. Of his class of 10, he says, only two have remained in Myanmar. The barcamp highlights the challenges facing both local IT players and any future investors: how to address the tight grip on the country’s IT and communications network by a coterie of government and business players. SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012 PROTESTERS shout anti-American slogans during a rally in Peshawar yesterday. About 50 protesters gathered to condemn the February 21 desecration of the Quran at Nato’s main base in Afghanistan. — Reuters Floods cause $3.7 bn loss ISLAMABAD — An unreleased joint study by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank has assessed that the floods in 2011, which ravaged several southern districts of Sindh and parts of Baluchistan province of Pakistan, caused a loss of $3.7 billion to the country, sources revealed. The Damage and Needs Assessment (DNA) report, carried out by the two lending agencies on request of the government of Pakistan, evaluated the losses to be much lower than the initial estimates that put the damages at $7 billion. — Internews Commentator injured in attack MANILA — A Filipino radio commentator was wounded yesterday in the second attack against journalists in the Philippines this year, police said. Fernando Gabio, 60, was outside his home in Iloilo City, 465 kilometres southeast of Manila, when two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at him, hitting in his right leg, the police report said. Gabio hosts a programme on a local radio network where he talks about politics and problems, including corruption. Last month, a radio broadcaster and newspaper publisher was shot dead in the southern city of General Santos in the first attack of 2012 on media in the Philippines. According to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, five journalists were killed last year.— dpa Maldives committed to all-party talks to resolve crisis: minister GENEVA — The Maldives foreign minister said yesterday her government was committed to all-party talks to resolve a political crisis in the Indian Ocean state where the former president says he was ousted in a coup. Responding to a call by UN chief Ban Ki-Moon’s call for dialogue, Dunya Maumoon said: “That is definitely the commitment of the government.” However Maumoon accused elements in the Maldavian Democratic Party (MDP) of ousted president Mohamed Nasheed of stoking up violence. DHAKA — Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus, who won a Nobel Prize for his work in microfinance, said yesterday he had no interest in becoming the new head of the World Bank despite being proposed for the position. The country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina put forward Yunus last month during a visit by some European parliamentarians, saying he was respected for his pioneering role in poverty alleviation. The move surprised many as Hasina has clashed with 70-year-old Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide small loans to the poor, notably accusing him in December 2010 of “sucking blood from the poor.” “I never thought of taking up the top job of the World Bank or any other such multilateral institutions. I have been a regular critic of the Opposition MPs prevented the new president Mohamed Waheed from opening parliament on Thursday and violent protests erupted outside the building. “This is really unacceptable. They are undermining the institution of parliament,” said Maumoon. “Currently all the parties except the MDP are working together in the national unity government and all have been committed to the all party talks,” said Maumoon who was in Geneva for a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council. The minister said it was “only recently” that the MDP World Bank for its policies and programmes,” Yunus said in a statement, while thanking Hasina. Yunus said in 1995 US President Clinton had invited him to the Oval Office and “asked whether I had any interest in this”. In 2005 ex- Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia wanted to nominate him for UN Secretary- General’s post. “Those who are feeling encouraged by the present proposal from the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may become disappointed with me that I am not giving importance to such a big opportunity for the country,” he said. World Bank President Robert Zoellick will step down at the end of his five-year term on June 30, setting up a race for the top post at the development bank. Yunus and the Grameen Bank shared the Nobel peace joined the talks which was welcome as “it is only through dialogue and peaceful resolution that we can overcome the obstacles the country faces at present.” Nasheed says he was ousted by Waheed in a military-led coup on February 7 and called on its supporters to stage Thursday’s demonstration against the new government. Speaking at UN headquarters on Thursday, Ban expressed concern about the tensions on the archipelago and said they “must be resolved peacefully through a national process and on the basis of dialogue and consensus.” — AFP Bangladesh’s Yunus rules out World Bank role prize in 2006 for developing “economic and social development from below” by making small loans to poor entrepreneurs. Yunus was forced out of the bank last year, however, after the central bank ordered him to be fired for exceeding the mandatory retirement age — a move seen by critics as being engineered by Hasina. The microfinance pioneer said he hoped that Hasina’s proposal that he take over at the World Bank would “make clear that the impressions she previously had about me and Grameen Bank no longer exist”. “Now I am hopeful that the government’s policy towards the Grameen Bank and me will be in line with the Prime Minister’s latest position. This will remove a huge burden of pain and worry from me also from many others in the country.” — AFP POLICE officers stand guard in front of the United Nations head office during a protest in Colombo yesterday. The UN Human Rights Council is currently debating a proposed resolution to probe alleged war crimes in the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war against the Tamil Tigers in 2009. — Reuters
‘No action against protest’ MOSCOW — Russia’s Vladimir Putin promised he would not crack down on Russia’s burgeoning opposition movement following his likely election as president today, but rejected protesters’ calls for early parliamentary polls. Tens of thousands of people have turned out for protests in Moscow and other cities since a disputed parliamentary vote in December — the biggest protests of Putin’s 12-year rule. The unprecedented wave of demonstrations has cast a shadow over the powerful prime minister who appeared politically invincible throughout much of his rule. In remarks published yesterday, Putin signalled he was confident he could maintain control and popular support without tightening the screws or giving in to opponents’ demands. Asked in a meeting with foreign newspaper editors SYDNEY — Australian scientists mapping the Great Barrier Reef will broadcast their findings in partnership with Google, modelled on its “Street View” to spotlight the impact of climate change. The University of Queensland’s Seaview Survey, funded by global insurance giant Catlin, will use custom-designed cameras and diving robots to plumb never-before-seen depths of the reef off Australia’s northeast coast. It is a scientific expedition with an everyman twist, according to chief scientist for the project, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. A special four-lensed camera, which can be held by a scuba diver swimming through and over the corals, will capture a “rapid visual census” of life forms at 20 sites along the entire 2,300-kilometre length of the reef. An estimated 50,000 panoramas, shot in 360-degree high-definition, will then be uploaded to Google’s Panoramio photo site for use on whether he would move to crack down on the opposition after the vote, Putin quipped: “Why do I need to do that?” “I don’t know where these fears come from. We are not planning anything of the kind,” Putin said at the meeting held on Thursday at his residence outside Moscow. In his remarks, Putin dismissed such fears. “On the contrary all of our proposals are geared toward establishing a dialogue with everyone, with those who support us and those who criticise us,” he said in a transcript posted on the government’s website. He said he and President Dmitry Medvedev were working to liberalise the political system, which he tightened during his 2000-2008 presidency, by reinstating popular elections of regional governors and allowing more political parties. More firmly than before, Google Maps and Google Earth — a kind of “Street View” under the ocean. “By using some really nifty digital technology to make 360-degree imagery we’re essentially able to allow people to slip into the Great Barrier Reef and go for a dive as if they were coming with us,” Hoegh-Guldberg said. The expedition, which will however, he ruled out holding a early parliamentary election — one of the main demands voiced by protesters angry over suspected fraud in his ruling party’s favour in a Dec 4 vote and dismayed by his plans to stay in power for a last six more years. “No,” he said when asked whether he would call for an early election. The opposition hopes to keep up pressure and plans protests in central Moscow and other cities on Monday. Opposition leaders say they suspect the vote will be rigged to ensure he avoids a secondround runoff by winning more than 50 per cent. The protests were fuelled by suspicions Putin’s United Russia party cheated in the December polls and served as an outlet for anger over Putin’s plan to swap jobs with Medvedev. The plan deepened frustrations among Russians who believe the formal elec- officially depart in September, will also have a dedicated YouTube channel documenting its progress in real-time. Hoegh-Guldberg said its primary focus would be recording the reef for later comparisons to measure the effects of climate change, as well as mapping depths unreachable by scuba divers, about which very little is known. 9 THE WORLD OMAN DAILY Observer SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012 tions give them little real say in politics. Putin defended his decision, saying he and Medvedev “honestly and clearly told the country” of their plans ahead of the parliamentary and presidential elections. “Did we trick anybody? ... No,” he said. Putin, who will be inaugurated in May if he wins the presidency, reiterated that he plans to make Medvedev prime minister. In the latest opinion survey by independent pollster Levada Centre, conducted in February, 66 per cent of voters who planned to vote and had decided on a candidate said they would vote for Putin. Putin, who steered Medvedev into the Kremlin in 2008 and became prime minister when he faced a constitutional bar on a third consecutive term as president, could run for another six-year term in 2018. — Reuters GENDARMES evacuate Florange’s workers of the world’s biggest steelmaker ArcelorMittal who block the railway yesterday in Florange, eastern France, to denounce the closing of the plant with 5.000 people. ArcelorMittal has idled one of the furnaces at the plant in Florange and another since October 2012, citing insufficient steel demand. — AFP Laptop theft did not endanger ISS WASHINGTON — A stolen US space agency laptop containing codes that control the International Space Station (ISS) did not put the orbiting lab in peril, a Nasa spokesman said yesterday. The unencrypted notebook computer went missing in March 2011 and "resulted in the loss of the algorithms used to command and control the International Space Station," Nasa Inspector General Paul Martin told lawmakers this week.But the US space agency insisted that international astronauts were never at risk aboard the research outpost. "Nasa takes the issue of IT security very seriously, and at no point in time have operations of the International Space Station been in jeopardy due to a data breach," spokesman Trent Perrotto said. The theft was alerted to Congress on Wednesday along with 5,408 computer security "incidents" that resulted in unauthorised access to Nasa systems or installation of malicious software in the past two years, Martin said. Perpetrators are suspected to include small-time hackers, organized criminal networks and foreign intelligence services. The attacks affected thousands of Nasa computers and cost the agency more than $7 million in 2010 and 2011, he said. Over the past few years, investigations have resulted in the arrests and convictions of hackers from China, Great Britain, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, and Estonia, he said. One cyber attack still under investigation happened in November 2011, when Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California reported "suspicious network activity involving Chinese-based IP addresses," he said. "Our review disclosed that the intruders had compromised the accounts of the most privileged JPL users, giving the intruders access to most of JPL's networks," he added in testimony to the House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee. To better guard against such attacks, "Nasa needs to improve agency-wide oversight of the full range of its IT assets," and must encrypt more of its mobile and laptop devices, of which just one percent are currently encrypted, he said. Until then, Nasa "will continue to be at risk for security incidents that can have a AUSTRALIAN scientists mapping the Great Barrier Reef with a custom-built underwater camera. — AFP severe adverse effect on Agency operations and assets." Nasa's spokesman said in response that the space agency is in the process of implementing his recommendations and has made "significant progress to better protect the agency's IT systems." Meanwhile, a Nasa-led study showed on Thursday significant declines in perennial Arctic sea ice over the past decade may be intensifying a chemical reaction that leads to deposits of toxic mercury. The study found that thick, perennial Arctic sea ice was being replaced by a thinner and saltier ice that releases bromine into the air when it interacts with sunlight and cold, said Son Nghiem, a NASA researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. — AFP Never-before-seen view of Barrier Reef In particular, he said the project team was interested in how deep reefs — between 30 and 100 metres below sea level — were triggered to spawn, or reproduce. Shallow reef spawning was triggered by the moon and it would be a “phenomenal discovery” if deep reefs were also found to follow the moonlight, which would likely be very dim at such depths, he added. Another team, led by Emmy award-winning cinematographer and shark researcher Richard Fitzpatrick, will track the reef’s “charismatic megafauna” such as rays, turtles and tiger-sharks, and migratory changes due to ocean warming. A six-day trial of some of the robots in a deep-reef environment at the end of last year had already revealed four new coral species for Australian records and a new breed of pygmy seahorse. Hoegh-Guldberg said the project was an exciting combination of “real science” and popular culture. — AFP Ex-PM to face trial over banking collapse STOCKHOLM — Geir Haarde, Iceland’s former prime minister, is due to appear before a special court on Monday, where he will be asked to respond to accusations that he put the interests of the state at risk by failing to prevent the country’s devastating banking crisis of 2008. The former leader of the conservative Independence Party resigned in January 2009 in the wake of the collapse of the Atlantic island nation’s three main banks. According to the indictment, Haarde faces charges of negligence for failing to take action when Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir failed. If convicted, the 60-year-old risks a two-year jail term. During the global financial crisis of 2008, Iceland’s banks racked up debts worth up to 10 times the country’s gross domestic product, according to some estimates. The case has generated controversy as Haarde is the only member of the former government to face trial. Parliament in September 2010 voted not to charge three other former ministers over their role in the affair. A website has been set up in support of Haarde and members of his party have tried to halt the proceedings by requesting that the 2010 act that allowed for trial to take place to be repealed. The latest such attempt was voted down on Thursday. About 50 witnesses, including former directors of the three failed banks and the governors of the Central Bank, are due to testify at the trial, which is expected to last several weeks. According to Ragnhildur Helgadottir, a professor of constitutional law at Reykjavik University, Haarde placed “the interests of the state at risk” by failing to act. — dpa Wulff under pressure to forgo state stipend BERLIN — German politicians called yesterday on the nation’s former president to forgo an annual gratuity of 199,000 euros ($264,000) amid growing anger in the country about the payment of the remuneration for life. Christian Wulff, who was backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, announced last month that he was stepping down from the largely ceremonial post of president following allegations that he accepted favours from business leaders. A poll released by German public television found 84 per cent of those surveyed were opposed to the gratuity being paid to Wulff, who held the office for less than two years. In the meantime, a growing number of politicians have added their names to a chorus of calls for Wulff to waiver the annual payment. “It would be best if Mr Wulff was to forgo the gratuity or donate the money to charities,” one German lawmaker Juergen Koppelin told the daily Bild Zeitung yesterday. “This would help him to restore his credibility,” said Koppelin, who is a member of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), the junior member of Merkel’s ruling coalition. “Wulff should not accept the gratuity” said Heiko Maas, a leading member of the opposition Social Democrats (SPD). “He could finally send a signal of reason and regret,” he said. On Wednesday, officials of the president office’s administration ruled that the 52-year-old Wulff was entitled to receive 199,000 euros annually. The anti-corruption group Cleanstate also joined the storm of protest at the payment, telling Bild that it was planning legal action against the head of the administration of the president’s office, Lothar Hageboelling. — dpa Bob Carr Australia’s new foreign minister SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday named former state premier Bob Carr as foreign minister as she asserted her authority following a leadership challenge. Carr, the ex-leader of New South Wales, will become the nation’s top diplomat after Kevin Rudd suddenly resigned last week in order to take on Gillard and Senator Mark Arbib quit in the wake of Labor Party infighting. “I have put together a team that will best equip my government to pursue our priorities for the nation,” Gillard told reporters about the forced reshuffle. “Bob Carr will join the Senate, and will take on the role of Minister for Foreign Affairs.” Defence Minister Stephen Smith, who had been considered the frontrunner for Rudd’s old job, said the ministry make-up was a matter for Gillard and he was happy to continue to serve in his current position. The move follows a period of unprecedented rancour within Labor, with ministers dividing between the two candidates for the party leadership. Several ministers who backed Rudd — including Immigration Minister Chris Bowen and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson — kept their jobs but Robert Mc- Clelland was dumped as minister for emergency management. Carr said he admired Rudd, who lost the leadership ballot and returned to the backbenches, and would be seeking his advice on the role which sees him come back to politics. — AFP Inquiry for formation of media regulator SYDNEY — An Australian media inquiry called in the wake of the British phone-hacking scandal yesterday recommended a new statutory body to oversee the profession, drawing fire from the Murdoch press. In his report, retired Federal Court judge Ray Finkelstein said while there were avenues by which members of the public could complain about upsetting press coverage, these were currently underfunded and inadequate. “I have come to the conclusion that these mechanisms are not sufficient to achieve the degree of accountability desirable in a democracy,” said Finkelstein, who headed the inquiry ordered by the government. He recommended that a new statutory authority, a News Media Council, be established to set journalistic standards for the press in consultation with the industry, and handle complaints made by the public. The proposed council should have secure government funding and its decisions be binding, but be otherwise entirely independent, he said. “The establishment of a council is not about increasing the power of government or about imposing some form of censorship,” Finkelstein said. “It is about making the news media more accountable to those covered in the news, and to the public generally.” The inquiry was prompted by the phone-hacking scandal in Britain which saw Australian-born Rupert Murdoch close his best-selling tabloid News of the World. Canberra has denied it was a “witch-hunt” against the Murdoch press. The head of Murdoch’s Australian newspaper arm News Limited Kim Williams said the report deserved proper consideration but there was no role for government in adjudicating on whether a story was fair and balanced reporting. — AFP SPANISH Treasury and Public Administration Minister Cristobal Montoro (R) makes a point during a news conference in Madrid yesterday. — Reuters PRESIDENT of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov (L) and Austrian President Heinz Fischer in Vienna yesterday. MARINE Le Pen, France’s National Front head and campaign director Louis Aliot visit the 49th Paris International Farm Show at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris yesterday. — Reuters A BOY holding a crossbow sits on a woman’s shoulders during a rally of Swiss farmers association for a fair milk market in Bern yesterday. — Reuters BRITAIN’S former secretary of state for Energy Chris Huhne leaves a court in London yesterday. Huhne, 57, will stand trial in early October accused of perverting the course of justiced. — Reuters
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