EU chief Barroso tells UK: Don’t turn your back on Europe |
- EU chief Barroso tells UK: Don’t turn your back on Europe
- Magath in and Meulensteen out at desperate Fulham
- Nik Nazmi’s turn to pitch ‘Kajang Move’ to voters
- Snore no more: smart pillow ‘nudges’ noisy sleepers
- Arms for Somalia diverted to militias, UN experts say
- Simon Cowell’s girlfriend gives birth to boy in New York
| EU chief Barroso tells UK: Don’t turn your back on Europe Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:59 PM PST
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to try to renegotiate Britain's ties with the 28-nation bloc if re-elected next year and to offer Britons an in/out referendum on EU membership by late 2017. Barroso was visiting Britain ahead of European elections in May in which the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) is expected to do well and at a time when opinion polls show a slim majority of Britons would vote to leave the EU. "The right thing to do is not to turn away but to engage and see what we together can do to make it better," Barroso said in a speech at the London School of Economics. "If you don't like Europe as it is, improve it." Barroso ruled out any attempt to change the EU's rules on freedom of movement, something Cameron has said he'd like to do to stop the citizens of new EU member states from tapping Britain's welfare benefits. Barroso, who is stepping down after a decade at the helm of the EU executive, said such attempts would be like shooting Europe in the foot. "An internal market needs all these freedoms, if not we are shooting ourselves in our feet," he said. "We cannot have a single market without the free movement of European citizens." By underscoring the importance of free movement at a speech in the British capital, Barroso was seeking to send Cameron a message on freedom of movement. "It was a message that we are not going to compromise on the principle of free movement - this is a big thing in relation to David Cameron's position which seems to be that there has got to be compromise. I would see some divisions looming there," Anthony Giddens, director of the London School of Economics from 1997 to 2003, told Reuters. When asked about the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, Barroso said: "The existential crisis of the euro is over." "When our American partners and friends, including by the way the American president, asked at the most difficult moments, 'Do you think the Germans will stand by the euro?' I have always said to them: 'I am absolutely sure Germany will stand by the euro'," he said. Barroso praised Germany for its determined support of the euro, evidence, he said, of Berlin's deep strategic allegiance to the European project. In a question and answer session following his speech, Barroso was asked whether Germany, which has resisted mutualising public debt in the euro zone, would eventually drop its opposition to the idea. "As to (debt) mutualisation, it is something that Germany will not say no (to) at a later stage," Barroso said, adding he felt German acceptance of mutualisation would come gradually. "There is already a principle of mutualisation but it is progressive mutualisation only at the end of the process, when all the countries have their own fund for resolution and not before," he said. "So yes, I believe ... fiscal union will come at the appropriate time for the members of the euro area ... it will take time," Barroso said. — Reuters  |
| Magath in and Meulensteen out at desperate Fulham Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:55 PM PST
The London club, bottom of the Premier League and four points from safety with 12 matches left, only appointed Meulensteen on Dec 1 when fellow Dutchman Martin Jol was fired. "Felix is an accomplished manager with multiple honours in the Bundesliga and a hunger to replicate his success with Fulham," owner Shahid Khan said in a statement. "Our club has shown promise in recent matches but the fact is we have not won a league match since Jan 1." Khan, an American businessman and the owner of NFL franchise Jacksonville Jaguars, bought Fulham from Mohamed Al Fayed in July. "Given our form, we can no longer merely hope that our fortunes will finally turn," said the owner. "With 12 matches remaining and at least four points separating us from safety we certainly can no longer post empty results. Action was required." The Fulham statement made no mention of Meulensteen but the Dutchman told the BBC: "They have hit the panic button on emotion and fear but hey ho, that's football. "I knew the owners were freaking out a little bit that there was the possibility of the club going down. The way forward that we have discussed with the club was about longevity and in this case it is clearly an act of fear." Meulensteen was assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United between 2007-13 before having an ill-fated 16-day spell in charge of Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala last year. Magath impressed Fulham chief executive Alistair Mackintosh said: "The opportunity to bring in a manager with the experience of Felix Magath would typically be unlikely at this point in the season. "However, Felix relishes this challenge. He is very impressed with our squad and commitment by Mr Khan and his confidence is precisely what we need over these final three months of the season." Mackintosh was heavily involved in Fulham's transfer business last month. The club brought in seven players including their former striker Clint Dempsey, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lewis Holtby and Greece striker Kostas Mitroglou for a club record fee that media reports put at £11 million pounds (RM60.9 million). The 60-year-old Magath, who won two Bundesliga titles with Bayern and one at VfL Wolfsburg, was widely tipped to take over at struggling German top-flight club Hamburg SV but told them on Thursday night that he was unavailable. The controversial Magath, famous for his tough discipline, rigorous training methods and prolific transfer buying, joins Fulham with the London club on 20 points from 26 games. They lost 3-2 at home to Liverpool on Wednesday after giving away a late penalty and picked up a creditable 2-2 draw against champions United at Old Trafford on Sunday. "I have not had a lot of time and people who came to the United and Liverpool games could see what I was trying to put in place," added Meulensteen. Fulham's next fixture is a trip to fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion on Feb 22 before they host neighbours Chelsea, who are top of the table, on March 1. — Reuters |
| Nik Nazmi’s turn to pitch ‘Kajang Move’ to voters Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:52 PM PST
Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the Deputy Speaker of Selangor and Seri Setia assemblyman, also reinforced the view that Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim will be dropped as the state's mentri besar, when he also said that replacing the latter with Anwar was an "option". "Selangor faces major challenges, with issues such as the (Malay-language) bibles, water, racial and religious tension, but we do not deny that Anwar's victory in the Kajang by-election will give us the option to make him mentri besar and more prominent in Selangor," he was reported as saying by Sinar Harian yesterday. While the move is widely expected to occur with the likely PKR win, the party and Anwar remain coy about the switch and continue to refer to the anticipated change as an "option". Denying that the machinations in Selangor indicated that PKR was the "big brother" of Pakatan Rakyat (PR), Nik Nazmi suggested that the party's power over the state was part of the partnership in the informal opposition pact. "PAS has Kelantan, and DAP has Penang. So we must look at the context within the current political reality." Before Nik Nazmi's defence of the unforced by-election that was triggered by the unexplained resignation of former assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh, PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli and treasurer-general William Leong had both come out to offer indistinct reasons for the so-called "Kajang Move". Among these were possible attempts by Umno to unseat PR in Selangor where the pact holds a supermajority over the state assembly, alleged conspiracies to foment racial and religious tension, and the possible repeat of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. They did not, however, explain how the move would specifically address any of the suggested reasons beyond "strengthening" the Selangor administration now under Khalid. In a surprise move, PKR's Lee Chin Cheh resigned as Kajang assemblyman, presumably to pave way for Anwar to contest the by-election. The by-election is also shaping up to be a crowded affair similar to the six-way contest in Election 2013. Aside from Barisan Nasional (BN) that is yet to announce its candidate, former minister and PKR member Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has confirmed his plans to contest, while newly-registered NewGeneration Party has also announced its plan to field a runner. Anwar's friend-turned-foe Senator Datuk KS Nallakaruppan of the Malaysian Indian United Party has also offered himself as a candidate for BN. The EC has set March 23 as the polling date for the Kajang by-election, the country's third since Election 2013 last May. Nomination will be on March 11, while early voting has been set for March 19. Lee won the Kajang state seat in Election 2013 with a 6,824-vote majority in the constituency that is 48 per cent Malay, 41 per cent Chinese and 10 per cent Indian. |
| Snore no more: smart pillow ‘nudges’ noisy sleepers Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:45 PM PST
It does exactly what its name suggests. When the pillow registers a snore, it inflates sufficiently (7.62cm) to move the snorer's head and change his or her — but let's face it, usually his — sleeping position. It means there's no need to convince your partner to sleep in pyjamas with tennis balls stitched into the waistband; to dispatch a 'gentle' kick; or to engage in a conversation about the health benefits of sleeping on a sofa or in another room. The pillow uses a built-in microphone to listen for snoring-related sounds and its sensitivity can be adjusted — some people's snoring is louder than others — as can the amount its internal bladder inflates. Its makers believe that 7.6cm (3 inches) is optimum but that can be dialled right up to 17.8cm (7 inches) if needs must. It also plugs straight into the mains so there's no need to worry about recharging batteries, although it does mean that the bed will need to be near a power socket. The only downside seems to be that it comes with a machine-washable polyester cover as standard, which could cause some users to perspire. The Snore Activated Nudging Pillow costs US$149.95 (RM495) and is available exclusively via Hammacher Schlemmer. — AFP Relaxnews |
| Arms for Somalia diverted to militias, UN experts say Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:45 PM PST
A confidential report by the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group, seen by AFP yesterday, found "high level and systematic abuses in weapons management and distribution" by Somali authorities. In February 2013 the United Nations Security Council voted to partially lift an arms embargo against Somalia, seeking to help the beleaguered government in its battle against Islamist guerrillas. But the council imposed restrictions requiring notification of shipments, banned certain heavy weapons and mandated the Monitoring Group to watch how matters proceeded. On February 6, the coordinator of the UN monitors wrote to the chairman of the Security Council committee overseeing the sanctions to present a report that raised serious concerns. The report, which is not binding on UN members, recommended a reversal of the loosening of the embargo, to try and stop arms shipped to the Somali government falling into the wrong hands. "However, an alternative recommendation to the committee would be to introduce, at the minimum, enhanced notification and reporting requirements, if not a partial tightening," it said. Somalia's government struggles to control its own territory, despite the support of a large African Union force, and the Shebab rebels regularly launch devastating attacks despite recent defeats. Since the arms embargo was made more supple last year, Somalia's allies Ethiopia and Djibouti have sent several large shipments of mainly infantry weapons to government forces. In addition, according to the US experts' report, a senior Somali government minister bought weapons from "a foreign government in the Gulf" and shipped them without notifying sanctions monitors. This in itself constituted a breach of the embargo, the report said, adding: "Indeed, after delivery, some of the weapons were moved to private locations in Mogadishu. Investigations are ongoing." The UN monitors reported that they were able to obtain photographs showing rifles that were shipped for use by the Somali army on open sale in Mogadishu markets, with their serial numbers ground off. Senior Somali officials have also, the report alleges, been implicated in the transfer of weapons meant for the national army to militias tied to the Abgaal and Habar Gedir clans. Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is a member of the Abgaal clan, and the report says the team found evidence tying a network of officials to arms shipments to the group's forces. The group has "obtained documentary evidence corroborating information that a key advisory to the president, from his Abgaal sub-clan, has been involved in planning weapons deliveries to Shebab leader Sheikh Yusuf Isse 'Kabukatukade'." The Security Council is expected to review the arms embargo in March, and could decide either to lift restrictions entirely, maintain the monitored sanctions regime or tighten it. Since the fall of dictator Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has been prey to a series of conflicts between clan, religious and criminal militias. Mohamud's election in September 2012 has given rise to hope that the country may once again achieve stable government, and he has received strong support from the West and regional allies. — AFP |
| Simon Cowell’s girlfriend gives birth to boy in New York Posted: 14 Feb 2014 04:38 PM PST
The former "American Idol" judge's girlfriend, Lauren Silverman, gave birth to the 6 pound, 7 ounce (2.9 kilogrammes) boy in New York. It is her second child and Cowell's first. Cowell, 54, who gained fame as an acid-tongued judge on television singing contests in the United States and his native Britain, has never married. "I'm not brilliant with babies," Cowell told US magazine Parade last October. "I never know what to do. But (once he's older) I think I'll be a good dad in terms of advice." Silverman's pregnancy first came to light last year when her ex-husband filed for divorce in New York and naming Cowell as a co-respondent. Cowell's "The X Factor" contest was cancelled last week by US broadcaster Fox, and he said that he would return to the judges panel on its UK counterpart amid sagging ratings. — Reuters |
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