French minister comment "absurd, false": EU's Barnier

PARIS (Reuters) - European Commissioner Michel Barnier struck back on Monday at a French minister who criticized the European Union's executive arm, calling his remarks "absurd" and saying France should stop blaming others for its own problems.

French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg accused European Commission President Manuel Barroso at the weekend of fuelling far-right groups through austerity policies, the latest in a growing war of words over EU-imposed measures to cut debt.

"I'm tired of seeing ministers like Mr. Montebourg ... saying it's always the fault of someone else, shirking responsibility and looking for scapegoats," Barnier, European commissioner in charge of regulation, told France 2 television.

"But they won't be shirking for very much longer because the moment of truth will arrive at some point, it's arriving for the minister."

Barnier's reaction, which he followed up with a Twitter post calling Montebourg's criticism "absurd & false", added to tension between Brussels and Paris where politicians are blaming austerity policies for strangling the French economy.

It showed the Commission is ready to match euroskeptic French rhetoric with criticism of a political class it says is responsible for France's lagging competitiveness, high unemployment and flat growth.

"Look how some countries in Europe, with the same Commission, are doing better than France ... Germany is doing better because it supports business," said Barnier, a French former minister, from the center-right UMP party.

The European Commission is waiting to see how France will respond to policy recommendations it made in May, which include reforming the pension system, opening up protected job sectors to competition and continuing to overhaul labor rules.

President Francois Hollande has already lowered expectations for a plan to fix a debt-laden pension system, saying there would be no rise in the legal retirement age.

Montebourg's blamed austerity for the far-right Front National party scoring 46.2 percent in a local election on Sunday in the former constituency of ex-Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac, who is under formal investigation for tax fraud.

(Reporting By Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Brian Love and Elizabeth Piper)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/french-minister-absurd-false-eus-barnier-095529869.html

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Australia takes the hint, postpones plans for PRISM-style snooping

Here's some good news for anyone who considers Australia a haven from pernicious surveillance laws. The antipodean government has decided to postpone plans to force phone and internet companies to retain two years' worth of personal data after a scrutiny committee demanded changes. While it's not a total win for privacy fans, the legislation will now be re-examined after elections scheduled for September 14th -- with the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus saying that the government will now "await further advice," before amending the prospective law.

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Source: Reuters

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/australia-postpones-snooping-legislation/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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AP Source: Clippers land new coach in Doc Rivers

FILE - In this file photo made Feb. 1, 2013, Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers gestures towards an official during an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic in Boston. A Celtics official told The Associated Press, Sunday, June 23, 2013, that a deal to allow Rivers to coach the Los Angeles Clippers has been agreed to. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was contingent on NBA approval and negotiations between Rivers and the Clippers over a new contract. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, file)

FILE - In this file photo made Feb. 1, 2013, Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers gestures towards an official during an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic in Boston. A Celtics official told The Associated Press, Sunday, June 23, 2013, that a deal to allow Rivers to coach the Los Angeles Clippers has been agreed to. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was contingent on NBA approval and negotiations between Rivers and the Clippers over a new contract. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, file)

BOSTON (AP) ? Doc Rivers will be the next coach of the Los Angeles Clippers if the NBA approves the rare but not unprecedented trade of an active coach, a Boston Celtics official told The Associated Press on Sunday night.

The deal would bring Boston a first-round draft pick in 2015, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is pending a trade call with the NBA office. Rivers, who had three years and $21 million left on his contract with the Celtics, must also reach an agreement on a new deal with the Clippers.

Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said the team had no announcement.

The tentative agreement on Sunday wraps up weeks of haggling over the deal and frees Rivers from presiding over the dismantling of the team that won the franchise's record 17th NBA title in 2008.

The Celtics and Clippers have also discussed sending Kevin Garnett to Los Angeles in a package with Rivers for draft choices, center DeAndre Jordan and point guard Eric Bledsoe. But NBA commissioner David Stern nixed those talks this week, saying teams aren't allowed to trade active players for a coach.

A deal for Garnett could still happen, but the teams would have to convince the league that it was a separate deal. The 37-year-old big man has a no-trade clause in the contract that will pay him 23.5 million over the next two years, but it is believed he would waive it to be reunited with Rivers on the West Coast. He has also discussed retiring.

Boston could also cut ties with Paul Pierce, the longest-tenured member of the team, who is due to earn $15.3 million next season; he could be bought out for $5 million. Pierce will be 36 by the 2013-14 opener and showed signs of slowing down this season, when he averaged the fewest minutes per game in his career.

Rivers took over the Celtics in 2004 in the midst of the longest title drought in franchise history and ? with thanks to the New Big Three of Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen ? guided them to the 2008 NBA title. They returned to the NBA Finals two years later, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.

But the Celtics have regressed steadily since then, twice failing to get past the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference playoffs. This year they finished third in the Atlantic Division ? they had won it five straight times ? and lost to the New York Knicks in the first round.

That convinced many that it was time to rebuild ? a process Rivers was reluctant to supervise. If the Celtics unload Garnett and Pierce, that would leave them with point guard Rajon Rondo as their only established star.

Rivers had the second-longest tenure of any NBA coach to San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, compiling a 416-305 record in Boston that was the third-most wins in franchise history behind Red Auerbach (795) and Tommy Heinsohn (427). He also spent four-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic and is 587-473 in all.

Trades for coaches have occurred about a half-dozen times in NBA history, most recently in 2007 when the Heat received compensation for allowing Stan Van Gundy to go to the Orlando Magic.

In 1983, the Chicago Bulls sent a second-round draft pick to Atlanta as compensation for coach Kevin Loughery. The Hawks used that pick to take Glenn "Doc" Rivers.

___

Follow Jimmy Golen on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jgolen

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-23-BKN-Clippers-Rivers/id-3bdc8f5a09924293bd0e13f166787471

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Greyhound happy with pace on couch | Otago Daily Times Online ...

Sarah Tweedale with greyhound Gabbie and Oscar the cat at home in Dunedin this week. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.

She might have been a dog on the racetrack, but now everyone thinks Gabbie is a winner.

The 2-year-old greyhound did not win any races on the track, but off it has certainly won hearts.

Dunedin couple Sarah and Mark Tweedale got the greyhound in December through the Greyhounds As Pets (GAP) programme for retired racing greyhounds.

''I really wanted to rehome an animal and thought greyhounds fitted the bill for what we wanted,'' Mrs Tweedale said this week.

''We both work, so we didn't want a puppy and we wanted a dog that didn't need a lot of exercise. She's really a couch potato. They're one of the best family dogs. They're fantastic with children and with older people, but she's a bit anxious of other dogs. She's very shy.

''I can't imagine life without her. I'm besotted with her. A lot of people start with one and then get a second one.''

However, the Tweedales' six cats, Oscar, Lucy, Isaac, Bella, Maggie and Tonks, were originally less than impressed with their new housemate.

''The cats were OK. They were a bit nervous at first, but Gabbie was more anxious about them. That's probably why she failed her racing career,'' Mrs Tweedale said.

''A lot of people think greyhound racing is cruel, but most trainers want to see their dogs retire in a family.''

GAP sells the dogs for $380, after giving them a complete health check, including desexing, microchipping, registration and training for a new life as a pet. There were 19 former race greyhounds living as pets in the Otago region, GAP southern regional co-ordinator Susan Sinclair, of Kaiapoi, said.

''That will go up to 20 this week, as we're about to send another one down there. They're very addictive. They always seem to have a worried look on their faces but, behind that, they're quite cheeky. They're a sweet-natured dog, but very cheeky and very funny,'' she said.

- nigel.benson@odt.co.nz

Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/261944/greyhound-happy-pace-couch

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Jobs Trailer: Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/jobs-trailer-ashton-kutcher-as-steve-jobs/

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Ecuador, Where Edward Snowden Seeks Asylum, Is No Utopia For Journalists

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is bound for the sunnier skies of Ecuador, on this whirlwind tour of countries semi-hostile to the United States. While Ecuador has been a safe haven for world-class leakers in the past, including Wikileaks editor Julian Assange, the country is no utopia for journalists.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/E5XRUpt8ip4/

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Taliban offer adds urgency to Idaho POW rally

HAILEY, Idaho (AP) ? The tearful mother of the only known U.S. prisoner of war said Saturday she's feeling "very optimistic" about his eventual release after his Taliban captors offered last week to exchange him for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's mother, Jani Bergdahl, spoke to about 2,000 people gathered in Hailey, his hometown, in a city park where he played as a toddler and little boy.

About 400 in the crowd arrived astride motorcycles, adorned in leather and patches commemorating America's military missing in action.

Bowe Bergdahl, 27, was taken prisoner in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009. First Jani Bergdahl, then his father, Bob Bergdahl, who accompanied the motorcycle procession on his son's 1978 dirt bike, spoke for a combined 15 minutes about rejuvenated hopes that their son's now-four-year ordeal will soon come to a joyful close.

"We are feeling very optimistic this week," his mother, before addressing her son directly. "Bowe, we love you, we support you, and are eagerly awaiting your return home. I love you my son, as I have, from the first moment I heard of you, the never-ending, unconditional love a mother has for her child."

Buses also brought POW-MIA activists to the event from as far as Elko, Nev., some 230 miles to the south.

Though yellow ribbons on Main Street trees and "Bring Bowe Home" placards in Hailey shop windows are a constant reminder of the 27-year-old Bergdahl's captivity, organizers of the event said the Taliban offer has lent an addition element of urgency ? and hope ? to Saturday's gathering.

Many in the crowd said they were Vietnam veterans; some of them supported the proposed prisoner exchange without reservation.

"Give them their guys and get our guy home," said David Blunt, of Elko, Nev., who said he served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam as a medic. "Bring our guy home. He's suffered enough."

Bergdahl is believed held somewhere in Pakistan, but the Taliban said they would free him in exchange for five of their most senior operatives at Guantanamo Bay, the American installation on the southeastern tip of Cuba that's housed suspected terrorists following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The militant group's exchange proposition came just days ahead of possible talks between a U.S. delegation and Taliban members.

Bergdahl's father, Bob Bergdahl, urged those gathered at Hailey's Hop Porter Park to remember everyone, regardless of nationality, who had suffered during the 12-year conflict in Afghanistan that began following the Sept. 11 attacks.

He described his son as "part of the peace process."

"I wish she was the only mother that was suffering in that way," Bob Bergdahl said of his wife. "Mothers all over the world are suffering because of this war, and I don't forget that for even one day."

He addressed his son's captors in Pashto, the Afghan language he's learned since Bowe Bergdahl went missing.

Bob Bergdahl, who has grown a beard and wore all black at Saturday's event, said that while he is physically in Idaho, he's living vicariously through his son, having set his cell phone to Afghan time, in a bid to share as much as he can his son's experience in exile.

Both mother and father talked of Bergdahl as an adventurer, a young man who once helped crew a sailboat through the Panama Canal, disembarked in San Francisco and then rode a bicycle south along the Pacific Ocean to meet family in Santa Barbara, Calif., 350 miles away.

He joined the military at 22 because "he honestly thought he could help the people of Afghanistan," Bob Bergdahl said.

On June 6, the family said it received its first letter from their son in his handwriting in four years, ferried through the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The circumstances of his capture aren't completely clear, though U.S. officials on July 2, 2009, told The Associated Press a soldier had been taken after walking off his base following his duty shift. For some of the motorcycle riders who participated Saturday, those details are something to be sifted through later, after Bergdahl is safely in the arms of his family.

"He didn't go over there on his own," said Randy Danner, a former U.S. Air Force member from Mountain Home, who rode his motorbike to Hailey with a group called the Green Knights. "No matter the circumstances, for our men and women over there who have put themselves in harm's way, we have a duty to support them in any way we can."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-offer-adds-urgency-idaho-pow-rally-081600377.html

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