World Cup: Suarez bite storm as Uruguay sink Italy

World Cup: Suarez bite storm as Uruguay sink Italy
Kerry to push Kurds on Iraqi unity
Claude Monet ‘Water Lilies’ painting sells for US$54m
Jail sought for Indonesian skipper in Japanese diver deaths
Japan, Philippines say rule of law should settle disputes
Thai ex-lawmakers vow ‘fightback’ against coup

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 06:09 PM PDT

LUIS SUAREZ shocked the World Cup with a new biting storm Tuesday as Uruguay sensationally dumped ten-man Italy out of the tournament with a dramatic 1-0 victory on Tuesday.

Uruguay captain Diego Godin rose high to thump home an 81st-minute header to settle a gritty Group D battle in Natal. The victory saw Italy knocked out in the first round for the second straight World Cup.

But Italy's stunning exit was overshadowed by an incredible incident involving Suarez — already banned twice before for biting opponents — just moments before Godin's winner.

Television replays showed Suarez appearing to attempt to sink his teeth into Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder in an off-the-ball incident.

Chiellini leapt to his feet to remonstrate with Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez, pulling his shirt off his shoulder to show the red marks.

Afterwards a disgusted Chiellini told Italian television: "He bit me, it's clear, I still have the mark."

"The referee should have blown his whistle and given him a red card, also because he was simulating," added the Juventus player.

Close-up images of the incident appeared to show a red bite mark on Chiellini's neck.

Uruguay's veteran manager Oscar Tabarez pleaded ignorance of the incident.

"I didn't see it. I'd like to see the images first," he told a press conference.

Tabarez also suggested Suarez was being victimised by journalists.

"He is the preferred target for a lot of media," Tabarez said.

Pressed on the issue, a visibly irritated Tabarez again refused to condemn Suarez.

"This is a football World Cup, it's not about cheap morality."

FIFA said it would study the referee's report and the match video.

"We are awaiting the official match reports and will gather all the necessary elements in order to evaluate the matter," FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer told AFP.

If found guilty by FIFA disciplinary chiefs, the incident would almost certainly mean the end of the tournament for Suarez, painted as a villain at the 2010 World Cup for his deliberate goal-line handball which denied Ghana a famous quarter-final victory. -AFP

Kerry to push Kurds on Iraqi unity

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:51 PM PDT

Iraq's security forces manage to retake crucial border crossing along the frontier with Syria

ARBIL, Iraq: John Kerry arrived in Iraq's Kurdish region yesterday in a US diplomatic drive aimed at preventing the country from splitting apart in the face of Sunni militants pushing towards Baghdad.

Iraq's security forces have managed to retake a crucial border crossing along the frontier with Syria, but were struggling to contain advances by insurgents, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who have taken swathes of five provinces north and west of the capital.

The US Secretary of State's unannounced trip to Arbil came a day after he pledged "intense" American support to Iraq to repel the insurgent offensive which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, alarmed world leaders, and put Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki under pressure at home and abroad.

Kerry landed in Arbil to urge Iraqi Kurdistan's president Massud Barzani to work to uphold Iraqi cohesion, after Barzani said Iraq was in a "different era" and that Kurds would "determine their future".

Kerry would highlight "the important role that the Kurds can play in helping the central government address… challenges for the benefit of all Iraqis," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The militant offensive has cleared the way for Iraqi Kurds to take control of disputed territory they want to incorporate into their autonomous region over Baghdad's strong objections.

Crucially, their security forces are now responsible for securing the ethnically mixed oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the heart of the disputed territory.

"Now we are living a different era," Barzani told CNN ahead of yesterday's talks, as he called for Maliki, whom he called "the one responsible for what has happened" in Iraq, to step down.

Pressed on whether Iraqi Kurds would seek independence, Barzani said: "The time is here for the Kurdistan people to determine their future and the decision of the people is what we are going to uphold."

In Baghdad on Monday, Kerry met Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to urge a speeding up of the government formation process following April elections in order to face down the insurgents.

Washington's "support will be intense, sustained, and if Iraq's leaders take the necessary steps to bring the country together, it will be effective," Kerry said.

"This is a critical moment for Iraq's future."

Maliki emphasised the danger of the crisis, telling Kerry it "represents a threat not only to Iraq but to regional and international peace".

The meetings came as Sunni insurgents led by ISIL, but including a raft of other groups including loyalists of now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein, seized a strategic northern town, and security forces retook a border crossing with Syria.

Iraqi security forces are struggling to hold their ground, with Maliki's security spokesman saying "hundreds" of soldiers have been killed since the offensive began two weeks ago – the most specific official information so far on government losses.

Security forces regained control of the Al-Waleed border crossing with Syria on Monday after militants withdrew, officers said – a rare bright spot amid a series of setbacks.

But insurgents were able to overrun the strategic Shiite-majority northern town of Tal Afar and its airport after days of heavy fighting, an official and witnesses said Monday.

At the weekend, insurgents swept into the towns of Rawa and Ana in Anbar province west of Baghdad, after taking the Al-Qaim border crossing with Syria.

Elsewhere, 69 detainees were killed in an attack by militants on a convoy transporting them south of Baghdad, with one policeman and eight insurgents also dying in the clashes.

A family of six was also killed on Baghdad's northern outskirts, and five Kurdish security forces members died in a bombing in northern Iraq.

ISIL aims to create an Islamic state incorporating both Iraq and Syria, where the group has become a major force in the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.

It has commandeered an enormous quantity of cash and resources because of the advance, bolstering coffers that were already the envy of militant groups worldwide. — AFP

Claude Monet ‘Water Lilies’ painting sells for US$54m

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:44 PM PDT

LONDON: An iconic "Water Lilies" painting by French artist Claude Monet sold for 31.7 million pound (US$54 million) at a London sale on Monday, the second-highest sum paid for his work on record.

The 1906 painting 'Nympheas' – sold to an anonymous bidder – formed part of a seminal exhibition held at the Galerie Durand-Ruel, in Paris, in 1909 to unveil Monet's Water Lily works.

The instantly recognisable Impressionist masterpiece once belonged to the French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and remained in his personal collection throughout his life.

It has since been displayed in the world's top galleries, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Musee National d'Art Moderne in Paris.

"Le Bassin aux Nympheas" ("Pool of Water Lilies"), from the same series, still holds the record for a Monet painting sold at auction, fetching US$80.3 million at Christie's in London in 2008.

The series of around 250 oil paintings, which became Monet's main focus during his last 30 years, is considered to have had a huge impact on the evolution of modern art and to be the French artist's greatest achievement.

Also sold at Sotheby's Impressionist Modern Art sale was "Composition with Red, Blue and Grey" by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, which also achieved the second-highest price ever paid for one of his works at auction. — AFP

Jail sought for Indonesian skipper in Japanese diver deaths

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:21 PM PDT

DENPASAR, Indonesia: Indonesian prosecutors yesterday sought a jail term of three years and six months for a boat skipper who lost track of seven Japanese women during a diving trip that left two of them dead.

Agustinus Brata Kusuma lost sight of the women near the resort island of Bali on February 14 when a storm hit suddenly.

Five of them were saved after clinging onto coral reefs for three days some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from their take-off point.

Kusuma, who is accused of negligence causing death and injury, admitted at a recent hearing that after searching for around an hour for the women, he left the location to get more fuel.

"The captain of the boat should have been paying attention to the safety of the Japanese divers.

But he didn't do that as he left them to buy fuel, so when they came to the surface the boat wasn't there," prosecutor Ni Nyoman Martini told the Denpasar District Court. — AFP

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Japan, Philippines say rule of law should settle disputes

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:17 PM PDT

TOKYO: Japan and the Philippines yesterday jointly stressed the need to use "the rule of law" to solve regional disputes, at a time when both countries are embroiled in separate rows with China.

The comments, which came during a one-day trip to Tokyo by Philippine President Benigno Aquino, highlight how regional neighbours are forging alliances to counter an increasingly muscular Beijing as it presses its influence in nearby waters.

Tokyo and Manila, former World War II enemies, have been drawn closer in recent years as they have tackled their parallel disputes with China.

"In the face of the regional situation becoming severe, both nations are closely coordinating," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in a joint news conference after a summit with Aquino.

"I reaffirmed with President Aquino today the significance of… the rule of law," Japan's conservative premier added.

Aquino also said his visit to Japan was focusing on "the challenge of safeguarding our regional security by advancing the rule of law to protect our global and regional common interest." — AFP

Thai ex-lawmakers vow ‘fightback’ against coup

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:07 PM PDT

BANGKOK: The former leader of the toppled Thai ruling party yesterday launched the first official opposition group to the nation's new military regime, bidding to draw together dissidents within the country and outside its borders.

Jarupong Ruangsuwan, an ex-minister and wanted man in Thailand, said the newly-minted "Organisation of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy" (FT-HD) will press for the restoration of democratic rule.

Since grabbing power from the elected government in a coup on May 22, Thailand's junta has muzzled dissent across the nation and effectively stifled any attempt to co-ordinate widespread anti-coup actions.

It has imposed strict media controls, shuttered opposition radio stations, and summoned and detained hundreds of people, the majority linked with the deposed Puea Thai government of ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra and her administration's "Red Shirt" supporters.

The anti-coup group, which will operate from an unnamed country, will resist any moves by the establishment-backed junta to rig the political system in its favour, Jarupong said in the group's founding statement.

Jarupong, who resigned as Puea Thai party leader last week, decried the coup as "grand larceny" and accused the junta of violating "the rule of law, abusing democratic principles" and destroying "rights, liberties, and human dignity."

The organisation is backed by a coalition of former lawmakers, academics, Red Shirt figures and other opponents of the army power grab.

The junta's foreign affairs ministry batted away their announcement.

"There is only one legitimate government, that is this administration," permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow told reporters.

Thailand's army has faced a barrage of international condemnation since claiming power.

On Monday, the European Union halted all official visits to Thailand and suspended the signing of a partnership and cooperation accord with Bangkok.

Thailand has suffered a deep political rupture since Thaksin Shinawatra — Yingluck's older brother — swept onto the political centrestage in 2001 on a wave of support from the northern portion of the country.

The Shinawatras' electoral success has shaken the Bangkok-based royalist elite — and its supporters in the military — who accuse the family of abusing democracy to sponsor massive graft and cronyism.

Some observers say the political crisis is motivated by anxiety among competing elites over who will control the country after the rule of the nation's ailing but revered king ends. — AFP