Time To Abide By Referee’s Decision On Lynas

Some people just don’t know when to abide by the referee’s decision and get on with the game.

Despite the fact the residents’ appeal against the Lynas Rare Earth Plant has been dismissed, despite the fact that the mining company has agreed to the extra safety measures imposed by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and despite the fact today’s Parliamentary Selected Committee report will give the operation the all-clear, the most militant opponents are still not accepting the verdict.

The Kuantan residents led by PKR MP Fuziah Salleh say they will do whatever they can to further stall the project and will even resort to the Australian courts.

This is set to exasperate the Government, which has done everything in its powers to review and then re-review the proposed operation that could earn RM5 billion per year.

It set up the PSC which staged months of public hearings involving independent experts from around the world, leading PSC Chairman Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin to declare it “the safest rare earth plant in the world.”

The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry imposed two additional conditions to the five that had already been met by Lynas as part of its Temporary Operating Licence.

Lynas will now have to install a back-up system to trap the low-level radioactive elements produced and will also have to install extra back-up for the sprinkler system to ensure dust remains supressed.

The experts are now wondering what more they can possibly do to convince their most sceptical opponents.

But the fact is, as many observers of this long-running saga now know, it isn’t about convincing anyone. Many Lynas opponents will never change their views no matter what eminent scientists say.

What chance the local PKR MP Fuziah Salleh uses Lynas as her re-election effort? Given Pakatan’s total lack of readiness for the coming election, playing role of environmental campaigner could be her best campaign weapon as she vies for another term as an MP.

Opposed Kuantan residents won’t change their minds because they have been led astray by professional agitators including professional environmental activists flown in from Australia and a misinformation campaign that has led many residents to believe the facility is a nuclear reactor.

It is nothing of the sort. It is a mineral processing facility involving radiation levels that are the same as those emitted by a cathode ray television.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told protesters in February that a Pakatan government will close the plant if it wins GE13 despite the fact that would mean the biggest government compensation pay-out in history to a company that has already invested hundreds of millions in this country.

As is now common with Anwar, naturally he hadn’t actually thought through the financial ramifications of his promise when he spoke. In Anwar’s world, such vacuous populism is what substitutes for proper, responsible leadership.

PAS meanwhile gagged its own scientist, Dr Che Rosli Che Mat, when he dared to say the plant is safe. Dr Che Rosli has a PhD in Nuclear Physics and is better qualified to give such a verdict than any other politician on either side of politics.

DAP Secretary General Lim Guan Eng was invited to sit down with Lynas and have the operation explained to him in detail but he made as much political capital out of the offer as he could before theatrically rejecting it.

Last month Lynas Corporation chairman Nicholas Curtis took to the Australian press to accuse Malaysia of moving the goalposts. He said having made a 30-40 year investment in this country, the rules are being changed with more and more hurdles placed in front of his company.

His words must have made painful reading for those in the Prime Minister’s department who have spent the past four years telling the world that this is a country that welcomes foreign investment.

But thankfully, all this will be forgotten if we now get on with making Malaysia one of the most important producers of rare earth metals in the world. In the process we will be striking a blow for the security of our tech industries that rely on these materials which are now overwhelmingly controlled by China.

With the Lynas end-game upon us, it’s time for everyone to calm down, accept the referee’s decision and play by the rules.

Source: The Choice

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Cassano, Balotelli Send Italy Through

POZNAN  — Antonio Cassano’s first-half header and Mario Balotelli’s spectacular late volley gave Italy a 2-0 win over Ireland which took them into the Euro 2012 quarter-finals as Group C runners-up.

Cassano, who missed half the season with AC Milan after undergoing a minor heart operation, headed home 10 minutes before the break and Balotelli brilliantly hooked the ball home in the final minute to leave Italy second with five points behind Spain.

Italy, who played with one eye on the Croatia v Spain game, deserved their win although they had to survive an aggressive late rally from Ireland, coached by their wily 73-year-old Italian Giovanni Trapattoni, before substitute Balotelli’s strike.

“It has been a very difficult match, we came up against a team that made us suffer,” Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said.

“Today we knew that heart mattered more than quality. Tonight we created a lot, I hope it will be like this also in the next match.”

The physical Irish, already eliminated after two defeats, forced a flurry of late free kicks and corners as Italy, who gave up leads in 1-1 draws with Spain and Croatia, again appeared to tire.

Having conceded early goals in losses Croatia and Spain, Ireland were determined not to get caught out again and went straight on to the attack.

Backed by a vociferous and large contingent in the crowd, they looked briefly threatening against an Italian side which featured four changes to the starting line-up.

Italy took their time to get going with Andrea Pirlo getting plenty of the ball but struggling to find openings for Cassano and strike partner Antonio Di Natale who replaced Balotelli.

Real chance

Di Natale had the first real chance after a break down the left by Federico Balzaretti and there were appeals for handball as his shot was blocked by a defender.

Cassano then had a shot fumbled by Shay Given before Italy went ahead from a corner.

Pirlo’s inswinging effort found Cassano at the near post and, although Given got a hand to his header, the ball crossed the line before Damien Duff, making his 100th appearance, could hook it away.

Italy kept attacking after the break, Cassano wasting a good chance with a side-footed shot before Daniele De Rossi curled another effort over.

A neat combination between Thiago Motto and Cassano then set up Di Natale whose shot from a difficult angle was blocked by Given.

Keith Andrews reminded Italy that the game was not over as his awkward long-range shot gave Gianluigi Buffon his first real test of the game on the hour.

Italy began looking nervous and there was a rare moment when Pirlo lost possession to Andrews in midfield but De Rossi came to the rescue with a timely tackle to block the Irish midfielder’s shot.

Another thumping Andrews shot was saved by Buffon as Italy clung on and the Ireland midfielder was sent off for his second bookable offence moments before Balotelli settled matters with a superb piece of skill, the maverick forward living up to his reputation when he failed to celebrate a stunning goal.

“The fans have been fantastic but it’s a shame the team didn’t perform as well as we know we can and got a result for them,” said Ireland striker Robbie Keane.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t get something out of the group. We’ve been beaten by better teams.” — Reuters

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Lynas Injunction Application Hearing On July 19

KUALA LUMPUR – The High Court postponed to July 19 the inter-partes injunction hearing by Lynas Corporation Limited and Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd to restrain ‘Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas’ (SMSL), an anti-Lynas group and its two directors from further publishing defamatory article on Lynas.

SMSL’s counsel Datuk Bastian Pius Vendargon told reporters that Lynas had served its affidavit pertaining to the injunction hearing to the defendants yesterday.

He said the defendants needed time to file its affidavit-reply and the court fixed July 19 to hear the inter-partes injuction.

He also said that both parties had submitted written submissions on the injunction to the court.

On April 19, Lynas Corporation of Sydney, Australia, and Lynas Malaysia filed the suit against SMSL Sdn Bhd and its two directors, Tan Bun Teet and Lim Sow Teow, over a defamatory article published on its blogsite, on March 22.

In the suit Lynas also sought for the defendants to remove the article from its blogsite until the disposal of the suit. – Bernama

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Europe Vows Closer Union At G20 Summit

LOS CABOS, Mexico – Under pressure from financial markets and anxious world leaders, Europe agreed yesterday to move towards a more integrated banking system to stem a debt crisis that threatens the survival of the euro.

At a Group of 20 summit of the world’s leading industrialised and developing economies in this Mexican resort, Germany and its big euro zone partners took the unusual step of spelling out in detail measures to complete the economic and monetary union they launched to great fanfare 13 years ago.

Among the commitments in a draft G20 communique was a pledge to consider concrete steps towards a “more integrated financial architecture” in Europe that would include common banking supervision and firm guarantees to repay bank depositors.

The United States, the International Monetary Fund and European Commission have been urging EU member states to press ahead with a banking union to break the vicious link between deeply indebted governments bailing out illiquid financial institutions, worsening the sovereign debt problems and deepening the euro-zone crisis.

While that term did not appear in the declaration, the wording did suggest that Germany, which has rejected initiatives that might expose it to the cost of rescuing banks outside its borders, was growing more open to the idea of closer banking cooperation.

US President Barack Obama, concerned that Europe’s debt crisis could deteriorate further and upend his re-election hopes, met with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who as the leader of Europe’s biggest economy is under intense pressure to commit German resources to underpin the euro zone and prevent a catastrophic breakup.

Obama’s spokesman said the US president was encouraged by the talks, which touched on steps to “increase European integration”.

EU President Jose Manuel Barroso showed frustration over the pressure which is piling on Europe to act fast. He said G20 members must understand it will take time for the 17 euro zone democracies to agree on how to build a full financial, fiscal and political union and asked fellow G20 members to stop lecturing.

“We certainly are coming here to receive lessons from nobody,” he said.

Boosting growth

Protected by Mexican navy vessels and troops who patrolled sun-baked beaches and highways, leaders from the G20 countries representing more than 80 per cent of world output agreed to prioritize boosting growth and job creation, hit hard by the focus on sharp budget cutbacks, which has contributed to an accelerating slowdown in the global economy.

The World Bank last week lowered its forecast for global growth in 2012 to 2.5 per cent and said developing nations faced a long period of financial market volatility and weaker growth.

In its strongest signal in three years that it would act to strengthen the recovery, the G20 said in their draft communique that countries without heavy debts problems were ready to act together to spur growth, if the economy slows a lot more.

The United States has pressed Germany as well as China to stimulate spending in order to help the world economy.

Rising violence in Syria and the near-collapse of a United Nations-brokered peace plan was also in focus as US President Barack Obama met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two super powers have clashed over arming Syria and UN sanctions.

Obama and Putin agreed that the violence in Syria has to end but offered no new solutions and showed no signs of reaching a deal on tougher sanctions against Damascus.

Relief rally fleeting

Europe’s battle against a debt crisis that has led Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek EU/IMF rescues, and forced Spain to seek aid for its banks, dominated the opening discussion of G20 leaders on the global economy.

A narrow victory for the conservative New Democracy party in the Greek election on Sunday eased concerns the heavily indebted country could exit the euro zone soon. But it did little to calm financial markets, which fear a euro zone breakup has only been delayed and will drag Spain and Italy into the maelstrom.

“The win in Greece does not really resolve anything,” said Boris Schlossberg, managing director at investment advisory firm BK Asset Management in New York. “It’s still going to be tough for Greece.”

Fitch Ratings agency said the Greek result had lowered the risk of a disorderly default and the scenario of a euro zone exit, but it also warned that any new government in Athens was likely to be fragile.

After an initial relief rally, the euro fell against the dollar. Spanish bond yields hit a new euro-era high above 7 per cent.

Merkel, speaking to reporters after landing on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula in the middle of the night, welcomed the Greek result but said she could not accept any loosening of the austerity measures and deep structural reforms Athens has agreed to as a condition of its two EU/IMF bailouts totalling €240 billion (RM936.9 billion).

“The Greek government will and must deliver on the commitments it has agreed to,” she said.

That puts her on a collision course with the winner of the Greek vote, conservative Antonis Samaras, who campaigned pledging to renegotiate elements of the rescue and reiterated that stance yesterday, saying “amendments” were needed to relieve “crippling unemployment and huge hardships” for Greeks.

Greece will ask to spread €11.7 billion in austerity cuts over four years instead of two, a New Democracy party source told Reuters in Athens.

German frustration with Greece’s failure to deliver on its reform pledges has risen in recent months, as has Greek anger at the tough austerity prescribed by Berlin and its partners.

In a twist of fate, Greece’s football team will battle Germany on June 22 in the quarter-finals of the European championships.

David Mackie, an economist at JP Morgan, said he expected European governments would ultimately be forced to agree to an “aggressive restructuring” of the loans they have already provided to Greece to return the country to a sustainable path.

Extra IMF firepower

Merkel has been pushing fellow European leaders to agree a road map toward closer fiscal integration that would involve ceding sovereignty over budgets to Brussels and giving more power to the European Parliament.

By sketching out what the bloc might look like in five to 10 years, she hopes to win back the confidence of markets.

But her counterparts, notably new French President Francois Hollande who arrived here later yesterday after his Socialist Party won control of the French parliament in weekend elections, have doubts about transferring fiscal powers. It appears unlikely that Europe will deliver a “grand bargain” at a separate summit of EU leaders on June 28-29.

In Los Cabos, leaders are set to confirm they will double the IMF’s firepower. The Fund’s managing director Christine Lagarde said pledges now totalled US$456 billion (RM1.4 billion), up from the US$430 billion in April, even though some emerging nations are frustrated with the slow pace of winning more power at the global lender.

China yesterday offered to contribute US$43 billion to the IMF’s crisis-fighting reserves, adding to offers of US$10 billion each from Brazil, Russia and India. — Reuters

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Tyson To Take Tale To Broadway

NEW YORK – From the boxing ring to Broadway – Mike Tyson said Monday he’s teaming up with director Spike Lee to take his one-man show “Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth” to the New York stage.

Tyson, the former heavyweight world champion and self-styled “baddest man  on the planet,” debuted the show in Las Vegas in April, pulling few punches in  recounting the highs and highly publicized lows of his career.

Now he plans to bring the show to the Longacre Theatre for six nights only,  July 31 to August 5, in what will be a Broadway debut for both Tyson and Lee.

“I’m very vulnerable and I’m just telling you who I am and where I’m from  and how this happened,” Tyson said at a news conference at the Longacre.

Tyson, who like Lee hails from Brooklyn, gained fame in 1986 when he became  the youngest ever heavyweight world champion at the age of 20.

But fame and fortune were accompanied by turmoil, including a prison  sentence for rape, drug addiction and bursts of temper outside the ring that  made him tabloid fodder.

Late in his career his fearsome ring reputation gained a bizarre tinge when  he bit opponent Evander Holyfield’s ear in a fight.

In recent years Tyson has faced charges of cocaine possession and drunken  driving, and dealt with personal tragedy with the accidental death of his  4-year-old daughter, Exodus.

However, he has also been seen in a new light by audiences who enjoyed his  cameo role in the movie “The Hangover” and shown a gentle side in a reality  television series exploring his love of training pigeons.

“It takes courage to get in the ring,” Lee said. “But it takes courage to  get on the stage.”    Tyson, 46, said that the show would be “raw” and “filthy” but that he would  also show his vulnerable side.

In the show, Tyson runs through his life story, from his birth in Brooklyn  to a mother who was a prostitute and a father he believed was a pimp, although  he never knew for sure who his real father was.

He was a hardened criminal by the time his mother died when he was 16. It  was then that his boxing mentor, Cus d’Amato, helped him turn his back on crime  and detention centers and refocus his life around his awesome fighting talent.

He discusses his first marriage to actress Robin Givens, which unraveled in  1989, and the “demons” that gradually got the better of him.

In 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping a beauty queen at a pageant in  Indianapolis, Indiana. He served three years of a six-year sentence before his release in 1995, steadfastly denying he raped the woman.

In 1997, he infamously bit Holyfield’s ears twice in a heavyweight title  rematch and was banished from boxing for a year.

The boxer filed for bankruptcy in 2003, the same year his second marriage  ended. He married his current wife in 2009.

Lee is the director behind such films as “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X”  and “Inside Man,” and many of his films deal with race relations in America.

He said he signed on for the project after seeing a recording of Tyson’s  Las Vegas show.

“It’s a great story and he tells it masterfully,” said Lee, who calls it a  tale of redemption that only needs some tweaking from the Vegas edition.

“He’s lifted himself off the canvas.” – AFP

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Microsoft ‘Surface’ Tablet Set To Take On iPad

LOS ANGELES – Microsoft on Monday unveiled a Surface tablet computer as the technology titan steps in with its own hardware to take on Apple’s market-ruling iPads.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer described the iPad challenger as a  tablet that “works and plays” when he showed it off at a press event in Los  Angeles.

Surface is also the name of table and poster-sized touch screen computers  that Microsoft has pitched to the business market for use in restaurants,  shops, bars and other venues.

A tablet demo video online at microsoft.com/surface/ promised the tablet  was “coming soon.’ A version of Surface running on Windows RT software tailored for ARM mobile  device chips measured 9.3 millimeters thick and weighed 676 grams.

It boasted a 10.6-inch (26.9 centimeter) high-definition screen and will be  available with 32 or 64 gigabytes of memory, according to Microsoft.

A tablet model powered by Windows 8 Pro software measured 13.5 millimeters  thick, weighs 903 grams and will be available with 64 or 128 gigabytes of  memory.

“It’s a whole new community of computing devices from Microsoft,” Ballmer  said. “It embodies the notion of hardware and software really pushing each  other.”

Surface featured a flip-out rear “kickstand” to prop it up like a picture  frame and a cover that, when opened, acts as a keypad so tablets could be  switched into “desktop” mode for work tasks.

Microsoft did not specify when the tablet would be available but it is  likely to be timed with the release of Windows 8 software later this year.

“This product marks a crucial pivot in Microsoft’s product strategy,” said  Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

“It puts the focus on the consumer rather than the enterprise,” she  continued in a blog post. “And it lets Microsoft compete with  vertically-integrated Apple on more even ground.”    Microsoft could be “its own worst enemy” in the tablet market if it  overwhelms people with gadget options and specs such as chipsets instead of  following Apple’s lead and keeping choices simple, the analyst warned.

“Consumers aren’t used to thinking about chipsets,” Rotman Epps said.

“Choice is a key tenet of Windows, but too much choice is overwhelming for  consumers,” she continued. “Apple gets this, and limits iPad options to  connectivity, storage, and black or white.”

Microsoft, which built its fortune by specializing in software and leaving  the job of making computers or other devices to partners, has had mixed results  from its hardware ventures.

The Redmond, Washington-based technology colossus has stamped its brand on  personal computer keyboards, headsets, speakers, webcams and mouse controllers.

Microsoft has occasionally weighed in with more significant hardware when  it appeared that rivals were running away with the market.

The company’s most successful effort in devices has been its Xbox gaming  console, in contrast to failed its music player known as Zune.

The Xbox videogame console by Microsoft made its debut in November of 2001  to take on Sony PlayStation systems in a battle for people’s living rooms.

The current generation Xbox 360 console dominates the market. Microsoft has  been building on the array of films, games, music and other digital content  available in an Xbox Live online service to make the consoles home  entertainment hubs.

Microsoft this month unveiled a SmartGlass application that developers can  use to synch iPads or other tablet computers to Xbox 360 consoles.

Zune handheld digital media players were released in late 2006 in a  Microsoft challenge to Apple’s culture-changing iPod devices.

Microsoft discontinued Zune hardware last year. But it continues to operate  its Zune service offering online music, films and other entertainment content,  weaving it into the offerings available on Internet-linked Xbox 360 videogame  consoles. – AFP

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Justin Bieber Grows Up, Gets Even On ‘Believe’

LOS ANGELES — Canadian pop star Justin Bieber makes his highly anticipated return with new album “Believe,” revealing an edgier, grown-up side to the young star who has gained a worldwide fan base with innocent love songs and baby-faced charms.

“Believe,” out today, serves as Bieber’s highly anticipated sequel to his debut album “My World 2.0,” and has had critics buzzing on whether the teen who first found fame on YouTube is a short-lived phenomenon or a long-term staple in the music industry.

Bieber, 18, has become one of the world’s biggest stars, with more than 23 million followers on Twitter and 44 million fans on Facebook, after being discovered at the age of 13.

The singer has grown up in the public eye in the last two years, dating 19-year-old Disney Channel star Selena Gomez, who is referenced in the album’s electro-dance track “Beauty and the Beat.”

But fame has also brought its downside and the track “Maria” addresses Bieber’s most adult scandal to date. Last November, Bieber was hit with allegations from 20-year-old Mariah Yeater who claimed that the singer had fathered a child with her after a brief alleged encounter backstage.

Bieber, who vehemently denied the claims and watched Yeater’s lawsuit fall apart, sings “She was schemin’… she was draggin’ my name through the dirt,” before hitting the chorus with “That ain’t my baby, that ain’t my girl.”

The album’s producer Mike Posner, who has his own solo career with hits such as “Please Don’t Go,” worked with Bieber on the debut single, “Boyfriend”.

The result is a slow tempo beat with Bieber softly rapping “If I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go, I can take you places you ain’t never been before.” The song, released in March, peaked on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at No. 2.

Older but still young

While “Boyfriend” reveals an older Bieber in a more intimate setting, Posner said “Believe” wasn’t meant to show Bieber all grown up just yet.

“I wanted to make songs that were reflective of who Justin was when I met him in the studio, not when he was 13. We’re not trying to grow him up too much because he’s not 25, he’s 18, but he’s a young man that’s living life and having fun, and the music reflects that,” Posner told Reuters.

Moving away from pop, Bieber fuses electronic dance music with R&B throughout “Believe,” specifically in tracks such as the club-friendly “All Around The World,” which sees Bieber team up with rapper Ludacris. and “As Long As You Love Me” featuring another rapper, Big Sean.

The singer embraces R&B influences in songs such as the romantic “Catching Feelings,” “Right Here” featuring fellow Canadian star Drake, and the Motown-inspired upbeat track “Die In Your Arms.”

But there are still some throwbacks to the style that made Bieber famous, such as “Fall,” a guitar-based love song, and the pop-driven inspirational title track “Believe.”

Bieber’s journey to the top has fascinated critics, as the singer has found stardom by harnessing the power of the Internet instead of the Disney or Nickelodeon TV platforms that launched stars such as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and the Jonas Brothers.

By the age of 16, Bieber had a chart hit with 2010’s “My World 2.0,” that spurned the single “Baby”, followed by 2011’s 3D film “Never Say Never,” that documented Bieber’s journey to pop culture icon and grossed $98 million at the worldwide box office.

New York Times music writer Jon Caramanica drew similarities between Bieber and Timberlake – the former member of N’Sync who broke out of the boy band mold a decade ago with “Justified” and went on to forge a successful solo career.

Caramanica wrote that Bieber “doesn’t have Mr. Timberlake’s backbone, or his experience, or his raw talent for that matter.” He suggested that the young singer is instead finding inspiration in “perhaps the biggest and most conflicted teen star of all time, Michael Jackson.”

While Posner understands the comparisons, he said Bieber wants to establish his own credibility.

“I know Justin doesn’t want to copy anyone or follow anyone’s footsteps. He’s very intent on having his own career and carving his own path,” he said. — Reuters

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