OmanObserver_30-06-13

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24 INTERNATIONAL Activists from the Mortgage Victims Platform who are in support of the indebted Jose Antonio (unseen), throw pieces of paper during a protest occupying a Banco Popular ofice bank as a bank employee watches in Barcelona. Antonio said he took out a Banco Popular multi-currency mortgage for the amount of 390,000 euros in 2007 and his current debt is 588,000 euros. — Reuters EU clears Serbia membership talks BRUSSELS — EU leaders agreed they would soon open talks with Serbia on joining the bloc, as they wrapped up a two-day summit on Friday that also freed up billions of euros to battle youth unemployment. In what EU President Herman Van Rompuy hailed as a "productive" two days, leaders from the 27-country union said they would open accession talks with Serbia "by January at the latest." At the same time, they adopted a mandate to start talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Kosovo, which may eventually pave the way for membership negotiations of its own. The decision to start accession talks with Serbia was made possible after Belgrade made a pledge to normalise relations with its former breakaway province Kosovo. In Belgrade, Serbian premier Ivica Dacic welcomed the decision as "inal and historic", but said he wished talks would begin earlier than January. Dacic aims to bring his country into the EU fold within four to ive years, an ambitious target given the complexity of negotiations required to join the bloc. More than 1,000 nationalists marched in the Serbian capital to protest against the government's "concessions" over Kosovo in order to win Brussels support. "Serbian leaders are so spellbound with the European Union that they are betraying Kosovo for it," conservative opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica told the protesters. In spite of Europe's long and debilitating crisis, eastern European states continue to bid to join the bloc of 500 million people. Croatia will oficially join at midnight on Sunday, becoming the irst new arrival to the club since Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and only the second member after Slovenia of the former Yugoslavia since its bloody break-up in the 1990s. Van Rompuy described Croatia's impending accession as "truly an historic moment... for your government, for the citizens of your country" as well as "a milestone for the region as a whole." Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said his country's journey to EU membership had been a long one, "with a lot of scrutiny, a lot of checks and balances, a lot of chapters." But he vowed that Zagreb "will do anything and everything and beyond that to help and assist (...) our neighbours who are not members of the club yet," in a reference to Serbia. Analysts said the EU's opening to Serbia and the accession of Croatia are key milestones for the once wartorn Balkans but Brussels is pursuing a more cautious strategy than in past enlargements. British Prime Minister David Cameron saw it as "remarkable progress" that Balkan countries, which had been embroiled in a bloody war years ago, should now be lining up to join the EU. "I think when we look across the Balkans and remember the terrible things that happened there not so long ago, it is remarkable progress that countries are now joining the European Union or are preparing to join the European Union with a sense of peace and stability," the British leader told reporters. On the irst day of the meeting on Thursday, the summit had freed up 8.0 billion euros ($10.4 billion) in a drive to bring down high unemployment among the continent's youths. EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the decisions "will make a difference for our economies," insisting that the situation in Europe was "much better than a year ago." But the summit was not all plain sailing as leaders had to scramble to prevent Cameron from derailing the meeting over the tricky subject of the bloc's seven-year budget. Cameron rufled feathers going into the summit with sabre-rattling on the £3.1 billion annual UK rebate from the budget won in 1984 by Margaret Thatcher. Diplomats even accused Cameron of taking the summit hostage. But the British leader painted it in a very different light, arguing he had fended off attempts to whittle down part of the rebate. "In this town you have to be ready for an ambush at any minute," Cameron said, adding that accounting changes in how the rebate is calculated could have cost Britain £1.5 billion ($2.3 billion). By contrast, EU diplomats insisted it was only a technical issue at the summit and the changes affected only 50 million euros at most. — AFP From right: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny attend a press conference after the European Union leaders summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels. — Reuters SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2013 World Bank chief says no country immune from turmoil over inequality WASHINGTON — No country in the world is immune from unrest arising from poverty and inequality, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim (pictured below) said in an exclusive interview. The protests in Brazil, Turkey, and elsewhere show that even governments that have made signiicant efforts already cannot let up in programmes to help the poor, he said. "There's no country in the world that is immune from having this kind of citizen's movement rise up to demand even more," he said. "It shows that the power of civil society and the power of citizens to rise up is unlike anything we've seen in history. "We saw the Arab Spring, we're seeing it in Turkey, even in governments that have done so well in terms of paying attention to the needs of the poorest," he said. Kim, a South Korea-born American who took the lead of the World Bank one year ago, has made ighting extreme poverty the development institution's primary goal. He said the recent turmoil in Brazil and Turkey shows why governments cannot let up in their efforts to overcome inequality and boost the living standards of the poorest. In Brazil, protests started over a hike in bus fares but quickly snowballed into a larger movement against corruption, with demonstrators criticising the billions of dollars the government is spending to host the football World Cup next year. "We have to recognise how much Brazil has done for the poorest," Kim said on Thursday in the Bank's Washington headquarters. "Brazil has done a lot but there's still a lot of inequality left... Brazil really has to think hard about what it needs to do next for the next stage of economic growth." Kim, a 53-year-old medical doctor, announced earlier this year an ambitious goal to reduce extreme poverty to three per cent or less of the world's population by 2030. He was adamant about setting such a challenge. "There are still 1.2 billion people Fitch keeps US rating at AAA, outlook negative WASHINGTON — Ratings agency Fitch kept its AAA credit rating for the United States on a negative outlook, despite improvements in Washington's iscal picture. Fitch said the country still merited the top-level triple-A rating due to its "strong economic and credit fundamentals", underpinned by the US dollar's role as the world's leading reserve currency. But the negative outlook — which raises the chance of a near-term downgrade — was merited due to what Fitch called "continuing uncertainty" over whether the government would act to reduce its debt over the medium and long term. Fitch also cited near-term risks in the looming, simultaneous political battle over raising the country's debt ceiling and passing a federal budget. It said the US economic recovery is gaining traction, helped by deleveraging in the private sector, a rebound in housing and a slow fall in unemployment. The economy "remains more dynamic and resilient to shocks than its high-grade rating peers." At the same time, it warned, the country remains the most heavily indebted country with an AAA credit grade. living in the world with less than $1.25 a day, and this is a stain on our collective conscience," he said. "I think high expectations is exactly what we should have." "We cannot leave anyone behind. We have to think about fragile and conlict-affected areas like Mali and the entire Sahel region," he said. "That goal is going to give us the sense of urgency that we didn't have before." Despite recent turmoil, he said emerging economies have been very important for the global economy, propping up world growth while Europe contracts. "It's important not to overreact to ups and downs in the growth numbers for countries like China and Turkey." For instance, he said, "Turkey has done a great job in terms of distributing the beneits of economic growth over the years." "Every country now has to sit back and think about what it needs to do to set the foundations for boosting the long-term growth." The World Bank itself needs to change the way it works, and act more boldly, to take up the ight to end poverty, Kim said. An internal document seen by AFP cited a "culture of fear" within the massive organisation, with close to 10,000 employees around the world. The bank has over the years developed "a culture of extreme risk aversion," Kim admitted. "I'm trying to change the culture... The bottom line is that development is a risky business," he said. "We're focusing on encouraging risk-taking." Under Kim the bank has also stepped up its efforts to combat global warming and its far-ranging effects. That creates a challenge, as many people believe that economic growth would be held back by restrictions on carbon emissions, claims rejected by Kim. "Leaders all over the world are saying: we have to ind ways to boost growth and reduce our carbon footprints." — AFP Even if public debt has been stabilised, it said, the high debt burden "still render(s) the US economy and public inances vulnerable to adverse shocks." "In the absence of additional spending reform and revenue measures, deicits and debt will begin to rise again at the end of the decade," Fitch said. It said that it would review the rating by the end of the year, warning that failure to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner — before fresh spending cutbacks would be forced to keep up payments — would "Likely lead to a downgrade." The Treasury has said it can function under the current $16.7 billion ceiling through at least the beginning of September. — AFP
RUGBY P26 Halfpenny miss hands Wallabies victory >> FOOTBALL P28 Spain seek supremacy in Brazil’s backyard P26 Hamilton storms to pole position at British GP Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel (left), Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (centre) and Nico Rosberg celebrate after the British Formula One Grand Prix qualifying session at the Silverstone circuit yesterday. — AFP www.omanobserver.om SILVERSTONE, England — Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position for his home British Formula One Grand Prix yesterday with German team-mate Nico Rosberg qualifying alongside him in an all-Mercedes front row. The 2008 world champion, chasing his irst win for Mercedes after leaving McLaren last year, started the session with a wave for the crowd from the pit wall and ended it with the fans saluting him. "Storming job there, Lewis, storming job," the team told him over the radio. The pole was the 28th of Hamilton's career and Mercedes' ifth in eight races. "The crowd do make a huge difference... I come here with an extra boost of energy. I just want to pay them back," said Hamilton, who also qualiied on pole at Silverstone in his debut 2007 season and won in 2008. Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel qualiied third and will share the second row with teammate Mark Webber, in what will be the Australian's last British race before quitting Formula One at the end of the year. Britain's Paul Di Resta for Force India and young Australian Daniel Ricciardo, the Toro Rosso driver bidding for Webber's drive next year, will line up together on the third row. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, 36 points behind Vettel in the championship, qualiied 10th in a disappointing performance from the Italian team, who had Brazilian Felipe Massa in 12th place. McLaren had another miserable qualifying, with 2009 world champion Jenson Button 11th on the grid and Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez 14th. Former champions Williams, who have made their home race a celebration of their 600 grands prix in the sport, fared even more dismally. Finland's Valtteri Bottas failed to make it through the irst phase and qualiied 17th behind Venezuelan teammate Pastor Maldonado in 16th. — Reuters Rossi triumphs in Assen ASSEN, Netherlands — Yamaha's Valentino Rossi claimed his irst victory since 2010 at the Dutch Grand Prix yesterday and world champion Jorge Lorenzo inished ifth two days after breaking his collarbone. Italian seven-time world champion Rossi took the lead on the sixth lap at Assen and was never overtaken, sealing maximum points ahead of Spain's Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow, the irst Briton to start from pole position since 2002. Lorenzo made a remarkable return to action following his high-speed crash in wet conditions in practice on Thursday. The Spaniard underwent surgery on Friday and started 12th on the grid. World championship leader Dani Pedrosa was fourth to extend his advantage over Lorenzo to nine points after seven of 18 rounds. — Reuters P27 P28 Sunday JUNE 30, 2013 | SHAABAN 21, 1434 AH Inside Kittel wins carsh-marred Tour opener India wary of confident Windies Park two ahead at US Women’s Open editor@omanobserver.om Looking for car, flat and furniture? Check out the Observer classified pages. It’s where buyers meet sellers.
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