Samsung: We’re Not Interested in Buying RIM, or BlackBerry Licenses

LONDON - With word through the grapevine being that RIM was planning to license out its new operating system, BB10, it is now understood that Samsung has reiterated that it will not become involved with the Canadian telecommunications company, Research in Motion.
Shares of RIM rose 5 percent yesterday when an analyst predicted that Samsung might be interested in licensing BB10 from RIM. A change of fate means they look set to drop just as quickly.
BB10, which is expected to launch early next year, is perhaps RIM’s last great hope – but plans to license the software out are ambitious. With Samsung out of the running, as the biggest and most attractive player who may have considered the proposition, it still remains to be seen who will dare to take on the challenge.

27 world countries attending Tehran summit on Syria

TEHRAN - Representatives of 27 world and regional states as well as the UN envoy to Tehran are participating in the international consultative conference on the developments in Syria, which started work here in Tehran on Thursday.
At the beginning of the Tehran conference on Syria, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi addressed the audience on Iran's position and policies to settle the crisis in the Arab country.
He underscored that the settlement of the crisis in Syria needs serious and comprehensive talks between the Syrian government and the opposition groups.
"We need serious and comprehensive talks between the opposition (forces) who have a position among people and the Syrian government in a background of tranquility and stability to settle the crisis in Syria," Salehi said.
Representatives of different world states, including Russia, China, Belarus, Mauritania, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Benin, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Algeria, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Oman, Venezuela, Tajikistan, India, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Sudan, Jordan, Tunisia and Palestine at the level of three foreign ministers, two acting deputy ministers, 7 deputy ministers, 15 ambassadors and also the UN envoy to Tehran are attending the meeting.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Wednesday elaborated on the goals of the conference, and said, "The Tehran conference will be held to strengthen and stress pervasive regional and international efforts to help the Syrian people come out of the current crisis."
Iran has adopted an active policy to settle the crisis in Syria which has been sparked and aggravated by a number of foreign countries. In relevant development, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili earlier this week visited Beirut and Damascus to discuss the crisis with the Lebanese and Syrian officials.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.
Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.
The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but it is said that the US and its Middle East allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals are blamed for staging various plots in the hope of stirring unrests in Syria and supporting terrorists and rebel group.

Assad appoints new Syria premier: TV

DAMASCUS - President Bashar al-Assad has appointed Wael al-Halqi, former health minister, as Syria's new premier, state television reported on Thursday."The president has signed Decree 298, appointing Wael al-Halqi as the new prime minister," the broadcaster reported.
Halqi was appointed to replace Riad Hijab, whose defection to the opposition was announced on Monday.

India test-fires medium range nuclear capable Agni-II missile

NEW DELHI - India on Thursday successfully test-fired its medium range nuclear capable Agni-II missile with a strike range of 2000km as part of a user trial by the Army from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.
"The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted from a mobile launcher from the Launch Complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at around 8.48am," defence sources said.
Describing the launch as a complete success, ITR Director MVKV Prasad said, "All mission parameters were met during the trial of the indigenously developed missile."
Agni-II Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) has already been inducted into the services and today’s test was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army with logistic support provided by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
"The 2000km range versatile missile, already inducted and part of countries arsenal for strategic deterrence, was launched as a training exercise by the armed forces," a DRDO scientist said.
The two-stage missile equipped with advanced high accuracy navigation system, guided by a novel scheme of state of the earth command & control system was propelled by solid rocket propellant system, he said.
The entire trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and naval ships located near the impact point in the down range area of the sea.
The 20-metre long Agni-II is a two-stage, solid-propelled ballistic missile. It has a launch weight of 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1000kg over a distance of 2000km.
The state-of-the-art Agni-II missile was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory along with other DRDO laboratories and integrated by the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad, the sources said.
Agni-II is part of the Agni series of missiles which includes Agni-I with a 700km range, Agni-III with a 3,000km range, Agni-IV and Agni-V.
The first prototype of Agni-II missile was carried out on April 11, 1999.
Though trial conducted on May 19, 2009 and the first night trial on November 23, 2009 from Wheelers Island could not meet all the parameters, all other trials including the last one carried out on September 30, 2011 from the same base were successful.

IPL is the best organised T20 league: Shahid Afridi

KARACHI - Pakistan's flamboyant all-rounder, 32-year-old cricketer Shahid Afridi, who will be playing in the Sri Lankan Premier League from August 12 has described Indian Premier League as the best foreign Twenty20 league and his experience of playing in the IPL in 2008 had been the best of his career said while responding to a question at the Moin Khan academy about the mushrooming growth of foreign T20 leagues in which international stars are becoming a necessity.
Afridi has been part of the T20 championships in India, Bangladesh, England and Australia but his best experience came in the IPL.
"Although I played just once in the IPL but it is easily the biggest league you can play in and I enjoyed my experience. The IPL is clearly the best organised foreign league and it was a totally different experience playing in it," Afridi said.
Pakistani players were part of the first edition of the IPL in 2008, but due to the Mumbai terror attacks the same year so franchises have not signed any Pakistani cricketer for the league.
Afridi has termed the absence of Pakistani cricketers from the IPL as disappointing and hoped things would change next year and agreed that the growing number of foreign T20 leagues posed a challenge for traditional formats of the sport.
"Obviously as time passes and these foreign leagues grow, players are bound to find themselves in a position where they will have to take decisions about their careers," he said.
Foreign leagues presented a good opportunity for top players to earn decent money and that is why they were being attracted to these leagues.
The Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) is under an agreement with the Sri Lankan Board and allowed its players to take part in the league so according to Afridi, the Sri Lankan league posed a big challenge for him.
"It should be a tough league but it will put us in the proper frame of mind for the coming assignments," he added.

Bolt targets double dose of golden glory

LONDON: Usain Bolt can become the first man to claim a second successive 100m-200m Olympic Games double on Thursday with the Jamaican superstar confidently predicting his own 200m world record could fall.
Bolt retained his 100 metres crown on Sunday and looked to be in ominous form once again on Wednesday when he strolled to victory in his 200m semi-final, easing across the line in 20.18sec.
Victory for the 25-year-old in Thursday’s final would better the record of American legend Carl Lewis, who won three golds and a silver in the sprints at the 1984 and 1988 Games.
“People always doubt the champion but I know what I can do so I never doubt myself. This is my favourite event so I am looking forward to it,” said Bolt, who is targeting his own world record of 19.19sec.
“It’s a possibility, definitely. I can’t say but the track is fast, it’s going to be a good race.”
His main danger will come from compatriot and training partner Yohan Blake, who took silver in the 100 metres.
Also on the track, world champion David Rudisha goes for gold in the men’s 800m while South Africa’s Caster Semenya, in her debut Olympics, goes in the women’s semi-finals.
Rudisha said after his easy semi-final win that his mind was not focussed on anything but the title.
“I don’t mind about breaking the world record. My target is winning the Olympic gold and if the record comes that will be another great achievement.”
The United States look to win successive women’s football titles when they tackle Japan, the team they lost against in the 2011 World Cup final, in front of 83,000 spectators at Wembley
The US struggled into the final, trailing Canada three times in the semi-finals before finally clinching a sensational 4-3 victory in the final minute of extra-time courtesy of an Alex Morgan header.
“For some reason we like to make things dramatic,” said veteran striker Abby Wambach.
Japan are attempting to become only the second team in history to hold the women’s World Cup and Olympic titles at the same time and striker Yuki Ogimi says their mood is better than ever.
“We have a different feeling. We are working more as a team. As for myself, I am happier than last year.”
On a day when 21 golds are up for grabs, the first Olympic Games women’s boxing champions will be crowned.
China’s Ren Cancan tackles Britain’s Nicola Adams in the flyweight final, Ireland’s Katie Taylor faces Russia’s Sofya Ochigava in the lightweights while America’s Claressa Shields meets Nadezda Torlopova for middleweight gold.
Australia meet the United States while Russia face France in the semi-finals of women’s basketball.
The beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade concludes with Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil facing Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany in the men’s final.
World champions Australia face defending Olympic champions Germany for a place in the men’s hockey final while the Netherlands, who won all five of their preliminary round games, face Great Britain.
The hosts are in the semi-finals for the first time since 1988.

‘Brazil won’t take gold for granted’

LONDON: Brazil coach Mano Menezes insists there is no chance his players will underestimate Mexico as the five-time world champions look to win a first Olympic gold in the men’s final at Wembley on Saturday.
While Brazil have graced the World Cup with some of the best players and most dazzling performances ever seen on football’s grandest stage, the Selecao have never managed to replicate those golden moments at the Games.
Brazil were bronze medallists in 2008 but this weekend’s showdown with Mexico will be their first Olympic final since 1988 in Seoul, when a team led by Romario and Bebeto finished with the silver.
The South Americans also won the silver in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, but the failure to bring home a gold has rankled with such a proud football nation for decades.
Brazil’s Olympic angst has increased since Argentina won gold in Beijing four years ago and the prospect of taking the top prize previously held by their arch rivals, who failed to qualify for the London Games, has only increased the motivation in Menezes’s squad.
Brazil are unbeaten in their five matches, scoring three times in each game to take their tally to 15 goals en route to the final.
The pick of the bunch have been Chelsea’s new playmaker Oscar, Santos striker Neymar and Internacional forward Leandro Damiao, who struck twice in the semi-final win over South Korea.
With that trio in such inspired form, Menezes has been able to give only cameo roles to top-class talents like Porto striker Hulk and AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato, while Manchester United target Lucas Moura has often failed to get off the bench.
But Menezes knows the dangers of allowing his much-praised players to rest on their laurels against a Mexico side going for a first gold in their maiden Olympic final.
“I expect a very difficult final,” Menezes said.
“Mexico have prepared well. Their under-23 side played in the Copa America and the Pan-American Games. Now they have added their three over-aged players (Jose Corona, Carlos Salcido and Oribe Peralta) they look very strong.
“The players are very calm, not over-euphoric about being in the final.
“But our team should be congratulated, they have come a long way since May when they were nowhere and now they are in an Olympic final.
“It has been 24 years since Brazil have been in the final, which shows how difficult it is to get there.”
Real Madrid defender Marcelo summed up the desire within Brazil’s ranks as he revealed the desire to win gold has consumed every member of the squad since the first day of their Olympic preparations.
“We have all been thinking about the gold medal since July 9,” Marcelo said.
“We want gold, the crowd also wants gold and everyone in Brazil wants it. We are going to fight to win.
“We are going to leave our skin on the pitch to defend our country.”
Mexico, 3-1 winners against Japan in the semi-finals, have never won a football medal at the Games before.
They are guaranteed at least silver this time, but coach Luis Fernando Tena, who has concerns over Giovani dos Santos after the Tottenham forward suffered a leg injury against Japan, isn’t satisfied with that.
“I understand the happiness of Mexico, which is a footballing country,” Tena said.
“They must be partying back there.”
“This is special, this is emotional, but the most important is yet to come.”

Iran hosts Syria conference, West skeptical

DUBAI: Iran hosts a foreign ministers’ conference on Thursday to seek a resolution to the intensifying conflict in Syria but its latest diplomatic foray into the crisis has been met with deep skepticism by Western nations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has billed the meeting of a dozen unnamed countries as an opportunity “to replace military clashes with political, indigenous approaches to settle the disputes,” but there are doubts over the attendance of key players involved the crisis.
Those attending would be countries with “a correct and realistic position” on the Syrian conflict, a senior Iranian diplomat said this week, indicating that no pro-opposition nation would be present.
It was unclear which nations would attend but Western diplomats have dismissed the conference as an attempt to divert attention away from bloody events on the ground and to preserve the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“The Islamic Republic’s support for Assad’s regime is hardly compatible with a genuine attempt at conciliation between the parties,” said one Western diplomat based in Tehran.
It showed Iran was “running out of ideas”, he added.
Another Western diplomat said Tehran was trying to broaden the support base of the Syrian leader.
Along with Russia and China, Iran has strongly supported Assad whose forces have launched crushing operations against anti-government protesters and armed opposition groups since the crisis erupted 17 months ago.
The Islamic Republic has resisted an agreement on Syria that requires Assad to quit as part of any political transition.
There is no sign that Tehran is ready to adopt a new approach, despite setbacks for Assad including the defection this week of his prime minister.
But analysts say signs of cracks in the Syrian leadership have taken Iran by surprise.\
“Iran is trying to show strength and regional presence, but if they were going to make a big play why not do it at the Non-Aligned Movement summit (taking place in Tehran in late August)?” said Scott Lucas of the EA Worldview news website that specialises in covering Iran.
“They seem to be so jittery about Syria, they couldn’t afford to wait,” he added.
Accusations
Iran’s Shi’ite rulers have accused Western and Arab nations, specifically Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, of fomenting terrorism in Syria by arming opposition groups.
In turn, Syria’s mostly Sunni Muslim rebels accuse Tehran of sending military personnel to Syria and of providing light arms, as well as tactical and communications expertise to Syrian government forces.
The crisis has soured Iran’s relations with neighbouring Turkey which has hosted opposition meetings, extended assistance to Syrian refugees and demanded Assad leave office.
“Iran wants to co-ordinate efforts among countries that don’t accept the Western and Saudi approach to Syria,” said Mohammad Marandi of Tehran University. “It’s a counter-force to the so-called Friends of Syria gathering.”
Iranian involvement in the crisis has been complicated by the seizure by rebels of 48 Iranians in Syria on Saturday on suspicion of being military personnel. Tehran has said they were pilgrims, but acknowledged that some of the men were retired soldiers or Revolutionary Guards.
Iranian officials have engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts in the region this week.
On Tuesday, while Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was in Ankara trying to maintain relations, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili was in Damascus to reassure Assad of Tehran’s support.
“They’re in chaos in terms of the bureaucracy. There have been lots of statements but no-one’s co-ordinating it,” said EA Worldview’s Scott Lucas.
The meeting comes just days before a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation set to focus on Syria. In recent days Iran has warned the Muslim world of the threat posed to it by the United States.
“In the new plan that the Americans have provided for the Middle East, they have foreseen changes for all countries,”
Iran’s state news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying on Wednesday.
“I am certain they have plans for changes in Saudi Arabia as well they do not want Muslim countries to have power and in opposition we must stand together more than before,” he added.

Yoga guru holds anti-graft protest in India

NEW DELHI: An Indian yoga guru has begun a mass anti-corruption protest demanding the government bring back billions of dollars of illegal money stashed in foreign banks.       
Tens of thousands of supporters from across the country poured into New Delhi on Thursday to pledge their support for Baba Ramdev’s anti-corruption crusade. Ramdev says he will fast for three days to push for laws to wipe out tax evasion and endemic corruption in India.
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation says around $500 billion has been illegally squirreled away in overseas tax havens.
The protest comes less than a week after a similar protest by anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare ended with his supporters promising to enter politics.

Afghan peace negotiator cancels visit to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Afghan peace negotiator Salahuddin Rabbani, who was scheduled to arrive Wednesday, has unexpectedly cancelled his visit to Pakistan. 
As per media reports, Salahuddin Rabbani an ethnic Tajik and the head of High Peace Council (HPC) formed to spearhead talks with Taliban insurgents, was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday on a two day visit. But it was cancelled at the last moment without indicating any reason.
Pakistani officials invited him as he was elected as chairman of the council, after his father Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated in a suicide attack last year. Rabbani wanted to visit Pakistan before the Special OIC session in Saudi Arabia, sources said.
Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Khan confirming the cancellation of visit said that efforts are being made to make possible the visit of Rabbani at the earliest convenient time.
Sources say that the reason behind sudden cancellation of his visit could be due to political situation in Afghanistan as well as lack of trust among the two countries.
During his visit, Salahuddin was scheduled to meet senior civil and security officials, officials of ministry of foreign affairs and others to hold discussion on reconciliation among Afghan factions other than Taliban and Pakistan’s role in the peace talks, official sources said.
Pakistan has already announced its support to Afghan-led reconciliation process. Taliban are ready for negotiations with United States but not with the government in Kabul.

Iraqi Kurdistan resumes oil exports

BAGHDAD/LONDON: Oil exports from Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region restarted on Tuesday at 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in a bid to end a payment dispute with the central government, a senior Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official told Reuters.
Exports were halted in April due to a payment dispute between Iraq’s central government and the autonomous northern region.
“As we promised, today at around 12pm we restarted pumping oil at around 100,000 barrels per day as a goodwill gesture towards the central government in Baghdad,” the official said.
“We will keep pumping crude at 100,000 barrels per day for August, but if Baghdad will not settle payment, the pumping will be halted,” the official said.
Crude produced in Kurdistan is fed into Iraq’s Kirkuk export stream and sold onto world markets via the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The Kurdish stoppage had cut Kirkuk shipments by a quarter to below 300,000 bpd.
An official at Iraq’s state-run North Oil Company (NOC) confirmed the resumption.
“We started to receive crude produced from the Kurdish oilfields this afternoon and it was directed to our main storage depots to prepare it for export,” the official said.
PIPELINE BLAST
Iraqi oil exports via Turkey halted completely on Tuesday after an attack on a pipeline on Sunday, a Turkish shipping source said.
“Vessels are now waiting because of a lack of crude oil in the shore tanks,” the source said.
The pipeline ships about a quarter of Iraqi oil from fields near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan and it has long been subject of attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in its campaign against the Turkish state.
Oil flows could begin on Wednesday on a second line unaffected by an explosion at the weekend, Turkish energy ministry officials said.
The attacks have become less regular in recent months, giving the market hope that Iraqi exports would rise to help compensate for a plunge in Iranian shipments because of Western sanctions.
“The increase in sabotage activity highlights instability in the region and, together with growing sectarian tensions in Iraq, is beginning to cast doubts on Iraq’s ambitious plan to boost production,” said David Wech from JBC Energy consultancy.
More than 40,000 people have died in the PKK militants’ 28-year fight for more autonomy for Turkey’s estimated 14 million ethnic Kurds.
The latest blast occurred in Mardin province, north of Turkey’s border with Syria, and decreased flows as of Sunday although Iraqi oil officials have said some loadings still continued from onshore tanks in Ceyhan.
On Monday, Turkish energy officials said repairs on the pipeline could take up to 10 days.

Egypt army launches air strikes in Sinai

CAIRO: Egyptian helicopter gunships killed 20 militants in the Sinai on Wednesday, state media and the army said, days after 16 soldiers were killed in an attack attributed to Muslim extremists
The air strikes on Tumah village — the military’s first in Sinai for decades — were carried out as security forces massed near Rafah on the Gaza border for what they called a decisive confrontation with the militants.
A senior military official in Sinai, who spoke to on condition of anonymity, said “20 terrorists were killed” in Apache helicopter air strikes and when soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division stormed Tumah.
“The operation is continuing,” he said. Other security officials in the north of the peninsula reported air strikes near the town of Sheikh Zuwayid, close to the village.
But the official news MENA news agency gave a conflicting account of how the militants were killed.
“Terrorist elements fired rockets and shells and heavy machine guns… at the aircraft combing the area, but did not hit the aircraft, and ground forces then dealt with them and killed a number of them,” the agency reported.
Overnight, unknown assailants attacked four security checkpoints near the town of El-Arish, security officials said.
The interior ministry said three policemen were wounded.
The air strikes came a day after the military held a funeral for the 16 soldiers who died in Sunday’s attack by militants amid widespread calls for vengeance.
The soldiers were killed when Muslim militants raided a border guard base under the cover of mortar fire, and commandeered a military vehicle into neighbouring Israel before they were stopped by an Israeli helicopter strike.
Security forces had raided homes on Tuesday in search of suspects in the attack, as they prepared to close tunnels to the Palestinian Gaza Strip used to smuggle weapons and militants as well as food and other supplies.
Israel had handed over to Egypt six “completely charred” bodies that were in the armoured personnel carrier that was driven into Israel before being destroyed, said a medical official in El-Arish.
The bodies have not yet been identified, but security officials blame Bedouin militants and Palestinian Muslims from Gaza for the attack.
Sunday’s bloodshed highlighted the government’s tenuous grip on the Sinai Peninsula, from where Muslim militants have launched several rocket attacks on Israel and a deadly cross border raid last year.
It also presents a challenge to Egypt’s new Muslim President Mohamed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood has good relations with the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip.
Morsi did not attend the funeral, where some protesters chanted slogans against the Brotherhood and, witnesses said, tried to assault the Muslim Prime Minister Hisham Qandil.
Morsi has received both Hamas’s chief and its prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, in visits, along with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, and his government had eased border restrictions on Gaza.
Following Sunday’s attack, Egypt indefinitely closed its Rafah crossing with Gaza, the Palestinian territory’s only access to the outside world that is not controlled by Israel.
The enclave has been under a semi-blockade by Israel since Hamas seized it in 2007.
After president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011, militants stepped up attacks in Sinai, prompting the military, then in charge of the country, to send reinforcements to the peninsula.

Pak, India in talks to avert seas conflict

NEW DELHI - Pakistan and India are discussing the establishment of a mechanism to create direct contact between the navies of the two countries to avert military confrontation on high seas. 
The mechanism could involve a communication system like hotline between senior officers of the two navies.
"These are issues we are discussing and certainly with respect to Pakistan, it forms part of the discussion between the two foreign ministries which is the protocol to prevent incidents at sea," Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told reporters.
The development comes in the backdrop of incidents involving Pakistan Naval Ship Babur and INS Godavari where the former had brushed the Indian warship without any provocation in the Gulf of Aden last year.
The Navy Chief was asked about the progress made by India in establishing such a protocol with China for avoiding conflicts on high seas.
Admiral Verma said, "With China, this is something which would be in place when we have requirements to talk to each other."
India and Chinese warships have also been reportedly involved in difficult situations as last year in South China Sea INS Airavat was asked by the Chinese Navy to leave the maritime area.
Asked about the need for having Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) with Chinese Navy as their aircraft carriers would also soon operate in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), Verma said the two navies were cooperating in the Gulf of Aden and the issue was "out of place".

Republicans will cut aid to poor

The Republican Party has confirmed that it will cut out millions of dollars from the federal plan to help low-income families if they win the November election and get the presidency or control of the Senate of the United States.
Supporters of presidential candidate Mitt Romney went forth to submit an amendment to remove nearly two billion dollars from Medicaid over the next decade, beginning in January 2013.
If the Republican proposal materializes, it would be the biggest blow to the program created by Lyndon Johnson half a century ago, which costs 400 billion dollars annually and currently assists almost 70 million Americans.
"If we win in four months, there will be no excuses," announced Congressman Jim Jordan, Ohio, a conservative activist who disapproves of Medicaid with the argument that it increases government spending and fosters bureaucracy and corruption.
Romney, Jordan and other important figures of the political opposition were encouraged by a recent decision of the Supreme Court that limited social prerogatives of national health reform, concluded by Obama in 2010.
The Republican governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, has proposed that states - outside the control of Washington - manage the implementation of Medicaid with more effective and pragmatic criteria for implementation, with the goal of saving money for the government.
A study by the Department of Agriculture.has confirmed the number of people receiving food stamps in the United States increased by 45% between 2009 and 2012.
Officially designated Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the popular food stamps or coupons today reach 46 million Americans, in a complex context for the domestic economy, called the Great Recession.
Despite some good news in the general industrial landscape, the U.S. macroeconomy continues with 12 million unemployed and more than 40 million low-income households.
Since late 2007, nearly four million Americans lost their homes, unable to make their mortgage payment, and approximately 1.6 million children were, at some point, living in the street, with a quality of life near poverty level.

Armed groups destroy health infrastructure in Syria

The Minister of Public Health for Syria, Wael Al-Halaki, reported that the armed opposition has destroyed important resources for medical care to the population.

During a meeting here with the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Elizabeth Hoff, the Syrian director said 35 hospitals, 143 health centers and 277 ambulances have been destroyed by irregular groups in different parts of the country.

He added that the Government rehabilitated some departments of emergency medical services in 25 hospitals to attend to the victims of the aggression of mercenary groups.

During the conversation with the representative of WHO, Al-Halaki discussed aspects of joint cooperation and aid the world organization can provide to meet the health needs due to terrorist attacks carried out against this industry and the economic blockade imposed on the same.

Moreover, the emergence of epidemics in the country was denied, considering that these rumors are part of the media war unleashed against Syria.

Recently, Al-Halaki noted that new agreements with Iran will help to break the economic blockade imposed by European countries and the United States against Syria, which also affects the health sector, especially the purchase of medicines.

Olympic Soccer: Quarter-finals

One European side is in the last eight of the Men's Soccer quarter-finals: the host country, Great Britain. The other seven contenders are Japan and Rep. Korea; Egypt and Senegal; Mexico, Honduras and Brazil.

Afghan double suicide attack kills three Nato troops

ASAD ABAD: A double suicide attack killed three Nato soldiers in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, Afghan and Western officials said.
Nato’s US-led International Security Assistance Force said three of its troops died in an “insurgent attack” in the east but gave no further details in line with policy.
A Western military official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the three soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Asad Abad, the capital of Kunar province.
The nationalities of the soldiers were not disclosed, but American troops provide the bulk of the Nato mission in Kunar, a flashpoint for Taliban and other militants on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Local police chief, Mohammad Aywaz Naziri, told AFP that two insurgents wearing suicide vests blew themselves up as a group of foreign troops walked to the nearby governor’s compound.
“This morning two suicide bombers targeted US soilders… who were walking from their base to the governor’s compound,” Naziri said. One Afghan was also killed in the blast, he added.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but similar attacks in the past been claimed by the Taliban, leading a decade-long insurgency against the Kabul government and Nato troops.
The militia took power in 1996 but was deposed in late 2001 by the US-led invasion that followed the September 11 attacks on the United States carried out by the then Afghan-based al Qaeda terror network.
Since being unseated, remnants of the Taliban have been fighting to regain power and oust the 130,000 US-led Nato troops based in the country.
The bulk of foreign combat troops are due to withdraw by the end of 2014 as part of plans to hand Afghan government forces responsibility for national security.

Egypt army kills 20 militants in Sinai: official

AL-ARISH: Egyptian military troops and jets killed 20 militants in the Sinai region bordering Israel on Wednesday, striking back after armed men attacked several security checkpoints, an army commander in Sinai told Reuters.

“We have succeeded in entering al-Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armoured cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing,” he told Reuters.
The military offensive follows attacks on Sunday that killed 16 border guards and which the government blamed partly on Islamist militants.
The commander said the army had received information that many militants were in al-Toumah village.

Trailer of Osama Bin Laden manhunt film debuts

The trailer for Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty gives viewers the first glimpse of her controversial movie about the Navy SEAL operation carried out in May 2011 in Pakistan.
The film, which stars Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain and Mark Strong, was due to hit US cinemas in October, before the US Presidential election, but has now been shifted to December, The Daily Telegraph reports.
According to the report, the trailer is quite claustrophobic and offers little in the way of detail and plays up the secrecy with cryptic snatches of footage and heavy black lines that redact parts of the imagery.
“Oh my God, is that I what I think it is?” asks one character, but viewers can’t see what she’s looking at, while another shouts repeatedly: “Where is the last time you saw Bin Laden?”
The movie is Bigelow’s follow-up to her Oscar-winning Hurt Locker, and has come under fire from conservatives in the US.
According to Republicans, the director was given access to classified files about the mission and that she in turn has made a propaganda film for Barack Obama.

Gunmen in Afghan uniform kill US soldie

KABUL: Two gunmen wearing Afghan army uniforms killed a US soldier and wounded two others Tuesday, hours after Afghanistan’s defense minister stepped down following a weekend no-confidence vote in parliament.
The exit of Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak leaves a vacancy at the helm of the ministry that has overseen rapid expansion of the nation’s army.
Afghan soldiers are increasingly taking their positions on the front lines of the war as foreign combat troops withdraw.
Nato’s goal is to turn over security responsibility to local forces by the end of 2014.
Wardak’s resignation comes at the peak of the summer fighting season.
Violence on Tuesday hit eastern and southern Afghanistan, where militants have their deepest roots.
The two gunmen wearing Afghan National Army uniforms fired on Nato troops at a base in Paktia province of eastern Afghanistan, killing a soldier, according to the US-led coalition and Afghan officials.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting, the latest in a rising number of so-called “green-on-blue” attacks in which Afghan security forces, or insurgents disguised in their uniforms, kill their US or Nato partners.
The international military coalition did not disclose the nationality of the service member killed, but a US official said he was American.
A second American official said two US service members were wounded.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information to reporters.
So far this year, 27 coalition troops have been killed in 20 such attacks, according to an Associated Press tally.
That compares with 11 fatal attacks and 20 deaths the previous year. In 2007 and 2008 there was a combined total of four attacks and four deaths.
Overall this year, 272 US and Nato troops have died in Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that one Afghan soldier killed nine US troops.
The Taliban often exaggerate the death tolls from their attacks.
“The soldier who opened fire on the Americans had long been in contact with Taliban in the area,” Mujahid said.“The soldier has escaped and has joined the Taliban.”
The second US official said both of the gunmen in Afghan army uniforms were in custody.
The Taliban also claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s midmorning blast at a Nato base in Logar province, southeast of Kabul.
A suicide attacker, who placed explosives under a load of gravel, drove a pickup truck into a gate of the base near Logar’s capital of Pul-i-Alam, provincial police chief Ghulam Sakhi Roogh Lawanay said. At least 11 Afghan civilians were wounded, he said.
Earlier, a remote-controlled roadside bomb struck a bus traveling northwest of Kabul, killing at least nine passengers, police said. The militant who set off the device was captured by local villagers in Paghman district of Kabul province.
The bomb exploded when the bus drove over a bridge, said Mohammad Zahir, the criminal director for Kabul police. Broken glass and abandoned shoes of victims littered the road near the bus, which was flipped onto its side.
A French soldier and around 10 Taliban fighters were also killed in an early morning ambush and subsequent firefight during a joint operation with the Afghan army in Kapisa province near Kabul, French officials said.
The latest shooting of a Nato soldier was a setback for the Afghan National Army just as the Defense Ministry lost its leader.
Lawmakers passed no-confidence votes Saturday against Wardak and Interior Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi, faulting them for what they said was the government’s weak response to cross-border attacks that Afghans blame on the Pakistani military.
“As an Afghan citizen, I believe in democracy and I respect their (the parliament’s) decision,” Wardak said, explaining why he was stepping down instead of continuing as a caretaker minister, as President Hamid Karzai offered.
Wardak served in the Afghan government through more than four decades of national turmoil.
He oversaw growth of the army from around 50,000 to more than 195,000, but it remains plagued by corruption and unprofessionalism.
Wardak studied in the US and speaks fluent English. He had the backing of Washington and the Nato military coalition.
As Wardak spoke, another member of Karzai’s Cabinet was defending his record.
Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal asked government prosecutors on Tuesday to investigate allegations against him of wrongdoing involving bank deposits and transfers. He denied the allegations and said an investigation would clear his name.
The government’s anti-corruption unit is looking into sizable deposits to Zakhilwal’s bank accounts.
The country’s Tolo Television, first to report the probe last week, displayed copies of bank statements from 2007 to 2011 that Tolo said showed more than $1 million being transferred to Zakhilwal, some of which it said was later moved out of the country.
Zakhilwal has said he earned the money from his work as a consultant for international institutions and as an author.