SEAMEN'S UNION OF SLOVENIA-WEEKLY NEWS,
July 30 2010

WORLD IN BRIEF: *WASHINGTON, USA - Barack Obama has said that the leaking of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan is a concern, but that it had not revealed any new information. In his first public reaction to the leak, the US president said the data justified his decision to overhaul the US military strategy in Afghanistan. Wikileaks, which posted the documents on its website on Sunday, describes them as battlefield and intelligence reports. New details, including reports on Osama Bin Laden have emerged from the files. Several files track Bin Laden, although the US has said it had received no reliable information on him "in years". The Pentagon has launched what a spokesman described as "a very robust investigation" into who passed the classified documents to Wikileaks. Wikileaks says the documents were compiled by a variety of military units between 2004 and 2009, the majority of them written by soldiers and intelligence officers listening to reports radioed in by troops on front line deployments. In August 2006, a US intelligence report placed Bin Laden at a meeting in Quetta, over the border in Pakistan. It said he and others - including the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar - were organising suicide attacks in Afghanistan. Nearly 200 files concern Task Force 373, a US special forces unit whose job was to kill or capture Taliban or al-Qaeda commanders. The records log 144 incidents involving Afghan civilian casualties, including 195 fatalities, the UK's Guardian newspaper reports. *BP - BP's embattled Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward will be replaced by first ever non-British CEO, American Robert Dudley on Oct. 1, the company said Tuesday, as it reported a record quarterly loss and set aside $32.2 billion to cover the costs of the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In a mark of faith in its outgoing leader, BP said it planned to recommend him for a non-executive board position at its Russian joint venture and will pay him $1.6 million, a year's salary, in lieu of notice. Hayward, who has a Ph.D in geology, had been a well-regarded chief executive. But his promise when he took the job in 2007 to focus "like a laser" on safety came back to haunt him after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. He became the lightning rod for anti-BP feeling in the US and didn't help matters with a series of gaffes, raising hackles by saying "I want my life back," going sailing, and what was viewed as an evasive performance before U.S. congressmen in June. Besides permanently plugging the oil leak and cleaning up the spill and the company's image, new CEO Dudley will oversee the sale of $30 billion in assets over the next 18 months to bolster the company's finances. *ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A passenger jet crashed into the hills surrounding Pakistan's capital amid rain and caught fire Wednesday, officials said. The plane, reported to be an Airbus A321 with 146 passengers and six crew on board left Karachi at 0350 GMT. Officials said the plane lost contact with the control tower minutes before landing. The last major plane crash in Pakistan was in July 2006 when a Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft operated by Pakistan International Airlines slammed into a wheat field on the outskirts of the central Pakistani city of Multan, killing all 45 people on board. *MOSCOW, Russia - Russia has broadened the authority of the Federal Security Service, the KGB's main successor agency, giving it Soviet-style repressive powers in a move critics say could be used to stifle protests and intimidate government opponents. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law Thursday allowing the agency, known by its initials FSB, to issue warnings or detain people suspected of preparing to commit crimes against Russia's security - which could include participating in anti-government rallies. Perpetrators face fines or up to 15 days detention. Like many past restrictions, the law was described as part of an effort to combat extremism. The bill, submitted to Russian lawmakers in April, followed twin subway bombings in Moscow that killed 40 people and reflected the Kremlin's dissatisfaction with critical media coverage of its anti-terrorism efforts. The bill has raised doubts about Medvedev's commitment to promoting full-fledged democracy and freedom of expression. Medvedev often has spoken of instituting judicial and police reforms, and has taken a less hard line on many issues than Putin. *MOSCOW, Russia - The Russian capital Moscow has suffered its hottest day on record, with temperatures reaching 39C. A month-long record-breaking heatwave has sparked nearly 50 fires in the Moscow region and the capital is sweltering under a thick layer of smog. Health experts say pollution levels in parts of the city are 10 times higher than normal safety limits and advise locals to stay indoors or wear masks. A state of emergency has been declared in more than 20 drought-hit regions. It is estimated a fifth of the country's wheat crop has now died due to the lack of rain in what is thought to be the country's worst drought for more than a century. Scores have died in the heatwave, some drowning having taken a swim after drinking too much vodka. Emergency aircraft have already dropped several hundred tonnes of water to extinguish the blazes. But dozens of peat and forest fires are still burning on the outskirts of the capital. Health officials have warned the high concentration of carbon monoxide in the air makes breathing as dangerous as smoking several packets of cigarettes every day. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been asked to commit 25bn roubles ($827m) towards the emergency effort. The Roshydromet meteorological service had earlier predicted the smog would begin to clear on Thursday evening, saying temperatures were forecast to cool off over the weekend. *PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal sentenced the Khmer Rouge's chief jailer on Monday to a prison term that will see him serve less than half a day for every person killed at the notorious torture center he commanded. Survivors expressed anger and disbelief that a key player in the genocide that wiped out a quarter of Cambodia's population could one day walk free - despite being convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, was the first major Khmer Rouge figure to face trial more than three decades after the "killing fields" regime tried to turn the country into a vast agrarian society - leading to the deaths of 1.7 million people. As commander of the top secret Tuol Sleng prison - code-named S-21 - the 67-year-old Duch admitted to overseeing the torture and deaths of as many as 16,000 people. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but will spend only 19 in jail - 11 years were shaved off for time served and another five for illegal detention in a military prison. *BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia is seeking support for a UN resolution which it says will prevent separatist movements from following the example of Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. Last week the UN's highest court ruled that Kosovo's secession declaration in 2009 did not violate international law. Kosovo says the resolution - which says unilateral secession should not be a way of resolving territorial disputes - is "disastrous".  Serbia rejects Kosovo's independence. Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday to discuss the draft resolution, which says unilateral secession should not be a way of resolving territorial disputes. Sixty-nine countries - including the United States, the UK and a further 21 of the EU's 27 member states - have so far recognised the majority ethnic Albanian Kosovo as an independent state. *EUROZONE - Business and consumer confidence in in the 16-nation eurozone jumped in July to its highest level in more than two years, driven by regional powerhouse German, the European Union said Thursday. The Economic Sentiment Indicator produced by the European Commission rose to 101.3 points in the single currency area, an increase of 2.3 points from June and the highest level since March 2008, before the global recession erupted. Sentiment also improved across the 27-nation European Union, rising by 1.9 points to 102.2 points. "These results are strongly influenced by markedly positive readings in Germany," the commission said. The majority of European states reported improvements, led by Germany with a 4.0-point spike in business and consumer confidence, followed increases of 2.2 points in France and 1.9 points in Poland. Sentiment was down in Spain as it dropped by 2.2 points in the last European country to emerge from recession. The European Commission said sentiment in industry was the "main contributor to the overall improvement" with an increase of two points as respondents in the sector reported "substantial improvements in their order books." Consumer confidence "regained momentum" with a 3.0-point surge in the euro area. "More optimism about the general economic situation and very significant easing unemployment fears in Germany contributed to the overall improvement," the commission said. *BUCHAREST, Romania - The wreckage of an Israeli military helicopter that crashed into a mountain in central Romania has been found, and none of the seven soldiers aboard - one Romania and six Israeli - survived the crash. Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion had burst into flames after it hit a mountain wall in a remote area of central Romania. Two Israeli coppers were training in a mountainous area in heavy fog when one of the helicopters lost touch with the other and apparently hit the mountain. Israel's military has been training with the Romanians since 2004. The Israelis also train with other European militaries and with the U.S. to give their crews experience in unfamiliar terrain. *BEIJING, China - China's Three Gorges Dam has faced a second test as floods pushed the water in its reservoir to near its capacity, state media said. Heavy rain on the Yangtze River created a surge that neared last week's record. China's worst flooding in a decade has killed at least 823 people and left 437 missing, authorities said. In the latest developments, 21 people are feared dead in a landslide, while 37 people are known to have died after a bridge collapsed. Engineers at the Three Gorges Dam said the reservoir water level rose to 158m on Wednesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. The maximum capacity is 175m. Authorities have warned communities downstream to prepare for rising water levels as the dam's huge spill gates release torrents of water. The flow into the dam's reservoir, however, is lower than last week's peak of 70,000 cubic metres per second. Meanwile, authorities were scrambling on Thursday to recover 3,000 barrels full of hazardous chemicals that were washed into a major river in northeastern China by recent flooding. 2500 barrels containing 510 tonnes of combustible, colourless chemicals and 500 loaded with solvents were washed into the river from two chemical plants near the city of Jilin, state-run Xinhua news agency said. China suffers monsoon-type rains every year but this year's rainfall has been the heaviest in more than a decade. *DR CONGO - Up to 140 people are feared dead after a boat carrying passengers and goods capsized on a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say. The accident happened on the Kasai river - a tributary of the Congo River - in the western province of Bandundu. After decades of conflict, DR Congo - country the size of western Europe - has few roads or rail links and many people travel on often overloaded boats. The latest accident occurred on Wednesday. *MEXICO CITY, Mexico - The severed heads of eight men were found left in pairs along highways in the northern Mexico state of Durango, state prosecutors said Tuesday. Durango has been the scene of brutal turf battles between drug gangs. Prosecutors said over the weekend that officials at a Durango prison let drug cartel gunmen to leave penitentiary and lent them guns and vehicles to carry out executions. Also Tuesday, prosecutors in the central state of Puebla reported that three federal police agents were shot to death on a highway in a confrontation with gunmen. The assailants escaped. Almost 25,000 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against the cartels in late 2006. *MANILA, Philippines - New Philippine President Benigno Aquino has made his first State of the Nation address, giving a withering critique of his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo. But he also put forward ambitious plans for the future. He is aware that his success in the presidential election owes much to his famous parents, and he now needs to show he can live up to the family name. Mr Aquino told a packed Congress Hall that Gloria Arroyo's rule had left the country in dire financial straits. Of the total budget for 2010, he said, only 6.5% remained. He warned that the fund for emergencies such as typhoons and floods was practically empty. But looking to the future and the key policies he wants to implement in his six-year term, he highlighted: - a truth commission to investigate claims of corruption, - a campaign to stop extra-judicial killings, - affordable healthcare and education. It is an ambitious agenda, especially given that he has also said he will not raise taxes to pay for it. But Mr Aquino knows the Filipino people expect nothing less. His mother, former president Cory Aquino, and his father, democracy hero Ninoy, were two of the most revered people in the country. The president himself enjoys the same sort of adulation - a recent survey gave him an 88% approval rating, the highest ever for a Philippine leader. But he knows that his famous pedigree cannot sustain him for ever, and that failure will mean a long fall. *BARCELONA, Spain - Lawmakers in the region of Catalonia thrust a sword deep into Spain's centuries-old tradition of bullfighting, banning the blood-soaked pageant that has fascinated artists and writers from Goya to Hemingway. Wednesday's vote in the Catalan parliament prohibits bullfighting starting in 2012 in the northeastern region that centers on Barcelona. Although animal rights activists want to extend the ban, there is no significant national movement to do away with bullfighting in the rest of Spain. Many see the vote as a political statement by a wealthy and powerful region that likes to assert how different it is from the rest of Spain, rather than an expression of concern over cruelty to the half-ton beasts by sword-wielding matadors. The practical effect of the ban is limited: Catalonia has only one functioning bullring, in Barcelona, while another little used one is being turned into a shopping mall. It stages 15 fights a year that are rarely sold out, out of a nationwide total of roughly 1,000 bouts per season. Still, bullfighting fans - who count King Juan Carlos in their number - and Spanish conservatives have taken the drama over the "fiesta nacional" very seriously, seeing a stinging rebuke in the grass roots drive that started in the region last year. The first Spanish region to outlaw bullfighting was the Canary Islands in 1991, but the fights were never popular there. *

SPORTS: *F1 - Fernando Alonso won the German Grand Prix on Sunday for Ferrari, but the team was fined $100,000 afterward for orchestrating his pass of teammate Felipe Massa. Race stewards didn't overturn Ferrari's 1-2 finish, choosing to send the case to the sport's governing body, which could impose more sanctions. Team orders that affect the result of a race are forbidden under Formula One rules. Alonso had more points in the title race and the team apparently felt it would be better served if he collected the 25 points that go to the winner rather than Massa. Sebastian Vettel of Germany was third in his Red Bull. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was fourth, while his teammate Button finished fifth, followed by Webber, Kubica, Rosberg, Schumacher and Petrov, respectively. After 11 of 19 races, Hamilton leads the overall standings with 157 points ahead of McLaren teammate Jenson Button with 143. Vettel has 136 points, tied for third with Red Bull teammate Mark Webber. Alonso is fifth with 123 points, 38 ahead of Massa. *

EBU: EUR 1,00 - USD 1,3069
HNB: USD 1,00 - Kn 5,545113; EUR 1,00 - Kn7,245244        
Bank of Russia: USD 1,00 - Rub 30.217; EUR 1,00 - Rub 39.367
National bank of Ukraine USD 100,00 - UAH 789.3200; EUR 100,00 - UAH 1031.5623
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas: USD 1,00 -  PhP 45.813

sources: Yahoo News, The Times, CNN, BBC, The Manila Times,