Monday, July 2, 2012

 Russia to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on September 8-9, 2012.
"Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a working meeting of the APEC forum that Russia will host the summit on the Russian Island on September 8-9, 2012," the official said.Liberalization of trade and investment as well as facilitation of regional integration will be on the agenda during Russia’s chairmanship at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an article published on Kremlin’s website on Saturday.Russia has taken over the rotating chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 2012 and will host this year’s APEC Leaders’ Week in Vladivostok.
 “Now that Russia has joined the World Trade Organisation, the country’s representatives will be able to fully participate in trade liberalization discussions. A consolidated position among APEC member economies should jumpstart multilateral trade talks and make them more constructive,” Medvedev’s article “Integrate to Grow, Innovate to Prosper” said in English.

Following its accession to the WTO, Russia is ready to sign free trade agreements with APEC countries while acting jointly with Kazakhstan and Belarus within the Customs Union, Medvedev continued.
This kind of partnership “could pave the way to a fundamentally new form of APEC integration and help expand the Asia-Pacific market to the whole of the Eurasian continent,” the Russian president went on.
Russia is ready to offer its transport corridors that provide the shortest routes between Asia and Europe, he added.

Opposition candidate Enrique Pena Nieto is leading Sunday’s presidential election in Mexico, exit polls showed on Sunday.Nieto, a candidate from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is gaining 39 to 42.7 percent of the vote.
Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, representing the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), is coming second with 30.8-34.4 percent.
Josefina Vazquez Mota from the ruling conservative National Action Party (PAN) is third with 22.1-25.7 percent.
Incumbent President Felipe Calderon, who has been in power since 2006, is barred by the constitution from seeking a second term.
The PRI, which ruled in Mexico in 1929-2000, is trying to regain the presidency after losing the last two elections to the PAN.
Nearly 80 million Mexicans were eligible to cast ballots in Sunday’s vote.
Some 31,400 monitors, including around 700 international observers from 66 countries, monitored the polls.
Mexicans also elected Mexico City’s mayor, governors of six of Mexico's 31 states, parliament deputies and heads of municipal entities.

Military hand over power to Morsi

Egypt’s military has transferred power to new President Mohamed Morsi ,the orcess of democratization for civilian rule needs more obligations to take some more time until fresh parliamentary elections take place and draft a new constitution needs to approved by the parliament. Military is expected to wield influence over appointments of Cabinet ministers and drafting of a new constitution.
Morsi declared before the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Saturday that he had accepted power as head of state. He was officially inaugurated earlier in the day.
Morsi said the military has honored its promise to hand over power to elected officials. He added that the military will now return to its original duty of defending the safety of the state.
He delivered the address at Cairo University, with the council’s chairman, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, attending.
Morsi then attended a power transfer ceremony at a military base.
The handover ended military rule at least in form. The council had been in power 16 months since the collapse of the Hosni Mubarak administration in February 2011.

A vintage plane crashed on Sunday during an air show in Bedfordshire in eastern England, killing a pilot, the BBC reported.The Havilland DH 53 plane, produced in 20s, crashed at the airfield while performing the flight at the show, which was attended by over 600 people, according to the BBC.
"A team of inspectors have been dispatched to the site to determine the circumstances behind the accident," the Air Accident Investigation Branch’s official told the BBC.
The organizers of the show, Shuttleworth Collection, cancelled the event. They however released neither the details of the tragedy nor the pilot’s identity.
The Havilland DH 53 aircraft is a low-wing single-seat monoplane that was first displayed in 1925 at the Hendon Aerodrome in north London. A total of 15 aircraft had been produced in Britain. Eight of them were used as communications and training aircraft for the Royal Air Force.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said,“It was harsh, but you could see straight away they were much fresher,” Prandelli told Rai Sport after the final whistle in Kiev.“We used up a lot of energy this week and didn’t have time to recover, so when 2-0 down against these players that was inevitable.“We didn’t take the wrong approach, as we realised physically they were on another level. At times the generosity of this team hurts the balance of the side. Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon briefed  his disappointment at having missed out on the Euro 2012 title but said he could only congratulate winners Spain.

Vicente del Bosque's team became the first side to successfully defend a European Championship title, as well as the first to win three consecutive major tournaments after their triumphs at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. Spain produced a aggresive demonstration of attacking football to confirm beyond doubt that this remains a golden age for Spanish football.Andres Iniesta and Xavi were the architects of victory, playing key roles in goals by David Silva, Jordi Alba and Fernando Torres, who teed up fellow substitute Juan Mata for Spain's fourth.The match-winner in the Euro 2008 decider against Germany, Torres became the first player to score in two European Championship finals, while it was the most handsome winning margin in a final in the tournament's history.

Spain had a point to prove and in the 10th minute there was a glimpse of the pin-sharp attacking football that had eluded them in recent matches, as Xavi exchanged passes with Fabregas before rifling a shot narrowly over.
Four minutes later the deadlock was broken, Iniesta threading a superb pass down the inside-right channel to Fabregas, who slipped around Giorgio Chiellini before cutting the ball back for Silva to head home.
Chiellini's evening lasted barely more than 20 minutes, as the Juventus defender was forced off after landing awkwardly and had to be replaced by Balzaretti.Having being eclipsed by Iniesta in recent matches, Xavi proved that reports of his demise are grossly premature by creating Spain's second goal four minutes before half-time.
The 32-year-old maestro collected a pass from Alba and then delayed his pass supremely before freeing his future Barcelona team-mate to run in and place the ball past Gianluigi Buffon for his first international goal.
Prandelli replaced Cassano with Antonio Di Natale at the interval and the Udinese man made an immediate impact, heading just over from Abate's centre and then obliging Casillas to save after ghosting in behind Spain's defence.
At the other end, Buffon thwarted Fabregas after the Barcelona man weaved his way past Balzaretti and Leonardo Bonucci, who was lucky not to concede a penalty when he appeared to block Sergio Ramos' header with his arm.
Italy's hopes of a comeback evaporated in the 62nd minute, as Motta was carried off on a stretcher with an apparent hamstring injury just five minutes after replacing Riccardo Montolivo, leaving Prandelli's side with 10 men.The game dipped in intensity until the arrival of Torres, who rolled home Spain's third from Media agencies

Competitiveness, climate, security Finn’s priorities Ministry of Finance release Finnish road map of EU presidency. Finland i...