2011年6月26日星期日

Teenage UK hacking suspect jailed until Monday (AP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

LONDON – A British teenager accused of attacks on a series of websites is being kept in custody until a Monday bail hearing.

Ryan Cleary was granted bail by City of Westminster Magistrate's Court on Saturday, but prosecutors have appealed the move, meaning he must remain behind bars.

The 19-year-old is accused of a series of cyberattacks last year linked to the amorphous hacking group known as Anonymous and a more recent attack on the website of Britain's FBI equivalent, the Serious Organized Crime Agency.

If he's granted bail Monday it would be on condition that he not access the Internet.


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Nadal into Wimbledon last 16 (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

LONDON (AFP) – Defending champion Rafael Nadal reached the Wimbledon last 16 on Saturday with a 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 win over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

Nadal will face either Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina or Gilles Simon of France for a place in the quarter-finals.

It was a satisfying win for Nadal, who had lost to Muller in the second round at Wimbledon in 2005, the last time the two had faced each other.

"It was a difficult match," Nadal said. "I didn't have a chance to break him. But I'm happy about how I played the tie breaks, especially my serve. So I'm very happy with my performance."

Remarkably Nadal made only three unforced errors throughout the match, which resumed on Court One after rain halted play following the first set on Friday.

The second set was almost identical to the first, with neither player giving an inch on serve to force a tie-break.

Nadal's class told in the tie-break however, and he forged into a two-set lead when a Muller backhand into the net gave him a set point at 6/5 which the Spanish world number one duly converted to go 2-0 up.

The tie-break loss shattered Muller's resolve and Nadal scored three consecutive breaks and held to wrap up the third set 6-0 in only 31 minutes to advance to the next round.


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Sri Lanka win toss and field against England (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

BRISTOL, England (AFP) – Sri Lanka captain Thilina Kandamby won the toss and elected to field against England in the lone Twenty20 international here on Saturday.

Both sides were being led by first time captains with Stuart Broad replacing the dropped Paul Collingwood as skipper of England's World Twenty20 winning side while Kandamby was leading Sri Lanka in the ongoing absence of Tillakaratne Dilshan with a broken thumb.

England gave Twenty20 international debuts to spin bowling all-rounder Samit Patel and seamer Jade Dernbach. Meanwhile they recalled Ravi Bopara in place of in-form batsman Ian Bell.

The match also saw the return of England's World Twenty20-winning opening pair of Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb.

England beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in the preceding three-Test match series following the rain-affected draw at the Rose Bowl this week.

Sri Lanka welcomed back several players who missed the Tests through retirement from the five-day format or injury including fast bowler Lasith Malinga, all-rounder Angelo Mathews and Sanath Jayasuriya.

Veteran batsman Jayasuriya, controversially, is set to play in just this match and the first of five one-day internationals at The Oval on Tuesday, rather than the whole series, before retiring from international cricket.

Jayasuriya, now an MP, has reportedly been given a recall after nearly two years out of international cricket due to political interference.

England: Craig Kieswetter (wkt), Michael Lumb, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Luke Wright, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad (capt), Graeme Swann, Jade Dernbach

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby (capt), Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Suraj Randiv, Suranga Lakmal

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) and Nigel Llong (ENG)

TV umpire: Robert Bailey (ENG)

Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)


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Britain has no E.coli cases: food watchdog (AFP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

LONDON (AFP) – Britain's food watchdog said on Saturday there were no cases of E.coli poisoning in the country after France linked vegetable seeds sold by a British company to a French outbreak.

"No cases of food poisoning have been reported in the UK linked with the outbreak in France," the Food Standards Agency said in a statement.

"We have asked for further information from the French authorities... to help us carry out investigations in the UK," it added.

Frederic Lefebvre, French secretary of state for consumer affairs, on Friday linked seed sprouts sold by British company Thompson & Morgan to ten suspected cases of E.coli poisoning in Bordeaux, southwestern France.

The majority of those taken ill were hospitalised, suffering from bloody diarrhea.

While health officials said tests showed two people were infected by the same potentially deadly strain of E.coli as that found recently in Germany, they have not said whether there is a link between the two outbreaks.

Lefebvre called for the Thompson & Morgan's mustard and rocket seed sprouts to be withdrawn from sale while an analysis was conducted.

However he stressed that "the link between the symptoms and eating of the sprouts... has not been definitively established."

Thompson & Morgan, based in the town of Ipswich, eastern England, have not yet responded to AFP inquiries over the accusations.

An outbreak of a killer strain of E. coli bacteria in Germany has killed at least 43 people, health authorities there said. That outbreak is blamed on organic vegetable sprouts grown in northern Germany.


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Armenia, Azerbaijan talks produce little progress (AP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
By MANSUR MIROVALEV and LYNN BERRY, Associated Press Mansur Mirovalev And Lynn Berry, Associated Press – Fri?Jun?24, 3:15?pm?ET

MOSCOW – The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan failed on Friday to approve a set of basic principles for a peaceful settlement to their long-standing dispute over the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, despite U.S. and Russian efforts to mediate the conflict in the strategic Caucasus region.

The war over the predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan ended in 1994 leaving 30,000 dead and more than 1 million displaced. Since then, talks to resolve one of the most worrisome "frozen conflicts" in the former Soviet Union have dragged on with the enclave controlled by Armenian and separatist forces.

Hopes were high for Friday's Kremlin-hosted talks in the Volga River city of Kazan on approving the set of basic principles, but after three hours of talks the parties reported little progress.

Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's President Serge Sarkisian said they "reached an understanding on a number of issues" but provided no details.

Both leaders face fierce domestic pressure not to compromise, but their countries also have been eager to overcome the consequences of the war.

President Barack Obama spoke to the leaders by telephone on Thursday and urged them to endorse the basic principles and take a "decisive step toward a peaceful settlement."

Ambassador Robert Bradtke, the U.S. diplomat involved in international efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, described the talks as "probably the most important point in the process since 2001, when there were efforts made to get a peace agreement at Key West."

Both separatist and Azeri governments report sporadic skirmishes and shootings of each other's servicemen on the border.

Azerbaijan, an energy-rich, predominantly Muslim country on the Caspian Sea, has struggled to cope with the hundreds of thousands of people driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas that also fell under Armenian control.

Impoverished, landlocked and mostly Christian Armenia has been hurt economically by Turkey's closing of the border in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan. Turkey shares close ethnic and linguistic ties with Azeris. An agreement between Turkey and Armenia in 2009 intended to open the way to diplomatic ties and the reopening of the border foundered over Turkey's demand that Armenian troops withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh.

In the Communist era, Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous region within Soviet Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh is a Russian-Turkish term that means "mountainous black garden." Ethnic Armenians that now account for virtually the entire population, call the region Artsakh.

Before becoming part of czarist Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan had long been dominated by Iran and Ottoman Turkey.


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Diplomats draw up plans for post-Gadhafi Libya (AP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

LONDON – International officials and Libya's opposition have drawn up detailed plans to rebuild the North African nation's economy and society following the removal of Moammar Gadhafi, British diplomats said Friday.

Preparations for maintaining law and order, resuming oil production and the potential deployment of U.N. peacekeepers as cease-fire monitors have all been drafted during talks over the last month, which have also discussed how officials currently tied to Gadhafi's regime could be integrated into an interim administration.

A senior British diplomat, who demanded anonymity to discuss the work, said Friday that a team of officials from the U.K., United States, Italy, Turkey, Denmark and other nations has spent several weeks in eastern Libya discussing scenarios with opposition leaders.

"We are planning carefully and comprehensively for the days, weeks and months after Gadhafi has gone," the diplomat said.

The plans, which are expected to be completed next week, include a proposed timetable for resuming oil production in Libya's east. Officials believe there is little serious damage there to hamper production and predict work could begin again three to four weeks after Gadhafi leaves office.

The team also has discussed developing Libya's civil society institutions.

Draft proposals "will inform the international effort, led by the U.N., in response to the requirements expressed by the Libyan people," the diplomat said.

Libya's Transitional National Council intends to run the country until parliamentary and presidential elections can take place — a process that is expected to take many months to prepare for.

The British diplomat acknowledged officials have been mindful of recent failures in post-conflict planning. The U.S. and Britain have been sharply criticized over preparations in Iraq for the fall of Saddam Hussein.

"We have learned the lessons of previous conflicts, this is precisely why the U.K. has been at the forefront of supporting the Libyan people's preparations," the diplomat said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had faith in the ability of the Libyan opposition to guide the country toward democratic elections.

"I believe we need to show real support for the Transitional National Council, who I believe are demonstrating they are not extremists, they are not Islamists, they are not tribal. They want a united Libya, but a more democratic Libya," he said, speaking at a European Union summit in Brussels.

Military officials and diplomats in Britain insisted that Gadhafi is being eased out of power, despite his refusal to quit so far.

British military spokesman Maj. Gen. Nick Pope told reporters that a meeting on Tuesday in London of the nations involved in the air campaign in Libya had underscored their resolve. The talks had illustrated the "determination to carry the operation through to a successful conclusion," Pope said.

Attack helicopters and fighter jets have flown 12,000 sorties and struck about 2,400 targets since the campaign began on March 19, he said.

The British diplomat insisted that pressure would soon force Gadhafi to step down. "The anger against him is simmering. The question is not if he will go, but when," he said.

Meanwhile, at the European Union summit on Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy derided the low U.S. profile in the international campaign in Libya, saying that France and Britain are carrying most of the burden and will stay until Gadhafi leaves.

While other European leaders pushed for a political solution in Libya, the French leader strongly defended the NATO-led military operation — and NATO itself. He rebutted comments by U.S. Defense Minister Robert Gates that the alliance's future could be in doubt because of European reluctance to exercise military might.

"I wouldn't say that the bulk of the work in Libya is being done by our American friends," Sarkozy told reporters at the summit. "The French and English and their allies are doing the work."

The United States has insisted on a backseat role in Libya. It led the initial coalition airstrikes in March, but in April withdrew U.S. forces from the direct combat role, limiting them to battlefield surveillance, aerial tanking and other support roles.

Seven NATO members are now participating in air strikes: Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, Norway, Denmark and Italy. But, as Gates said, most of NATO's 28 members, including Germany, have refused to join the strike mission in Libya.

Sarkozy wouldn't give a timeline for an eventual end to the 3-month-old air campaign, saying that would play into Gadhafi's hands and "I don't think that would be constructive."

"Things are progressing. I would have liked them to progress more quickly, but they are progressing," he said. "We must continue until Mr. Gadhafi leaves."

There has been mounting frustration in European capitals over the rising costs of NATO's military campaign at a time of severe financial austerity, and over the alliance's failure to deal a knockout blow to Gadhafi's forces, despite an overwhelming advantage in firepower.

After Sarkozy and Cameron briefed the other EU leaders on the Libya campaign, other EU leaders were keen to stress political solutions.

____

Angela Charlton and Slobodan Lekic contributed to this report from the EU summit in Brussels.


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PETA urges pope to say no to leather in popemobile (AP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

ROME – An animal rights group has urged Pope Benedict XVI to "truly go green" and insist that the next popemobile is made without leather.

PETA said it has written to the pope with the request following the Vatican's confirmation Wednesday that Germany's Mercedes-Benz auto company is making a study of a hybrid, energy-saving popemobile. The car would replace the current Mercedes vehicle used when the pope travels abroad.

PETA spokeswoman Ashley Gonzalez says leather production is not only "toxic to the environment, it's also hell for cows."

The letter, which is dated June, 22 and also sent to The Associated Press, said PETA counts many Catholics among its members and suggested that a leather-free car could "help the environment and prevent animal suffering."

The Vatican press office said Friday it hadn't seen the letter and couldn't comment.

Benedict has made conserving resources an important concern of his papacy. Vatican officials say a green popemobile would be a sign of his efforts to promote sustainable energy and take care of the planet.

When he is outside the Vatican, Benedict usually rides in a modified white Mercedes-Benz outfitted with bulletproof windows. It has room for two passengers in addition to the pope, who sits on an elevated chair to wave to crowds.

Through the years, a number of different models have been donated to the Vatican.


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EU-bound Croatia marks 20 years of independence (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

ZAGREB (AFP) – Croatia on Saturday celebrated 20 years of independence, buoyed by an offer from the European Union to take in the former Yugoslav republic as its 28th member in 2013.

"We celebrate two decades of Croatia's modern statehood strengthened by the success in achieving a strategic goal -- Croatia's return home, where we belong, to Europe," Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor told a special government session in Zagreb.

She stressed that the goal was marked out "two decades ago when we took our independent path."

Croatia and its neighbour Slovenia declared their independence from communist Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991 -- heralding the start of the multi-ethnic federation's break-up in a series of wars in the 1990s.

A recent opinion poll showed that although 38 percent of Slovenians and 43 percent of Croatians believed they lived in worse conditions than 20 years ago, more than 90 percent in both countries said the decision for independence had been the right one.

"It was the only path because the former country did not function any more. Unfortunately our political elites were not up to the task so today we are not where we had hoped to be -- neither economically nor socially," Nenad Todoric, 49, told AFP in Zagreb.

Marta Dujmovic echoed his view, shared by many ordinary Croatians.

"Much more should have been done, taking into account our potential, only if they were not stealing so much," the 44-year-old administrator said, referring to widespread corruption and abuse of power.

EU leaders said on Friday that after "intensive efforts", Croatia was ready to conclude lengthy accession talks by the end of June, paving the way for it to join the bloc on July 1, 2013.

The move, which raised the hopes of other Balkan nations aspiring to join the EU, came 16 years after the end of Croatia's 1991-1995 war.

While Slovenia was allowed to go its own way after 10 days of clashes, Croatia faced fierce opposition from Belgrade-backed rebel Serbs who opposed its independence.

The 1991-1995 war claimed some 20,000 lives and Saturday's ceremonies will include a gathering of top officials in the eastern town of Vukovar, which was captured by rebel Serb forces backed by the Yugoslav army after a brutal three-month-long siege. The town has become a symbol of Croatia's suffering during the war.

Croatia was held back following the war by the authoritarian and nationalist rule of the country's first president, Franjo Tudjman.

As well as thwarting democratic reforms, Tudjman's regime allowed fraudulent privatisations that nearly ruined the country's economy, already hard-hit by the war.

It was after Tudjman's death in December 1999 that Croatia started its transformation into a genuine parliamentary democracy striving to join Europe.

Croatia will be the second former Yugoslav republic to join the EU after Slovenia, which has been a member of the bloc since 2004.

However, many ordinary Croats do not share the enthusiasm.

A recent poll showed an increase of EU supporters to 51.2 percent but opponents, on 42.7 percent, remain a strong force.

"The EU is a necessary option if we want to make progress. However, I'm not certain how it will really change things for the better," Dora Plenic, a 21-year-old law student, said.

Later on Saturday, President Ivo Josipovic is to host a dinner in Zagreb for his Slovenian and Hungarian counterparts, Danilo Turk and Pal Schmitt.

Yugoslavia consisted of six republics -- Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. All of them are now independent states, including Kosovo, although Belgrade does not recognise its former southern province.


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IAEA chief considers invitation to visit Iran (AP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

VIENNA – The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed being invited to visit Iran. But he says he will go only if there is hope of resolving major differences over the Islamic Republic's atomic activities.

Yukiya Amano says the prospect of "a constructive, concrete result is needed" for him to take up the invitation issued Tuesday by Iran's nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi.

Iran has for years stonewalled IAEA efforts to probe suspicions that Iran has worked on components of a nuclear weapons program. It also refuses to freeze uranium enrichment, despite four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions meant to pressure Tehran to stop the program and other activities that could be used for weapons.

Iran says it does not want nuclear arms and is enriching only to make reactor fuel.


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EU-bound Croatia marks 20 years of independence (AFP)

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

ZAGREB (AFP) – Croatia on Saturday celebrated 20 years of independence, buoyed by an offer from the European Union to take in the former Yugoslav republic as its 28th member in 2013.

"We celebrate two decades of Croatia's modern statehood strengthened by the success in achieving a strategic goal -- Croatia's return home, where we belong, to Europe," Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor told a special government session in Zagreb.

She stressed that the goal was marked out "two decades ago when we took our independent path."

Croatia and its neighbour Slovenia declared their independence from communist Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991 -- heralding the start of the multi-ethnic federation's break-up in a series of wars in the 1990s.

A recent opinion poll showed that although 38 percent of Slovenians and 43 percent of Croatians believed they lived in worse conditions than 20 years ago, more than 90 percent in both countries said the decision for independence had been the right one.

"It was the only path because the former country did not function any more. Unfortunately our political elites were not up to the task so today we are not where we had hoped to be -- neither economically nor socially," Nenad Todoric, 49, told AFP in Zagreb.

Marta Dujmovic echoed his view, shared by many ordinary Croatians.

"Much more should have been done, taking into account our potential, only if they were not stealing so much," the 44-year-old administrator said, referring to widespread corruption and abuse of power.

EU leaders said on Friday that after "intensive efforts", Croatia was ready to conclude lengthy accession talks by the end of June, paving the way for it to join the bloc on July 1, 2013.

The move, which raised the hopes of other Balkan nations aspiring to join the EU, came 16 years after the end of Croatia's 1991-1995 war.

While Slovenia was allowed to go its own way after 10 days of clashes, Croatia faced fierce opposition from Belgrade-backed rebel Serbs who opposed its independence.

The 1991-1995 war claimed some 20,000 lives and Saturday's ceremonies will include a gathering of top officials in the eastern town of Vukovar, which was captured by rebel Serb forces backed by the Yugoslav army after a brutal three-month-long siege. The town has become a symbol of Croatia's suffering during the war.

Croatia was held back following the war by the authoritarian and nationalist rule of the country's first president, Franjo Tudjman.

As well as thwarting democratic reforms, Tudjman's regime allowed fraudulent privatisations that nearly ruined the country's economy, already hard-hit by the war.

It was after Tudjman's death in December 1999 that Croatia started its transformation into a genuine parliamentary democracy striving to join Europe.

Croatia will be the second former Yugoslav republic to join the EU after Slovenia, which has been a member of the bloc since 2004.

However, many ordinary Croats do not share the enthusiasm.

A recent poll showed an increase of EU supporters to 51.2 percent but opponents, on 42.7 percent, remain a strong force.

"The EU is a necessary option if we want to make progress. However, I'm not certain how it will really change things for the better," Dora Plenic, a 21-year-old law student, said.

Later on Saturday, President Ivo Josipovic is to host a dinner in Zagreb for his Slovenian and Hungarian counterparts, Danilo Turk and Pal Schmitt.

Yugoslavia consisted of six republics -- Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. All of them are now independent states, including Kosovo, although Belgrade does not recognise its former southern province.


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2011年6月25日星期六

Bulgaria: Border guards against cherry thieves (AP)

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在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中,找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件,或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

KONYAVO, Bulgaria – Bulgarian forces with night-vision goggles appear to be winning an extraordinary fight over thieves seeking to make off with this year's lucrative cherry harvest.

For many years, the thieves had little trouble raiding Bulgarian cherry farms at night. But that was before the "cherry war" by police and border guards. This season, police say, few thieves have got away with the fruit in a poor western region known as Bulgaria's "cherry orchard," and the farmers are feeling optimistic.

Sylvia Hristova, whose family relies almost entirely on cherry production, said their income appears safe from thieves this spring and she is overjoyed. "The cherries are our bread and butter, after all," she said.

Before the government-funded battle began, thieves raided the orchards across the region at night, picking most of the fruit and making easy money by selling it the next day at the markets in nearby cities.

Farmers could find no way of stopping them.

Two years ago, Plamen Momchilov, a 46-year-old farmer, was killed by cherry thieves as he tried to keep them out of his orchard. Later, nine thieves were arrested and confessed to beating Momchilov to death with sticks and shovel handles. They were sentenced to 99 years in prison but are currently free pending an appeal.

The attack stirred outrage in the region, prompting authorities to impose this season's tough measures aimed at protecting farmers' property. The police and border guards are using night-vision equipment to keep cherry farms under surveillance and to protect them from thieves.

The sleepy village of Konyavo is one of the beneficiaries. Home to 1,000 people, they live in a poor area near Macedonia's border in a green valley between hills of the Konyavska Mountain. It is one of 30 villages in the Kyustendil region, where the fruit provides a livelihood for farmers. About 6,500 tons of fruit are picked in the region every season, with the bulk being exported to Germany and Italy.

During this cherry season, which lasts from mid-May to the end of June, the region has turned into a war zone with roadblocks in the outskirts of the villages and police searching all vehicles for stolen fruit. The control checkpoints are staffed from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., after which border police with night-vision equipment guard the area.

Katya Tabachka, a police spokeswoman in Kyustendil, said the normal work of border police has not suffered because of the additional assignment. "Border guards are working extra time for which they will be compensated," she said.

Tabachka also said this season no major thefts of cherries have been reported in the region.

"There were just three minor incidents with people carrying small amounts of cherries for which they had no proof that they were legally bought," she said in an interview.

Many farmers have welcomed the intervention and hope such security will root out plundering for good.

"We are investing a lot of hard work all year long just to see the fruits of this work disappear," said Stoyan Stoev, proudly pointing at his trees with ripe cherries.

"I wouldn't mind if they stole a few pounds, but instead of picking them properly they hack off entire branches damaging the trees and affecting next year's production."


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Pilgrims gather at Christian shrine site in Bosnia (AP)

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MEDJUGORJE, Bosnia-Herzegovina – Thousands of Christian pilgrims have gathered in the southern Bosnian village of Medjugorje to mark the 30th anniversary of the disputed apparition of the Virgin Mary.

At dawn Saturday, pilgrims from around the world climbed a hill above Medjugorje where six children claimed in 1981 they had the visions.

The Medjugorje apparition has been disputed for decades. Unlike Fatima in Portugal or Lourdes in France, the Roman Catholic church is cautious about calling the sightings authentic, and has not formally approved Medjugorje as a shrine site.

The Vatican last year started formally investigating the apparitions that the six — now adults — claim are still regular.

But the lack of official recognition has not stopped the remote village from thriving, through communism and then war. Some 40 million faithful have visited its shrine so far.


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Ukraine's ex-PM faces abuse-of-office trial (AP)

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KIEV, Ukraine – Former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko went on trial Friday on charges of abuse of office, insisting during a chaotic hearing in a small and stiflingly hot courtroom that the case is a plot by the nation's president to keep her out of politics.

Tymoshenko, 50, clad in a beige suit with her signature blond braid wrapped around her head, said President Viktor Yanukovych is seeking to bar her from upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections as a convicted felon.

But the 2004 Orange Revolution heroine, now the country's top opposition leader, said she would not be quiet: "My voice will be even louder from prison because the whole world will hear me."

Confusion reigned in the crammed, poorly air-conditioned courtroom. Tymoshenko's supporters continuously disrupted proceedings, ignoring the judge's demand to respect the court.

They shouted "Shame, shame!" through a loudspeaker, and insulted the court and authorities, including calling one of the prosecutors a witch. One supporter used water to twice douse a pro-government lawmaker, a fierce opponent of Tymoshenko who came to support the prosecution, then insisted it was an accident. Tymoshenko's supporters also scuffled briefly with a small group of Tymoshenko's opponents who were forced out of the room.

More than 100 journalists, supporters and opponents packed the hall in Kiev's Pechersk district court. Most attendees had to climb on top of narrow wooden benches to see and hear the proceedings and took turns standing near a window for fresh air. Sweat dripped from Judge Rodion Kireyev's face and his hair was wet.

Tymoshenko's lawyer, Serhyi Vlasov, pleaded with the court for a short break to change into a new shirt because his was soaking wet. A young woman in the courtroom briefly fainted and was escorted out.

The United States and the European Union have condemned the cases against Tymoshenko and a number of her top allies as selective prosecution of political opponents.

"When the senior leadership of an opposition party is the focus of prosecutions out of proportion with other political figures, this does create the appearance of a political motive," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Jose Manuel Pinton Teixeira, the EU's ambassador to Ukraine, who attended the trial together with a group of other foreign diplomats, said the conditions in the courtroom were horrendous. "I cannot give a political assessment of this case, but the conditions of this trial are inhumane," Teixeira told reporters as he headed out.

Tymoshenko has been charged with abuse of office for signing a deal with Moscow in 2009 to buy Russian natural gas at prices investigators said were too high and without authorization to sign the deal by the members of her Cabinet. Prosecutors say her actions have cost the government 3.5 billion hryvnas ($440 million or euro310 million) in damages.

Tymoshenko denies the charges, saying that she didn't need such permission as the premier and that the deal ended a bitter pricing war with Moscow that led to disruptions in natural gas supply across Europe.

Tymoshenko, who carried an Orthodox Christian icon and a prayer book into the courtroom, refused to stand up when addressing the judge, as required, saying the court was not worthy of her respect.

"I declare you a puppet of the presidential office," Tymoshenko told the judge. "You don't have the right to consider this case. You are fully integrated into a system of political repression directed by authorities."

Tymoshenko was the central figure in the 2004 mass protests dubbed the Orange Revolution that threw out Yanukovych's fraud-tainted presidential election victory and brought a pro-Western government to power. She became prime minister but Ukrainians grew frustrated over economic hardships, slow reforms and endless bickering in the Orange camp and she lost to Kremlin-friendly Yanukovych in the 2010 presidential election.

Many Tymoshenko allies also have faced official charges recently, which she describes as part of the government's efforts to weaken the opposition.

Her former economics minister, who faced corruption allegations over the reconstruction of Kiev's airport, was granted political asylum in the Czech Republic in January. The former interior minister has been in jail for six months on charges that he defrauded the government when he hired a driver who was too old and paid him illegal bonuses.

David J. Kramer, executive director of the Washington-based democracy watchdog Freedom House, said the case against Tymoshenko "suggests more an effort by the Prosecutor General's office to find something, anything to go after her."

"They don't seem to be taking ... as aggressive an approach to others, including current government officials," he told The Associated Press.

Few think that Tymoshenko could be sentenced to prison, but observers say a suspended sentence would also keep her out of the next year's parliamentary elections and the 2015 presidential vote.

"I think that it is aimed to make politics devoid of competition, as Yanukovych wants, to liquidate the opposition, to liquidate any dissent," Tymoshenko told reporters during a break in the court session.

The court rejected several motions by Tymoshenko's defense team, including to dismiss the judge and send the case back to the prosecutors. Tymoshenko also requested to be tried by a jury; the court has yet to rule on that plea.

The trial will continue Saturday.


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UN food agency to elect new chief (AP)

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ROME – Representatives at the Food and Agriculture Organization vote this weekend to give the largest U.N. agency its first new chief in almost two decades — an election that comes at a time of critically high food prices and malnutrition across the world.

Six candidates from as many nations are vying for the top job at the Rome-based agency, but the race is likely to come down to a battle between two men: a Brazilian who had a leading role in his country's campaign against poverty and hunger and a Spaniard who has served as his nation's top diplomat.

The new chief will succeed Jacques Diouf of Senegal, who was first elected in 1993, a long tenure that sparked reforms limiting the mandates of the secretary-general.


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Nets owner Prokhorov elected Russian party chief (AP)

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MOSCOW – Russian tycoon and New Jersey Nets basketball team owner Mikhail Prokhorov was confirmed Saturday as the new head of a Kremlin-friendly political party.

The 46-year-old billionaire was all but unanimously elected head of the Right Cause party by its members.

Right Cause is seen as a Kremlin creation designed to lure opposition-minded, pro-business voters, while building an illusion of competition with the ruling United Russia party ahead December's parliamentary elections.

Prokhorov said last month he was targeting second place in that vote.

President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that Russia needs more political competition, but the Justice Ministry made a mockery of that only days later when it denied registration to a real opposition party.

Addressing party members on Saturday, Prokhorov underlined that Right Cause would focus on building a viable capitalism in Russia, but — perhaps wary of alienating older voters accustomed to state support — he added socialism still had its place in Russian society.

"Our main slogan, 'Capitalism for all,' is not true. That's not possible. Capitalism is only for people who like to take risks, who like to take this responsibility upon themselves. An intelligent, professional and fair state should give others social guarantees and support," Prokhorov said.

Much like fellow tycoon Alexander Lebedev, who has invested heavily in British media, Prokhorov on the surface appears to be walking proof that Russia can cultivate modern business professionals, and he plays an ambassadorial role for his homeland as an investment haven.

But some critics say these are merely PR counterweights to cases like Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, who was jailed on charges seen as politically motivated after he funded opposition parties and threatened to sell off major assets to American companies. The Khodorkovsky case was seen as mammoth blow to the country's aspirations to become a major investment hub.

Prokhorov, with a net worth thought to be around $18 billion, made his fortune in metals and banking, and became a majority stakeholder in the New Jersey Nets in May of last year.

On Saturday, a few hundred supporters of the opposition party whose registration was rejected protested the decision in central Moscow.

The People's Freedom Party, whose leaders include former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and former deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, had hoped to take part in the parliamentary vote. The Justice Ministry claimed some of the signatories required by law to support the application were dead or had been included without their knowledge.

No arrests were reported at the rally.


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Vettel edges team-mate Webber for European pole (AFP)

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VALENCIA, Spain (AFP) – German world champion Sebastian Vettel will start from pole position in Sunday's Formula One European Grand Prix after the Red Bull driver was fastest in qualifying here on Saturday.

The 23-year-old German, who is the runaway leader of this year's drivers' championship, was the only man to clock a lap in less than one minute and 37 seconds as he outpaced his team-mate Australian Mark Webber to take his 22nd pole spot.

Webber is the only other driver in this year's eight qualifying sessions to have claimed a pole position start and he did so on Saturday with a big push on his second run in the top-ten shootout.

Vettel made clear he could carry this boost to his confidence into Sunday's race to erase the disappointment of his last-lap mistake - costing him victory - in Canada two weeks ago.

"It's a very good day for us," he said. "Both cars on the front row is just what we wanted because it is very tough here. There are 25 corners and it is a long race so we need to be there.

"This has been a great result for us - just what we wanted and what we need for tomorrow. It is so difficult to get the perfect lap here."

Webber said that he couldn't wait for the race to get underway.

"That was pretty good. There are so many corners here. It would be great to put it all together in one perfect lap, but that's not easy," said the 34-year-old Australian.

"That said, I am really looking forward to this race."

Webber's final lap charge lifted him up the grid to the front row leaving Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren in third ahead of two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari back in fourth place ahead of his team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa.

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate and fellow-Briton Jenson Button was sixth ahead of Germans Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes team-mate seven-times champion Michael Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld of Renault and Adrian Sutil of Force India.

Hamilton and Button had differing feelings after the session.

"I wasn't expecting to be so high up the grid as this, after practice, so I am definitely satisfied," said Hamilton, who has had a frustrating season thusfar being hauled in front of the stewards on several occasions.

"The guys did a great job to analyse the data and an amazing job with the car. My first lap was not too bad and I tried to improve on the next one, but then I just had to bail out."

Button, by contrast, was deflated having come into this weekend on the back of a stunning win in Canada.

"It's not very good. The car felt pretty good in Q2 but then in Q3, I had massive over-steer. I don't know why, but I just couldn't get any rear grip. It's not great but we'll still have a good race."


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US students help restore Kosovo's Jewish cemetery (AP)

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PRISTINA, Kosovo – A row of tombstones etched in Hebrew script neatly lines a meadow overlooking Kosovo's capital Pristina where barely a week ago children played soccer.

For a week, U.S. students from Dartmouth College joined their Kosovo peers from the American University in Kosovo in clearing debris and cutting overgrown grass at this neglected Jewish cemetery, a lone remaining sign of a dwindling community in this majority Muslim country.

Ever since the end Kosovo's 1998-1999 war, these graves — some of them dating back to the late 19th century — lay mostly forgotten.

"You could hardly even see where any of the graves were," said Susan Matthews, 21, from Chatham, New York. "We had to essentially find and uncover the graves, take down all the brush that had grown up the hill, wash all the stones so that we could read the etchings on them again," she said.

Matthews is among students visiting Europe as part of their inquiry into genocide. They arrived in Kosovo on June 17 from Poland where they visited the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp.

Rabbi Edward S. Boraz of The Roth Center for Jewish Life at Dartmouth College said the aim of the tour was to look at genocide "as a human problem not specific to any one group of people."

Another goal is to restore neglected Jewish cemeteries, Boraz said.

In Kosovo, that meant clearing weeds and cutting overgrown grass, then holding a dedication ceremony that included reading the names of Jewish families from the region who died during World War II.

After the conflict, Kosovo's small Jewish community dwindled. Some 300 died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, Boraz said.

Those that remained left for Israel and Serbia during and in the aftermath of the 1998-99 Kosovo war. Some 10,000 people died during the Kosovo war as Serbia launched a brutal crackdown on independence minded ethnic Albanians and deported some 800,000 into neighboring Albania and Macedonia.

After years of being administered by the United Nations following the war, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia has vowed never to accept Kosovo's statehood.

"We will never forget the crimes against humanity that were committed here during the 1990s and the suffering that occurred when innocent life was taken," Boraz said after the group lit candles and placed them on top of a newly built memorial. "We begin to understand that genocide isn't something unique to a people but is a problem for all humanity to address."


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NY marriage vote emboldens Paris Gay Pride march (AP)

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PARIS – Tens of thousands of people are marching in an annual Gay Pride parade in Paris, with many hailing New York's legalization of gay marriage and demanding that France follow suit.

Marchers dressed in drag, bras or striped sailor outfits danced and paraded Saturday under a sea of rainbow-colored flags and to thumping techno beats on slow-moving truck beds that became moveable dance floors.

Many trumpeted New York's decision Friday to become the sixth and largest U.S. state to legalize gay marriage. France's legislature rejected a similar effort this month.

Elsewhere in Europe, Russian police detained 14 gay rights activists trying to hold an unsanctioned rally in St. Petersburg to demand equal rights — a sign that resistance remains high to gay rights in many parts of the world.


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Pope's World Youth Day agenda includes rare lunch (AP)

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VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI's agenda for this summer's World Youth Day in Madrid includes a rare lunch with young Catholics and a session hearing their confessions.

The Vatican on Saturday released the pope's agenda for the Aug. 18-21 visit, his third to Spain as pope and a focus of his efforts to reawaken the faith in an increasingly indifferent and secular Europe.

Benedict will meet with the Spanish royals as well as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

But his focus is Catholic youth: he'll meet with young university professors, young priests and nuns. A lucky few will have lunch with him; others will confess to him and thousands more will participate in prayer vigils and a Way of the Cross procession before the main World Youth Day Mass on Aug. 21.

___

Online:

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_eu/storytext/eu_vatican_world_youth_day/41998166/SIG=10pahj7mr/*http://www.madrid11.com


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Anish Kapoor's "Leviathan" triumphs in Paris (AFP)

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PARIS (AFP) – Renowned British sculptor Anish Kapoor's gigantic artwork "Leviathan" on exhibit in a Paris museum until this week attracted 277,687 visitors, organisers said Saturday.

The number of visitors to see the spacious artwork made from inflated plastic in the cavernous nave of the Grand Palais museum was 85 percent higher than a previous exhibit by French artist Christian Boltanski, they said.

The average daily number of visitors to cultural events organised by the museum is around 7,000.

Kapoor had dedicated "Leviathan" to Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei who was detained by authorities since April before being released on bail Wednesday.

The 80,000 cubic-meter, dark red "Leviathan" refers to a sea monster referred to the Bible. Visitors are invited to discover the work from the inside out.

On exhibit for 40 days until last Thursday, the artwork has been dismantled and is now expected to return to London.


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Spain's 'indignant' launch new protest march (AFP)

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BARCELONA (AFP) – Spain's "indignant" activists began their last and longest protest march on Saturday, leaving from the northeastern city of Barcelona to cover 650 kilometres on their way to a major Madrid rally on July 24.

Two other marches set off earlier this week, from Valencia in the east on Monday and Cadiz in the south on Thursday, spreading the message of their anger at unemployment, welfare cuts and corruption.

Some 50 marchers left Barcelona early in the morning to applause from passers-by and sympathisers, expecting to pick up more en route.

They carried sleeping bags, groundsheets and prophylactics against insect bites, sunburn and muscle cramps. The party also included a doctor and a nurse.

Some walking and others cycling, they planned to pass through 29 towns and villages, holding a meeting at each stop on the 652-kilometre (407-mile) route.

"It's a further step for the indignant," said Rafael de la Rubia, international coordinator of the movement World without War, who is well used to marching for a cause.

"First we took to the streets, then the squares, and now the highways," he added.

"After that, we will take Europe."

The protest movement started in Madrid on May 15 and fanned out nationwide as word spread by Twitter and Facebook, bringing tens of thousands of people into city squares around Spain ahead of May 22 local elections.

On Sunday, about 200,000 protesters packed the streets of Madrid, Barcelona and other major cities to vent their anger, according to estimates by the Spanish media and some regional authorities.

On Wednesday some 200 rallied near the Spanish parliament after camping out overnight to protest plans to overhaul workers' collective bargaining rights.

The "indignants" have inspired similar offshoot movements in other European countries, notably Greece, where the government is also trying to implement a strict austerity programme to avoid defaulting on its loans.

The Spanish central bank said last week the recovery in Spain's beleaguered economy would likely remain slow, and that unemployment could remain high for the foreseeable future.

Spain announced Friday it will reduce a government spending cap by 3.8 percent in 2012 as it fights to retain the trust of markets.


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