World Cup 2014 enters knock out stage

SAO PAULO: The last 16 teams at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have been decided, and the knockout rounds get underway on Saturday when Brazil take on Chile.

Notable casualties from the group stages include reigning champions Spain as well as Italy, England and Portugal.

Costa Rica were the surprise package in the first round, coming through on top of a group including the Three Lions, the Azzurri and South America's Uruguay.

Here is the full schedule for the last 16, the first stage where a loss categorically means returning home:

World Cup 2014: Last 16 Schedule

June 28 9pm PST Brazil vs. Chile
June 28 1am PST(Sunday) Colombia vs. Uruguay

June 29 9pm PST Netherlands vs. Mexico
June 29 1am PST(Sunday) Costa Rica vs. Greece

June 30 9pm PST France vs. Nigeria
June 30 1am PST(Sunday). Germany vs. Algeria

July 1 9pm PST Argentina vs. Switzerland
July 1 1am PST(Sunday). Belgium vs. USA

The Netherlands have so far looked one of the best sides in the tournament, winning all three of their games including a 5-1 demolition of Spain.

They take on a strong Mexico side—who held Brazil to a draw in Group A—in one of the last 16's best matchups, which could well go to extra time or penalties.

Colombia will be buoyed by the suspension of Uruguay's Luis Suarez, per FIFA World Cup, and should see themselves through to the quarter-finals as a result. They have been one of the tournament's standout teams so far, impressing with their attacking flair.

One of Costa Rica or Greece will also make the last eight, having both upset the odds to make it out of the group stages to the surprise of many.

Many people's favourites for the competition, Argentina, face a Switzerland side who have bucked their previous trends in the tournament so far, conceding plenty but also scoring more goals than many had expected.

Lionel Messi should have enough to inspire his side to victory but the Swiss have shown their quality and will present a stiff test.

The last 16 is where the World Cup really gets interesting. The games do not come quite as thick and fast, but they are of even greater importance as survival is on the line.

Apart from Spain, most of the pre-tournament favourites still remain and the quality of football is likely to only get better as the competition moves forward and last-eight places are on the line.

Obama: Sectoral sanctions if Russia enters Ukraine

 

AP Barack Obama reacts to a reporter's question asking him if he would rescue Russian President Vladimir Putin if he was drowning during a news conference in Seoul on Friday.

The U.S. and Europe are laying the groundwork to sanction broad sections of Russia’s economy if Moscow mounts a military incursion in eastern Ukraine, President Barack Obama said on Friday, even as he acknowledged those sanctions may fail to deter Vladimir Putin.

“We’ll continue to keep some arrows in our quiver in the event we see further deterioration,” Mr. Obama said during a news conference in South Korea.

Seeking to convey strong unity among the U.S. and European nations, Mr. Obama said he was “deeply encouraged” by the consistent condemnation of Russia’s actions in Crimea that have emanated from capitals in Europe, North America and across the globe.

Still, Mr. Obama conceded that those statements of condemnation, as well as sanctions levied on Russia so far, have not persuaded Russia’s leaders to change course. But he insisted that Mr. Putin understands the economic hit Russia has already taken as a result of its actions, adding that the Russian President “is not stupid.”

The crisis in Ukraine has continually trailed Mr. Obama as he travels across Asia this week. As Mr. Obama opened a visit to South Korea on Friday, Russia’s Foreign Minister accused the West of plotting to control Ukraine. A day earlier, Russia announced new military exercises near its border with Ukraine in yet another sign that tensions have only increased.

BJP’s Modi files papers as election enters second stage

VADODARA: Indian election frontrunner Narendra Modi waved to thousands of cheering supporters as he filed his papers to stand in the country's mammoth six-week election which entered its second of nine phases on Wednesday.

Modi, a hardline Hindu nationalist widely tipped to emerge as prime minister when results are published on May 16, is standing from the Vadodara constituency in the western state of Gujarat.

Making a rare public outing in a jeep, Modi waved at crowds waving the saffron-coloured flag of his Bharatiya Janata Party, which is forecast to inflict a crushing defeat on the ruling Congress party.

In the remote northeast of the country meanwhile, voting began amid tight security in constituencies in four insurgency-wracked states close to the disputed border with China.

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland are the second wave of voting in the election process which has been staggered to allow security forces to re-deploy in between stages.

Voters flocked early to polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh, an eastern stretch of the Himalayas that China claims as its own, despite pouring rain overnight, the Press Trust of India reported.

During campaigning in February in the area, the scene of a 1962 war between India and China, Modi had warned Beijing to shed its "expansionist mindset".

Hundreds of extra security forces have been deployed in neighbouring and underdeveloped Nagaland, where rebels from tribal groups have waged a decades-long campaign for more rights.

Security was also tight in nearby Meghalaya, where ethnic and separatist groups have also long fought against the state, and the border with Bangladesh has been closed, Press Trust of India news agency said.

Six seats are up for grabs on Wednesday ahead of the third phase of voting Thursday which will be by far the biggest to date with constituencies in 14 states including the capital region heading to the ballot box.

The opposition BJP is expected to sweep to power in the world's biggest election at a time of low economic growth as well as anger over corruption and rising food prices.

As well as a Vadodara, Modi is also set to stand from a second seat in the northern holy Hindu city of Varanasi on the river Ganges in the battleground state of Uttar Pradesh.

On strike: Oil tankers suspend fuel supply as protest enters third day

Oil tankers stand idle in Karachi on Friday after a strike by their owners started. PHOTO: ONLINE

KARACHI:  After Karachi, the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association suspended the supply of furnace oil and other fuel to Shikarpur and Quetta as their strike against the government-owned Pakistan State Oil (PSO) entered the third consecutive day on Friday.

Members of the association and oil tankers drivers had staged a protest demonstration at their camp on Shireen Jinnah Colony Road. The association has suspended supply of furnace oil and other fuel products from the PSO to all stations in Karachi since Wednesday.
“We are expanding our protest circle to all oil marketing companies and will suspend fuel supply across the country if the managing director of the PSO or other top officials don’t address our demands,” said Mir Yousuf Shahwani, the chairperson of the association, while talking to The Express Tribune, adding that three rounds of negotiations with the PSO officials and contractors have failed.

The oil tankers’ representatives demand that the government arrest the persons involved in the killing of their colleague, Mehboob Shah, who was shot dead for offering resistance in a mugging incident while carrying cash from a private bank in Shireen Jinnah Colony. They also demanded security for their colleagues in the oil terminal areas in Keamari and Shireen Jinnah Colony.
The association also demanded that the PSO return all fines taken from the oil tankers who failed the sample tests. Their vehicles were also blacklisted by the oil company subsequently. “The PSO should clear our insurance claims without any delay and stop illegal and unlawful fines over fuel shortages,” said the association’s general secretary Shafiq Kakar, adding that the PSO had imposed fines of up to Rs300,000 in case of fuel shortages and sample failure in addition to blacklisting the vehicles.
“If the fuel is filled, sealed, carried and emptied by the PSO then how can they fine the oil tankers owner? We transport sealed freight. It is the PSO’s responsibility if the fuel gets spoiled. They have trackers system to keep a check on the oil tankers,” he said.