UEFA president Michel Platini on Tuesday attacked a British newspaper for seeking to "tarnish" his reputation by drawing him into corruption claims against the Qatar World Cup bid.
     "I'm no longer astonished by the spreading of unfounded rumours aimed at tarnishing my image at an important moment for the future of football.
     "Nothing surprises me any longer," the European football boss responded.
     The Daily Telegraph alleged that the French football legend had held "a secret meeting" with Mohamed Bin Hammam, the controversial Qatari accused of making slush fund payments to secure support for Qatar's 2022 campaign.
     The paper said Platini, who may challenge Sepp Blatter as boss of world football's ruling body FIFA next year, held private talks with Bin Hammam "shortly before FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar".
     It said the disgraced former FIFA vice-president "personally lobbied Mr Platini to support the emirate's bid".
     Platini accepted that he had met ..

Platini says Qatar claims 'tarnishing' his image

PTI Automatic

The United States today shut its airforce base in Kyrgyzstan that had been the main transit point for military personnel and cargo headed to Afghanistan for 12 years.
	Washington was forced to shut the Manas Transit Centre north of Bishkek after Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet country seeking closer ties with Moscow, refused last year to extend its lease.
	In a symbolic ceremony US officials handed over keys to the Manas Transit Centre to the Kyrgyz authorities.
	Commander of the base, Colonel John Millard, said at the ceremony that some 5.5 million troops of the anti-terror coalition passed through the base in the Central Asian nation since it was established in late 2001, in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US.
	US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Pamela Spratlen said that all military personnel would leave the base in a week.
	Russia maintains its own base in Kyrgyzstan and is expected to be pleased by the move as it vies for influence in Central Asia.
	The United States has moved its .

US shuts Afghan transit base in Kyrgyzstan

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak today launched legal action against a leading independent news website known for its often harsh criticism of the long-ruling government, the portal said.
	Malaysiakini.Com said Najib's lawyers served it with court papers today, claiming he and his ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) were defamed by reader comments published by the portal last month.
	The comments questioned Najib's leadership, and alleged corruption in UMNO's 57-year-old government. Such criticisms are routine in the site's reader comment section.
	Najib, who had first threatened legal action in mid-May, is seeking damages, an injunction against further defamatory content and an apology from the website.
	"We intend to fight the suit vigorously," said Malaysiakini editor Steven Gan in comments posted on the portal.
	The ruling coalition - dominated by Najib's Muslim and ethnic Malay party - has wielded press control as a major weapon to help remain in power since ...

Malaysia PM launches legal action against news portal

US President Barack Obama launched a European tour today shaped by the escalating separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine and worries among former Soviet satellites about Russia's new expansionist threat.
	Obama landed in Warsaw for celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Poland's first free elections that put both the country and the rest of eastern Europe on a path out of Moscow's orbit and toward democracy and growing economic prosperity.
	But his first big meeting will come tomorrow when he meets Ukraine's embattled president-elect Petro Poroshenko with the ex-Soviet state threatened by civil war and its new pro-Western leadership grasping for protection from Washington.
	The seven-week pro-Russian insurgency in Ukraine's eastern rust belt grew only more violent after Poroshenko swept to power in a May 25 presidential ballot on a promise to quickly end fighting and save the nation of 46 million from economic collapse.
	Hundreds of separatist gunmen staged one of their biggest ...

Obama launches Europe tour shaped by Ukraine crisis

Thailand's junta said today that it was scrapping a curfew in three major beach resorts to woo back tourists in the wake of last month's military coup.
	The measure will be lifted for Pattaya, Koh Samui and Phuket "to create a favourable climate for tourism," the military said in a televised announcement.
	"The rest of the country remains under curfew," it added.
	The measure was initially introduced after the May 22 coup for the whole country for 10:00 pm until 5:00 am (local time), to the dismay of the owners of bars and other late-night businesses.
	The junta shortened it to midnight until 4:00 am late last month.
	Months of bloody political unrest have dealt a heavy blow to the key tourism industry in the "Land of Smiles", which welcomed a record 26.5 million foreign visitors in 2013.
	The army takeover has prompted a flurry of warnings from foreign governments about travelling to the Southeast Asian holiday hotspot.
	But for many life in the kingdom goes on almost as normal and ..

Thai curfew lifted in three tourist hotspots

Syrians in government-held areas voted today in a controversial presidential election in which incumbent Bashar al-Assad is looking to boost his grip but which the exiled opposition has slammed as a "farce".
	Assad is facing two little-known challengers and is expected to win a crushing victory despite the three-year-old civil war which the United Nations has warned is likely to drag on even longer as a result of the election.
	There was no voting in the roughly 60 per cent of the country outside the control of Assad's government, which includes large areas of second city Aleppo.
	But polling was held in the heart of third city Homs, in ruins after rebel forces pulled out early last month following a devastating two-year siege in a boost for the president whose family has held power in Syria for more than 40 years.
	Assad and his British-born wife Asma voted in central Damascus and state television aired footage of them as they cast their ballots.
	The capital is firmly under the ...

Assad eyes crushing win in controversial Syria vote

Iranian authorities warned today that a second sandstorm could hit Tehran, a day after freak weather killed five people in the capital.
	Yesterday's huge sandstorm and record winds plunged Tehran into darkness for 15 minutes during rush hour and forced thousands to run for cover.
	"One of the casualties, who was hospitalised after being hit by debris, lost his life due to the severe injuries," the official IRNA news agency reported today, raising the death toll to five.
	The winds, as high as 110-120 kilometres per hour, levelled trees and swept other heavy material across streets and into the windscreens of cars as people headed home from work.
	The news of the sandstorm and highest winds in 50 years hit the first page of capital's newspapers, along with criticism of forecasters for failing to predict or warn citizens of the approaching storm.
	The surprise weather disrupted a ceremony for the national football team before they depart for the World Cup in Brazil, with President ...

Tehran warned of new sandstorm as death toll hits five

The world's tallest cricketer Mohammad Irfan Tuesday said he could win next year's World Cup for Pakistan single-handedly after regaining full fitness from a hip bone injury which had sidelined him for six months.
	Irfan, who is seven-feet and one-inch (2.16 metres) tall, was speaking at a training camp in the eastern city of Lahore following his long lay-off.
	"I am feeling good fitness and of course the target is to win the World Cup for Pakistan," said Irfan, who turns 32 on Friday.
	"It's a big event, every player feels honoured to play it. In Australia, pitches are very bouncy and are suitable for me and obviously I got a height factor and I can do well.
	"If I managed to sustain my 100 per cent fitness I can win everything all alone, single handedly," he added.
	The lanky paceman was injured during the Twenty20 series against South Africa in November last year in Dubai, missing Pakistan's series against Sri Lanka, tour to South Africa, Asia Cup and the World Twenty20.
	Irfan ...

Fit-again Irfan wants to win World Cup for Pakistan

Thousands of anti-royalists took to the streets across Spain calling for a vote on the monarchy's survival after the abdication of King Juan Carlos.
	Rather than hand over the throne to Crown Prince Felipe, to be known as King Felipe VI, protesters demanded a referendum on the very survival of the institution.
	Late into the night after the king's abdication announcement yesterday, thousands of people filled Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square as rallies were called in major cities around the country.
	Protesters filled the square and police closed access to the royal palace just a short walk away from the demonstration.
	"Tomorrow, Spain will be a republic!", chanted crowds of demonstrators brandishing placards reading: "No more kings, a referendum"; "A royal transition... Without a king"; and "Bourbons up for election".
	"I think now would be a good time to proclaim a republic," said Paola Torija, a 24-year-old therapist for the disabled, following the king's abdication ...

Anti-royalists take to streets as Spain king abdicates

The incoming head of Japan's top business lobby wants to play a greater role in helping Tokyo to improve its badly-frayed ties with China, according to interviews published today.
	Sadayuki Sakakibara, who will become the chairman of Keidanren - the Japan Business Federation later today - said the business sector could share environmental technologies to help foster better Japan-China relations.
	The 71-year-old chairman of synthetic materials maker Toray said Japan Inc's environmental technologies could help smooth over tense diplomatic ties with its biggest trade partner.
	"China really wants (Japanese environmental technologies)," he said, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
	"Efforts to improve ties with China and South Korea are among our top priorities," he said, according to the Yomiuri.
	Japan's relations with China and South Korea have been badly strained over emotional territorial disputes and bitter memories of Japanese soldiers' violence in Asia before and during ..

Japan's top business lobby pledges better China ties

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may visit North Korea, Japan said today, days after announcing a deal to re-open the probe into Japanese citizens kidnapped by spies in the Cold War.
	Any such visit would be controversial, especially in Seoul and Washington, which have led the charge to further isolate Pyongyang over its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.
	Tokyo and Pyongyang have no formal diplomatic ties, partially because of what Japan says is the North's unwillingness to come clean over the abductions in the 1970s and 1980s.
	But in a breakthrough last week, they said an investigation into the fate of missing Japanese would be re-opened. In exchange, Japan would ease some of the unilateral sanctions it has imposed on the isolated state.
	"We must think constantly what would be the most effective response and method in order to bring results," Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a parliamentary committee.
	"In doing so, we will consider (Abe's) making a visit to North Korea," he ...

Japan PM may visit N Korea in kidnap probe

US mining giant Newmont said today it has ceased production at its Indonesian gold and copper mine due to controversial new rules governing the sector in Southeast Asia's top economy.
	Newmont has not shipped copper concentrate overseas since the rules were introduced in January. They include a ban on the export of some unprocessed minerals and higher taxes for some commodities that can still be shipped out of the country.
	Copper concentrate, a major export for Newmont and its US peer Freeport McMoRan, was exempt from the ban but the companies still faced paying the new, higher taxes on shipments of the product.
	But Newmont has refused - and stopped shipments - as it says the new levies conflict with its original agreements in Indonesia. It has been engaged in talks with the government to try and reach agreement.
	The miner said that the stores at its Batu Hijau mine, in central Indonesia, were now full as it had not been exporting, and as a result it would have to stop ...

US miner Newmont halts production at Indonesia site

South Korea today repatriated a North Korean fisherman but rejected Pyongyang's demands to return two others picked up by the coastguard at the weekend.
	Seoul's Unification Ministry said the repatriation took place at the border truce village of Panmunjom.
	The fishermen were picked up Saturday by a coastguard vessel off the east coast of South Korea, and the North quickly demanded the immediate return of all three as well as their boat.
	But Seoul said two of the fishermen had expressed a wish to stay in the South and would be kept in custody for questioning.
	A Unification Ministry spokesman said there was "no word or protest" from North Korea when the third fisherman was handed over at the border.
	South Korea's policy is to send back North Korean fishing boats and their crew if they stray across the disputed maritime border - unless they seek to defect.
	Hundreds of North Koreans flee hunger and repression in their isolated homeland each year.
	Most cross into China and then a ...

S Korea returns North fisherman, holds two others

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli might not admit it, but in Brazil the pressure is on to finally end the pain of a disastrous 2010 World Cup that plunged Italy into despair and sent the Azzurri into redemption mode.
     Yet negotiating safe passage through a "tough" Group D in Brazil, admits Prandelli, remains the priority ahead of bigger tests that could finally heal Italy's World Cup wounds for good.
     "We know we're in a particularly tough group, our first objective is to qualify, and then we'll see," Prandelli said.
    	"Only once we're into the second round can we start to harbour any real ambition."
     Although the mood has been more upbeat of late, with Prandelli recently declaring that his squad has been "designed with getting to the final in mind", Italy would be forgiven for enduring some jitters in the group phase.
	In December 2009 a collective sigh of relief was heard when Italy were drawn with Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia for the 2010 World Cup in South ...

Italy look to slay the ghost of 2010

Oil prices rose in Asian trade today on strong manufacturing data from top global energy guzzlers the United States and China, analysts said.
	US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in July gained four cents to USD 102.51 a barrel while Brent North Sea crude for July was up nine cents to USD 108.92 in mid-morning trading.
	Analysts said oil prices were tracking gains on Wall Street Monday after the Institute of Supply Management said its purchasing managers index of US manufacturing activity rose in May to 55.4 from 54.9 in April.
	China's official purchasing managers index (PMI) of manufacturing activity reached 50.8 in May, the government said Sunday, a five-month high, up from 50.4 in March.
	PMI data is a closely watched indicator of the health of a country's economy, and a reading above 50 indicates growth.
	"The oil market at the moment is focused on the manufacturing data out of the US and China," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in ...

Oil prices rise on strong US, China manufacturing data

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari urged his troops to sharpen up a day before their World Cup warm-up with Panama.
     Scolari blasted his side after a Sunday training session which he said he "didn't like at all" owing to poor marking and perceived sloppiness.
     And with only ten days to go to their opening World Cup match against Croatia in Sao Paulo, the man who led the Selecao to glory in 2002 insisted it was time to crack the whip.
     Sunday, "the marking was sloppy, we left spaces in the middle of the park and took up questionable positions," Scolari observed.
    	"We cannot let our attitude slip a week before the Cup. We cannot lose the identity which we forged at the Confederations Cup," the dress rehearsal his side won almost 12 months ago.
	Tuesday's test at the Serra Dourada stadium in Goiania, some 200 km (130 mi) from the capital Brasilia, is the penultimate chance for Scolari to look at options in reserve.
	Friday against Serbia in Sao Paulo is his side's final ...

Scolari tells Brazil -- sharpen up

A former top Australian football official today said that "development" grants given to corruption-riddled overseas football bodies as part of the country's bid for the 2022 World Cup must be examined.
     Bonita Mersiades, the corporate affairs head for Football Federation Australia when the bid race was run, said there were similarities with the allegations against a leading Qatari football official.
     Britain's Sunday Times has alleged that Mohamed bin Hammam, a former FIFA vice president from Qatar, paid more than US$5 million to officials around the world before the 2010 vote that awarded the 2022 event to the tiny Gulf state.
	Qatar's 2022 football World Cup organisers deny any wrongdoing.
    	Mersiades told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that questions also needed to be asked about Australia's bid.
	"Some of the evidence published in relation to Qatar was that some of the money was given to development projects -- we gave money for development projects, we gave ...

Questions raised over Australia's WC2022 bid

Louis van Gaal insists his Holland side's preparations for their opening World Cup clash with Spain are firmly on course.
     The Dutch boss, who will become the new Manchester United boss following the finals in Brazil, saw his men beat Ghana 1-0 in their latest warm-up game last weekend.
     And van Gaal expressed his satisfaction that Holland were one of the few European countries who claimed a victory in the latest round of friendly fixtures as they face their last pre-finals showdown against Wales in Amsterdam on Wednesday night.
    	Van Gaal said: "We were one of the few World Cup participants who won this weekend.
	"Germany is playing 2-2 against Cameroon and Italy also plays with 2-2 against Denmark. Spain wins 2-0 to Bolivia. They get a penalty and make time just before the second goal. Well, great to hear from Spain."
    	The final comment was tongue-in-cheek at the Netherlands' first game against the Spanish in Salvador on June 13.
	Van Gaal changed his formation in the 

Van Gaal happy with Holland as Spain loom

President Barack Obama lands in Poland today to open a European tour shaped by the Ukraine crisis, on which he will reinforce US security guarantees to worried eastern European NATO members.
	Within minutes of stepping on Polish soil, Obama will meet US and Polish F-16 fighter pilots who are mounting joint patrols that were stepped up after the Russian annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula -- in a symbolic signal to Moscow of US intent.
	He will also use an overnight stay in Warsaw to meet Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko tomorrow, in a sign of support for the newly elected leader's bid to tilt the country West after his solid election win and navigate out of an economic and political crisis.
	The White House also announced yesterday that Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Kiev on Saturday to attend Poroshenko's inauguration -- underscoring the US position that the people of Ukraine -- and not Moscow -- should decide their destiny.
	Obama's tour later takes in the ...

Obama due to cement US ties with East Europe in Poland

Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian man after he shot and wounded a border guard in the northern West Bank, the army has said.
	"An armed Palestinian opened fire at the Tapuach junction and wounded an Israeli border guard," said an army spokeswoman yesterday. "Soldiers and border guards returned fire and killed the assailant."
	Contacted by AFP Palestinian paramedics confirmed that a Palestinian was killed but were unable to give details about the incident.
	Since the start of the year 12 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
	The incident took place at the same junction where Israeli troops arrested a Palestinian on Friday after he was found to be carrying a dozen explosive devices on his person.
	The army suspected him of planning a suicide attack.

Palestinian killed by Israeli security forces: army

Fierce fighting between Islamists and a rogue Libyan general's forces in Benghazi has killed 21 people, as violence intensified following the launch of an "anti-terrorist" campaign.
	Hospital officials in the eastern city, the birthplace of the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi, said at least 11 soldiers were among the dead and 112 people wounded.
	The government of outgoing prime minister Abdullah al-Thani said it was holding an "emergency meeting" on the violence, which residents said eased in the afternoon.
	It was the deadliest violence since 76 people were killed in mid-May as rogue general Khalifa Haftar unleashed an offensive dubbed "Operation Dignity" to purge Libya of Islamists he brands "terrorists".
	Underscoring the mounting chaos in the North African country, gunmen yesterday opened fire on the road convoy of army chief Abdessalam Jadallah al-Abidi in Tripoli, without causing casualties, his spokesman said.
	Colonel Ali al-Shikhi said the ...

AFP

AFP

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