Greek vote could unleash seismic shocks for euro - Reuters
ATHENS |
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's election on Sunday is too close to call and could push the debt-ridden country out of the European single currency, rocking the euro to its core and sowing turmoil in global financial markets.
The election, a re-run of a May 6 vote that ended in stalemate, amounts to a referendum on the punishing terms set by international lenders as the price of saving Greece from bankruptcy - withering tax hikes, job losses and pay cuts that have helped condemn Greeks to five years of record recession.
Riding a wave of anger to rise from political obscurity to contender for power, radical leftist SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras is threatening to tear up the terms of the 130 billion euro ($163.75 billion) bailout.
Tsipras says Europe cannot afford to cut Greece loose and cope with the fallout for the rest of the 17-member euro zone.
On the right, establishment heir and New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras says rejection of the EU/IMF bailout would mean a return to the drachma and even greater economic calamity.
Samaras told supporters on Friday they faced a stark choice - "euro versus drachma."
Neither party is expected to win outright, triggering coalition negotiations with smaller parties. A new government would buy time, but little respite. Whoever comes to power may find their tenure is short-lived.
Greeks say overwhelmingly that they do not want to leave the euro but neither do they want the terms of the bailout, which many believe has amnestied a corrupt, tax-evading elite and heaped an unfair burden on the poorest sections of society.
"I'll vote for SYRIZA," 34-year-old theatre producer Georgia Zoumpa said on Saturday, heat rising from the pavements of the capital Athens. "I don't believe in blackmail: if we leave the euro, other countries will suffer too."
Central banks from Tokyo to London are readying arsenals to defend banks and national currencies against any post-election turmoil. The result will dominate a meeting of the Group of 20 world economic powers on Monday and Tuesday in Mexico.
European leaders weighed in on the eve of the vote, some of them openly urging Greeks to reject SYRIZA or risk undermining the very foundations of the single currency.
Finance officials in the euro zone have discussed limiting the size of withdrawals from ATM machines, imposing border checks and introducing euro zone capital controls as a worst-case scenario.
GERMAN WARNING
A Greek exit from the single currency would heap further pressure on two far larger European economies - Spain has already received up to 100 billion euros to save debt-riddled banks and Italy could be next to seek a bailout.
Euro zone officials have hinted they might give a new Greek government some leeway on how it reaches debt targets set by the EU/IMF bailout package, but there would be no change to the targets themselves.
Euro zone paymaster Germany warned Greeks on Saturday the bailout would not be renegotiated.
"That's why it's so important that the Greek elections preferably lead to a result in which those that will form a future government say: 'Yes, we will stick to the agreements'," Chancellor Angela Merkel told a party conference of her Christian Democrats.
Anger with the establishment parties of New Democracy and the Socialist PASOK propelled SYRIZA and its youthful leader, a former Communist student protest leader, from the obscure radical fringe to shock second place on May 6.
"The memorandum of bankruptcy will belong to the past on Monday," Tsipras, 37, told his final election rally on Thursday, though analysts suggest the SYRIZA leader might temper his stance if confronted with the reality of leaving the euro.
The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party also won seats in the first election, underscoring the fragmentation of a stressed society wrestling with unemployment of almost 23 percent and plummeting living standards.
Five opinion polls published before a blackout two weeks ago put New Democracy narrowly ahead. Two other polls had SYRIZA leading.
"It's obvious the country is now staring into the abyss," leading Greek daily Kathimerini said in a front-page editorial on Sunday, calling for the creation of a New Democracy-led "unity" coalition to keep the country in the euro.
But analysts say Samaras, 61, will find it hard to govern for long with an empowered SYRIZA protesting at the gates. Tsipras, if he wins, will inherit a country on the verge of bankruptcy. He has ruled out a government of national unity and promised to nationalize banks and halt privatizations.
Some global businesses and banks are already in retreat.
Europe's biggest retailer Carrefour said on Friday it was selling up in Greece, a day after French bank Credit Agricole moved to take direct control of its Albanian, Bulgarian and Romanian units from its Greek bank Emporiki.
Polling stations open at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and close at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT). Exit polls will quickly follow.
(Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Ralph Gowling)
China puts its first woman astronaut into orbit - ONE News
China has put its first woman into orbit, one of three astronauts to attempt a critical space docking in the latest challenge for the country's ambitious space programme.
A Long March rocket blasted off in the early evening from the remote Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwestern Gobi Desert, carrying with it the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft and the three astronauts, including 33-year-old female fighter pilot Liu Yang.
This is China's fourth manned space mission since 2003 when astronaut Yang Liwei became the country's first person in orbit, and comes as the United States has curtailed manned launches over budget concerns and changing priorities.
The launch was carried live on state television, and until moments before blast-off, a camera showed the three astronauts in the cabin occasionally waving. A red placard with the Chinese symbol for good fortune hung behind them.
Within days, the astronauts will try to dock with the orbiting Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module launched last September, part of a 13-day mission crucial to China's ambition to put a space station in orbit around 2020.
"I believe that we can achieve this goal, because we already have the basic technological capability," Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China's manned space engineering project, told reporters before the launch.
A successful manned docking mission for China would be the latest show of the country's growing capabilities in space, to match its expanding military and diplomatic clout.
Still, Beijing is playing catch up with the United States and Russia, which, along with other countries, jointly operate the International Space Station some 390 km above Earth.
Rendezvous and docking techniques such as those which China is only testing now were mastered by the United States and the former Soviet Union decades ago, and the 10.5 metre-long Tiangong 1 is a trial module, not a full-fledged space station.
Linking with the unmanned module will be an important hurdle in China's efforts to acquire the technological and logistical skills needed to run a full space lab that can house astronauts for long stretches.
Fears of a space arms race with the United States and other powers mounted after China blew up one of its own weather satellites with a ground-based missile in January 2007, though China has insisted its programme is peaceful.
"China's manned space programme has never been for military purposes. It is mainly to research how mankind can go into space, use space peacefully," He Yu, the general commander of China's manned spacecraft project, said before the launch.
The United States will not test a new rocket to take people into space until 2017, and Russia has said manned missions are no longer a priority.
But NASA has begun investing in US firms to provide commercial spaceflight services and is spending about $3 billion a year on a new rocket and capsule to send astronauts to the moon, asteroids and eventually to Mars.
Chinese scientists have talked of the possibility of sending a man to the moon after 2020, the final step in a three-stage moon plan, which includes the deployment of a moon rover in 2013 and the retrieval of lunar soil and stone samples around 2017.
China's space programme has come a long way since late leader Mao Zedong, founder of Communist China in 1949, lamented that the country could not even launch a potato into space.
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Pakistan stunned by Perera hat-trick against Sri Lanka - ESPN.co.uk
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Pakistan have been abysmal chasers in recent years in ODI cricket. Three hours of accumulation offered hope that Saturday would not end in another failed pursuit. And then, as if all the accumulation had stretched their patience too taut, the dam broke. From 166 for 2 chasing 244, Pakistan disintegrated to 179 for 9. In less than four overs. Thisara Perera followed up his 6 for 44 in the second ODI with a hat-trick. Pakistan registered six ducks, and their 15th defeat in 18 chases of 240-plus in the last three years.
In the end, the match was decided in the two batting Powerplays, with Sri Lanka surging in both. A cramping Azhar Ali, who became the first player to carry his bat in ODIs in more than a decade, and Misbah-ul-Haq had put on 113 for the third wicket, leaving Pakistan with 78 to get from 76 deliveries. In the 37th over, the second of the batting Powerplays, Misbah refused a tight single with Ali having run more than half way up the pitch. The effort required to get back worsened Ali's cramp, making it harder for him to accelerate, like Kumar Sangakkara had earlier after a similar slow fifty.
Three balls later, Misbah departed for an efficient 57, with Nuwan Kulasekara taking a sharp low catch at mid-off off Lasith Malinga's bowling. Umar Gul had put down a much easier chance at long-on off Sangakkara, who went on to add 62 off 48. Malinga stepped it up after Misbah's departure, pegging Umar Akmal back with three successive sharp bouncers. Akmal drove at and edged his fourth, off Kulasekara, to the wicketkeeper.
The fight had gone out of Pakistan. Younis Khan, held back till No. 6, edged a rising Perera delivery to the keeper. Shahid Afridi either explodes or implodes. He did the latter, punching his first ball to extra cover. Sarfraz Ahmed obliged Perera with the hat-trick, guiding him to slip. The persevering Ali was reduced to a spectator, all his hard work undone in minutes of chaos.
Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan hadn't found run-scoring easy in the first half of their chase, but Ali and Misbah kept the visitors going, taking their team to 100 four overs earlier than Sri Lanka had.
Pakistan's top order continued its wobbly ways when Mohammad Hafeez collected his fifth duck in his last 12 international innings, pulling his fifth delivery from Malinga to long leg. Kulasekara kept Ali and Asad Shafiq under pressure with a probing opening spell of five overs for just 16 runs.
Still, like Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan had for Sri Lanka, Ali and Shafiq ensured Pakistan weren't bogged down completely. It was the left-arm spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon, bowling for the first time in international cricket in his second ODI, who got the breakthrough with his 10th delivery, trapping Shafiq in front on 25 with a slider. The combination of Ali and Misbah was never going to blaze away, but it made sure the asking-rate stayed below six, and under control, finding the boundary just when required. Little did they know of the pandemonium that was to ensue.
Not remotely on the same scale, but Pakistan had fallen apart in the field too after being disciplined for more than three-fifths of Sri Lanka's innings. Gul dropped Sangakkara off Afridi, when on 35 off 82 deliveries. Then came the batting Powerplay. Sangakkara carted 62 off his last 48 deliveries, and Sri Lanka reached the kind of total Pakistan have struggled to chase in recent years.
Till Sangakkara was put down in the 31st over, Sri Lanka had been tied down, first by Pakistan's fast bowlers, and then by their spinners. Sangakkara and Dilshan did add 55 for the second wicket, but they were hard-earned runs, and Dilshan's departure immediately after the first drinks break meant Sri Lanka had to continue with their cautious approach. The absence of scoring opportunities consumed Dinesh Chandimal as well, after which the expected rain came down to force a 70-minute break.
Pakistan's spinners continued with the run-squeeze after the rain interruption. The next few overs were quiet, but Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene took complete charge in the batting Powerplay, which went for 49. Gul, who was feeling some pain in his right index finger, was to suffer the most. He had given just 16 off his first five overs; he disappeared for 26 in two overs in the batting Powerplay. Sangakkara stepped out to launch the first ball of Gul's second spell for a straight six. When Gul overdid the bouncer in the next over, Sangakkara pulled him for six more over fine leg.
Sangakkara dominated the 110-run fourth-wicket partnership with Jayawardene, who played some innovative strokes. He was quick to lap-sweep and sweep the spinners, and even reverse-pulled Saeed Ajmal for four over point. Pakistan managed to dismiss the duo in the 44th and 45th overs to limit the damage, but most of it had already been inflicted. Pakistan's self-destruction later sealed the issue.
Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
Golf-Woods bogeys first hole in U.S. Open third round - Reuters UK
SAN FRANCISCO, June 16 |
SAN FRANCISCO, June 16 (Reuters) - Tiger Woods made a shaky start to the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday, bogeying the tricky opening hole at the Olympic Club.
The former world number one, bidding to end a four-year title drought in major championships, started the day tied for the lead at one under par with fellow Americans Jim Furyk and David Toms.
But the pacesetting trio all bogeyed the 509-yard first hole to drop back to even.
That left them one stroke clear of a group of four players - Americans Michael Thompson and John Peterson, 2010 champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts.
McDowell, Peterson and Colsaerts all safely parred the first two holes while Thompson, who led after the first round, made a birdie at the first to join the leaders but handed the shot back when he bogeyed the par-three third.
Conditions on the notoriously difficult course were slightly easier in the morning, allowing a handful of early starters to break par, but were expected to get harder in the afternoon once the winds picked up and the greens began to quicken.
American Casey Wittenberg, who teed off five hours before Woods, made an eagle at the seventh hole, then birdied the last two to sign for a three-under 67 to move to five over.
"By the time Tiger and those guys tee off, I think it's going to be a brick," Wittenberg told reporters of the firm and fast-running layout at the Olympic Club.
"There are a lot of front pin placements out there and it's hard to get to those front pin placements when it gets a little crusty in the afternoon.
"I'm sure with the sun being out and everybody walking on those greens it's going to be a challenge." (Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
Suu Kyi receives Nobel Peace Prize 21 years late - Reuters India
OSLO |
OSLO (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi finally received her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Saturday after spending 15 years under house arrest, and said her country's full transformation to democracy was still far off.
"What the Nobel Peace Prize did was to draw me once again into the world of other human beings outside the isolated area in which I lived, to restore a sense of reality to me," Suu Kyi said as the packed crowd, led by Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja, rose in a standing ovation at the ornate Oslo City Hall.
Suu Kyi, 66, the Oxford University-educated daughter of General Aung San, Myanmar's assassinated independence hero, said much remained to be resolved in her country.
"Hostilities have not ceased in the far north; to the west, communal violence resulting in arson and murder were taking place just several days before I started out the journey that has brought me here today," said Suu Kyi, on her first visit to Europe in nearly a quarter of a century.
"There still remain (political) prisoners in Burma. It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten," she said, wearing a purple traditional Burmese dress and looking strong and healthy after falling ill on Thursday.
Still, Suu Kyi - elected to parliament in April - said she was confident President Thein Sein wanted to put the country on a new path.
"I don't think we should fear reversal," she told public broadcaster NRK. "(But) I don't think we should take it for granted there is no reversal."
Suspending rather than lifting sanctions was also the right move to keep pressure on the government, she said a day after arriving from Switzerland to a jubilant, dancing and chanting crowd, which showered her with flowers.
"If these reforms prove to be a façade, then the rewards will be taken away."
INSTRUMENTAL
Suu Kyi, who spent a total of 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and her release in late 2010, never left Myanmar even during brief periods of freedom after 1989, afraid the military would not let back in.
Her sons Kim and Alexander accepted the Nobel prize on her behalf in 1991, with her husband Michael Aris also attending the ceremony. A year later Suu Kyi said she would use the $1.3 million prize money to establish a health and education trust for Burmese people.
She was unable to be with Aris, an Oxford academic, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died in Britain in 1999.
On Saturday, Kim and Anthony Aris, her late husband's identical twin brother, attended the ceremony.
Suu Kyi thanked Norway, a nation of just 5 million people, for its support and the instrumental role it played in Myanmar's transformation.
In 1990, the Bergen-based Rafto Foundation awarded its annual prize to Suu Kyi, after a Norwegian aid worker in South-East Asia highlighted her work.
The award provided lasting publicity for her non-violent struggle against Myanmar's military junta, putting her in the international spotlight and setting the stage a year later for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Norway has also provided a home to the Democratic Voice of Burma, an opposition television and radio outlet, which broadcasts uncensored news into Myanmar.
Suu Kyi acknowledged that recent violence between Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslim Rohingyas in the northwestern Rakhine region was a test of Myanmar's transformation but she blamed lawlessness for the escalation.
The violence, which displaced 30,000 people and killed 50 by government accounts, flared last month with a rampage of rock-hurling, arson and machete attacks, after the gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman that was blamed on Muslims.
"The very first time a crime was committed... they should have taken action in accordance with the rule of law," Suu Kyi told the BBC.
"If they had been able to do that, and to satisfy all parties involved that justice was done ... I do not think these disturbances would have grown to such proportions."
Tensions stem from an entrenched, long-standing distrust of around 800,000 Muslim Rohingyas, who are recognised by neither Myanmar nor neighbouring Bangladesh, and are largely considered illegal immigrants.
Suu Kyi is also due to visit Ireland, Britain and France.
(Editing by Sophie Hares and Ralph Gowling)
Injured Model in Chris Brown/Drake Bar Brawl Speaks Out Via Attorney - Entertainment Online
There's a whole new meaning to poppin' bottles now.
Sal Strazzullo, attorney for Ingrid Gutierrez, the 21-year-old model who was at Chris Brown's table the night of the brawl with Drake's entourage at the W.I.P. club in Manhattan revealed to E! News his client's take on the incident that occured early Thursday morning.
MORE: Chris Brown Bar Brawl Update: Singer Denies Sending Champagne to Drake, Club Manager Arrested
Sal explained his client's involvement: "[Ingrid] was with Chris Brown and his entourage just having a good time...she was at his table...right next to him when this occurred. She was just having a good time, a 21-year-old out, a young lady at a nightclub in Manhattan and all of a sudden a bottle came from [the direction of] the Drake table."
As for how the story played out before the bottle was reportedly sent over from Drake's table, Sal shares: "From what I've heard from my client…there was a note. A note passed by Drake to Chris Brown in regards to something with Rihanna."
However, what the note read, Sal was unable to share, explaining: "The contents of those notes at this time I'm not going to be able to reveal because I don't know their authenticity."
MORE: Chris Brown Bar Brawl Aftermath—Did Singer Go to Police?
Sal continued: "Then…Chris Brown was about to get up and leave with his entourage and that's when a bottle came from [the direction of] Drake's table to Chris Brown's table."
Strazzullo believes the club's surveilance video will be able to help identify who instigated the brawl: "The cameras aren't going to lie," adding that, "people that paid with their credit cards are going to be disposed."
Sal also shared how Brown responded amongst the chaos: " [Ingrid] said he was so polite throughout the whole night, that they were just having a good time…he was very calm and what he did, I believe, was he tried to even defend my client Ingrid."
MORE: Chris Brown Bar Brawl a "Brutal Attack," Says Singer's Rep; Drake Denies Involvement!
The model, who reportedly suffered a bottle blow to the head, is "out of the hospital [and] resting home in bed."
He earlier told E! that his client suffered bruises, stitches and trauma to her face, and suggested that "plastic surgery is probably likely."
"Basically like any model…your looks are everything and with today's technology, with HD, a small scar, even though this one is not small, is going to be magnified to look really severe."
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