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ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012
INTERNATIONAL 20
World News Roundup
Weather
Grain region suffers
‘Dry spell’ will
hit Black Sea
MOSCOW, Aug 1, (RTRS): Hot
and dry weather will continue to
dominate the Black Sea regions in
August, increasing pressure on
weak grains crop prospects in
Russia and Ukraine, while rains
in Kazakhstan are expected to aid
its crop, forecasters said on
Wednesday.
Weather in the Black Sea pro-
ducing countries, which normally
supply a quarter of world wheat
export volumes, has already hurt
grain crops in Russia, Ukraine
and
Kazakhstan
this year and
has lent sup-
port to global
wheat prices,
which soared
this summer.
Wheat
prices have
jumped about
Prysyazhnyuk
50 percent
since mid-
June amid a severe drought in the
US Midwest, dry conditions in
Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan,
excessively wet weather in
Europe and a below average start
to the Indian monsoon season.
The USDA is expected to cut
wheat crop estimates for Black
Sea exporters as bad weather
takes a toll, while it continues a
trend of lowering figures for US
corn and soy production,
Barclays bank said on Tuesday.
Temperatures will be higher
than usual in Russia during
August, putting pressure on
crops, Russia’s state forecaster Local residents watch as sailors aboard the Chinese navy destroyer Qingdao prepare to arrive in port Sevastopol on July 31. Missile destroyer Qingdao arrived in Ukraine for an unofficial friendly visit. (AFP)
said on Tuesday.
Most of the wheat has been
harvested in the key southern
exporting regions but spring
Russia
wheat is still maturing to the
north, and the outlook for corn is
under threat from renewed hot state-run companies, the EU mission said
Tuesday.
weather in the breadbasket
regions just north of the Black US voices concern The EU rule of law mission in Kosovo
(EULEX) said former anti-corruption
Sea coast. prosecutor Nazmi Mustafi and three other
All key grain regions including staff from his office have been indicted
Russia’s South, Urals, Siberia and
Volga, will see temperatures
above normal levels, a map pub-
lished by the State
Opposition figures charged “for corruption-related offences”.
Mustafi, who was also a head of the
anti-corruption task force, was arrested in
April in a probe into allegations that he
Hydrometeorology Agency WASHINGTON, Aug 1, (AFP): The They were arrested in March after temporary detention centre after mid- had taken bribes to drop corruption
United States on Tuesday voiced deep performing an anti-Putin song in night, are left without dinner and can charges against sev-
showed. concerns about charges brought by Russia’s main Orthodox cathedral and only get a few hours of sleep,” eral individuals.
A shortage of rains is likely in Moscow against a vocal critic of face up to seven years in jail if con- Polozov told the Interfax news Corruption
Russia’s southern, Volga regions Russian President Vladimir Putin as victed. They have been in detention agency. charges were also
and in the Urals, while Siberia well as an all-girl punk band. since their arrest. Alyokhina told the court on filed against a for-
and a part of Kazakhstan will see “We are very concerned by these Monday evening that “my head is mer president of a
Also: Pristina municipal
an average level of precipitation. charges not only regarding Mr spinning,” as the hearing went on to
MOSCOW: One of the members of an court and four of its
Drought Navalny but also the punk rock all-girl punk band who performed an almost 10 pm. former judges as
Russia, hit by severe drought band,” State Department spokesman anti-Vladimir Putin song in a land- The three women — who face up well as three ex-dis-
first in the southern breadbasket This handout picture released on Patrick Ventrell said. mark Moscow church required med- to seven years in jail if found guilty of trict court judges,
regions and then in Siberia and Aug 1, by the Bulgarian Interior Washington had “serious concerns ical attention on Wednesday during hooliganism — testified on Monday EULEX said.
Urals, could see a grains harvest Ministry shows an image produced about politically motivated prosecu- that they had wanted to change Russia Earlier this month
by forensic experts of the suicide their high-profile trial. Bukoshi
of 75-80 million tonnes this year, tions of the Russian opposition,” he Court officials and lawyers said the with their action but could have made Kosovo former
bomber who killed six people in an told reporters. an “ethical” mistake by offending deputy prime minister Bujar Bukoshi and
down from last year’s 94 million attack on Israelis at the airport in third day of witness testimony was
Charges interrupted and medics called in when worshippers. The controversial case 10 other officials were charged with cor-
tonnes, top government officials Burgas on July 18. (AFP) has won them supporters among ruption over allegations that they took
said on Tuesday. Russia on Tuesday charged popular one of the young women collapsed
protest leader Alexei Navalny with after the group complained of a lack major Western stars including pop bribes to award major health contracts.
Its 2012/13 exportable surplus icon Sting and writer and comedian (AFP)
of wheat is seen in a range of 11 embezzlement, reviving a case that of food and sleep during the trial.
could land him behind bars for 10 “Maria Alyokhina suffered a Stephen Fry and was condemned on ❑ ❑ ❑
million tonnes to 15 million Tuesday by the US State Department.
tonnes depending on the final years. severe drop in blood sugar levels this Csatary denies crimes: Top Nazi
The Investigative Committee said morning. This is linked to the fact that ❑ ❑ ❑ war crimes suspect Laszlo Csatary,
2012 crop, a government source accused of overseeing thousands of
told Reuters on Wednesday. Navalny would also be barred from she is a vegan,” defence attorney MOSCOW: Russian President
leaving Moscow during the probe into Nikolai Polozov told journalists after Vladimir Putin held out the prospect Jewish deportations during World War II,
Uncertainty over whether denied all allegations against him at a
his role as an unofficial advisor in a three ambulances arrived at the court. Tuesday of a visit by the Dalai Lama
Russia will impose export con- timber deal struck by regional offi- “All three ambulances were called hearing Tuesday, his lawyer said.
straints, as it did after a disastrous despite ally China’s pressure on other
cials in 2009 that triggered the for her. They gave her the necessary “Csatary denied all allegations against
governments to shun the exiled spiri-
drought in 2010, have been charges. injections.” tual leader of Tibet.
him,” Gabor Horvath told journalists after
another factor supporting grain the 97-year-old appeared at a three-hour
Navalny, a lawyer who became a As the women were taken into Putin said he understood that a visit closed-door hearing at the prosecutor’s
prices in recent sessions. cult figure in Russia’s growing court in handcuffs for the hearings to by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has
Ukraine, which faced a record Basescu Ponta office in Budapest.
Internet community with his investi- resume, Alyokhina told journalists been strongly favoured by residents The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal
drought during the 2011 winter gations into state corruption, that she felt “all right.” of Russia’s predominantly Buddhist Center says Csatary was a senior
grain sowing, is likely to face described the charges as “absolutely The defence lawyers have repeat- region of Kalmykia on the Caspian
searing temperatures of up to 42 Europe absurd and very strange.” edly complained to the judge that the Sea.
Hungarian police officer in charge of the
Kosice ghetto, in what is now Slovakia,
degrees Celsius (107.6 The charges came a day after three women are being woken up at 5:00 “Of course we understand the peo- and that he helped organise the deporta-
Fahrenheit) in parts of the country members of punk group Pussy Riot, am at their detention centre to attend ple of Kalmykia who are awaiting the tion to Ukraine and the Nazi death camp
in early August, which will hit its Image of bomber face constructed: who are all in their 20s, appeared in the closely watched hearings and are Dalai Lama’s arrival,” Putin told a Auschwitz of some 15,700 Jews between
Bulgarian experts have constructed an court accused of hooliganism moti- not fed for periods of more than 12 group of young supporters in com- 1941 and 1944. (AFP)
maize production, a state weather image of the face of a suicide bomber
forecaster said on Wednesday. who killed five Israeli tourists and a vated by religious hatred of Orthodox hours. ments broadcast from a political train- ❑ ❑ ❑
“At the very best, the maize Bulgarian bus driver on the Black Sea believers. “They are brought back to their ing camp in central Russia. Belarus generals fired: Belarus fired
harvest (this year) will be 20 mil- coast two weeks ago, the interior minister two senior generals Tuesday after a small
lion tonnes,” said Tetyana said on Wednesday. plane illegally crossed into the country
Adamenko, head of the state The computer-generated image shows a impeachment. ident after Basescu was suspended last judges. (AFP) and dropped hundreds of protest-sign-
weather forecasting centre’s agri- man aged around 30, with swept-back Some members of the ruling centre-left month. ❑ ❑ ❑ wielding teddy bears, officials said.
culture department, indicating a black hair and dark eyes. coalition USL have refused to accept Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who President Alexander Lukashenko dis-
revision downwards from the The bomber blew up the bus in a car Basescu’s return to office. has said he is unhappy with the referen- Kosovo justice charged: An EU missed the country’s top border control
park at Burgas airport, a popular gateway “Basically, President Basescu has been dum result, called on all political parties prosecutor has charged Kosovo’s former official and the top air force commander
centre’s previous 21 million for tourists visiting Bulgaria’s Black Sea impeached. He should resign,” said Crin to “abstain from all form of public or prosecutor and 13 other judicial officials after the July 4 incident, in which a
tonne estimate. coast, also killing himself and wounding Antonescu, who took over as interim pres- direct pressure on the Court or on its with corruption during the privatisation of biplane flew over the border from
Critical more than 30 people. Lithuania to airdrop the stuffed toys.
Adamenko told Reuters that “The police did not release any earlier The bears were attached to little para-
photos of the bomber, who was decapitat- chutes and held signs calling for freedom
virtually the whole country would
ed in the explosion, as they would have Entry denied of speech and human rights. (AFP)
see increasingly high tempera-
tures up to Aug 11, though the sit-
shocked the public,” Interior Minister ❑ ❑ ❑
uation was particularly critical in
Tsvetan Tsvetanov told reporters.
“The badly damaged face of the
Soviet symbol ban Georgia parliament vote set:
southern maize-growing areas bomber was reconstructed thanks to mod- VILNIUS, Aug 1, (RTRS): A Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili
where temperatures of up to 42 ern technology, supplied to Bulgaria by Belarusian man driving a on Wednesday set his ex-Soviet country’s
degrees were expected by Aug 6. partner services,” Tsvetanov said, adding Porsche sports car emblazoned fiercely contested parliamentary polls for
“There is a lot of maize in these the man, who has not been identified, had with the red and yellow flag of October 1 and vowed to uphold their dem-
spent some 20 days in the Balkan country the Soviet Union was denied ocratic standards.
regions. The effect will be that the “The president is confident that the
plants will prematurely dry out before the attack. (RTRS) entry into Lithuania on Tuesday
❑ ❑ ❑ on the grounds that the public October elections will be yet another
and the grain will not develop display of such symbols in the proof of Georgian democracy’s maturity
properly. Simply put - it will lead Romania crisis drags: Romania’s Baltic country is illegal. and viability, and that important steps will
to a lower harvest,” she said. biggest newspaper appealed the country’s Under the rule of the former be made to further strengthen the
Agricultural Minister Mykiola leaders to end their “political warfare” as Soviet Union for almost half a Georgian state,” his website said in a
Prysyazhnyuk said on Tuesday the ruling coalition made a new bid to century, Vilnius banned the pub- statement. (AFP)
that the ministry stood by its influence the results of a referendum to lic display of Soviet symbols in ❑ ❑ ❑
impeach the president. 2008, sparking protests from for-
overall grain harvest forecast for Official results published Wednesday 2 Serb soldiers killed: Officials
the year of 45 million tonnes, mer colonial master Russia. say two Serbian soldiers have been
confirmed that President Traian Basescu The bonnet of the offending
which also includes wheat, barley has escaped the motion to remove him Porsche 966 – driven by a 26-
killed in the explosion of an old NATO
and other crops. from office as turnout at Sunday’s referen- cluster bomb on Serbia’s border with
year-old man – had a giant Kosovo.
But Adamenko said: “Analysts dum fell below the 50 percent minimum Soviet flag painted on it com-
this year are agreed that the over- threshold. The defense ministry says the officers
plete with a yellow hammer and died Wednesday while clearing a mine
all harvest could be around 43 mil- Some 46.24 percent of 18.3 million sickle symbol and star, Rokas
registered voters cast their ballots. Those In this photo taken July 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin (second from field near their barracks on Mount
lion tonnes. I also believe that it Pukinskas, a spokesman told Kopaonik in southern Serbia that was left
will be about 43 million tonnes”. who did, however, voted overwhelmingly left), looks at a crock while meeting with pro-Kremlin youth activists at a camp Reuters.
— 86.52 percent — for Basescu’s at a bank of Seliger Lake in Tver region, Russia. (AP) over from the 1999 war in Kosovo. (AP)
