Bilateral relationship: Japan’s PM tells Brazil ‘Abenomics’ working

BRASILIA: 

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe touted the success of his economic policies on a visit to Brazil and said it was time for the two nations to expand their trade and investment partnership.

On the first visit to Brazil in a decade by a Japanese prime minister, Japanese banks extended $700 million in loans to boost Brazilian soy and corn exports to Japan and build ship platforms for Brazil’s burgeoning offshore oil industry. Abe told Brazilian business leaders that Japan has closed a 15-year deflation cycle since his stimulus policies began to kick in and there is great potential to expand trade and investment with Latin America’s biggest economy. “With Japan growing again, we can grow with other nations,” he said in comments to executives translated by an interpreter.

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA signed up for a $500 million loan from Mizuho Bank Ltd to build eight platforms for deep-water oil production. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC), the main banking unit of Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, agreed to loan Brazilian agribusiness company Amaggi $200 million for soy and corn projects that will improve shipments to Japan.

Brazil’s state development bank BNDES agreed to join forces with Japan’s bank for international cooperation, JBIC, to look for areas to promote investment by small and medium-sized Japanese companies in Brazil.

Besides shipbuilding, Japanese companies are interested in investing in the infrastructure Brazil needs to continue growing. A plan to build a high-speed train between Brazil’s two largest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, is particularly promising, officials said.

Japan is Brazil’s sixth largest trading partner, with two-way trade of $15.7 billion in 2012. Brazilian agribusiness is the second-largest supplier of corn and soybeans to Japan. Japan’s enthusiasm for Abe’s economic stimulus policies has waned this year after the country’s growth sagged and investors grew impatient for more drastic structural reforms. Rousseff thanked Japan for opening its market to Brazilian pork last year, but she asked for the lifting of a ban on Brazilian beef that Japan and a few other countries still have in place due to a mad cow scare.

Brazil’s Vale SA, the world’s largest iron ore miner, inked an agreement with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals Corp (JOGMEC) to strenghen cooperation in coal mining in Mozambique. Vale also renewed ties with JBIC for financing iron ore, coal and other mining projects.

The Japanese leader met Brazilian football stars who have played in Japan and thanked them for helping develop the sport in his country. Among them was Zico and Dunga, Brazil’s newly-appointed coach who played in Japan for three years and was Japan’s coach for another three.

Partner turned foe? Microsoft sues Samsung, claims contract breach

NEW YORK: 

Microsoft has sued Samsung in US federal court, claiming the South Korean giant had breached a contract over licensing of technology used in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.

“After becoming the leading player in the worldwide smartphone market, Samsung decided late last year to stop complying with its agreement with Microsoft,” the US technology firm’s deputy counsel said in an online post.

The complaint filed in federal court in New York alleges Samsung is failing to make payments for patented Microsoft technology used in smartphones and tablets.

Samsung did not immediately respond to the request for comments.

Microsoft contends the South Korean consumer electronics colossus is not adhering to a contract from 2011, and said it filed the court action after months of painstaking negotiation.

The legal pact involved Samsung paying to use Microsoft intellectual property, according to the post by deputy counsel David Howard.

Samsung’s smartphone sales have quadrupled since the contract was signed as the company grew from shipping 82 million Android-powered handsets in 2011 to shipping 314 million three years later, Microsoft maintained.

Samsung has become a smartphone goliath, and the biggest maker of handsets powered by Google’s free Android software.

“Samsung predicted it would be successful, but no one imagined their Android smartphone sales would increase this much,” Howard said.

After Microsoft made a deal last year to buy Nokia’s smartphone business, Samsung stopped abiding by the cross-licensing contract, the US company says.

Microsoft said in the filing that Samsung used the Nokia business acquisition as grounds to step away from the licensing deal.

The company closed the deal for Nokia’s smartphone business in April with some adjustments from the announced price of $7.52 billion.

Nokia was the world leader in mobile phones before the introduction of Apple’s iPhone in 2007 and the onslaught of Android phones, mainly from Samsung.

Microsoft in June opted for the Android operating system from archrival Google for its new Nokia smartphone, in a move aimed at regaining momentum in the competitive mobile sector.

Microsoft said the Nokia X2 was “designed to introduce the ‘next billion’ people to the mobile Internet and cloud services.”

The device is an updated version of a phone unveiled by Nokia before Microsoft acquired the handset division of the Finnish giant.

Microsoft said that Android software incorporates some of its patented technology and the company’s practice is to license the intellectual property to handset makers.

Samsung has been a longtime Microsoft partner, making an array of computing devices powered by the US company’s software, including a version of Windows for mobile devices.

“Microsoft values and respects our partnership with Samsung and expects it to continue,” Howard said.

“We are simply asking the court to settle our disagreement, and we are confident the contract will be enforced.”

Microsoft said that this is the first time it has sued Samsung and that its intent is to get the royalty money due under terms of the contract, along with interest charges for overdue payments

Ronaldo refuses to rule out Man Utd return

The 29-year-old, who spent six seasons at Old Trafford, admits he would be open to returning to his former club and has praised the arrival of Louis van Gaal

Cristiano Ronaldo has refused to rule out a return to Manchester United in the future and maintains his “love” for his former club.

The 29-year-old joined Real Madrid from the Red Devils in a €94 million deal in 2009 after spending six seasons at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo, who will not face United in Saturday’s pre-season friendly in Michigan due to fitness concerns, admits he sees his former club as a "second family" but reiterates that he is happy to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu for now.

"Manchester United are one of my favourite clubs, everyone knows that every time when I speak about Real Madrid I speak about Manchester United, I loved it there," Ronaldo told reporters.

"I was 18 years old when I joined, I won everything there, the people treat me like a god there so I appreciate that and, in the future, who knows.

"I remember when we played there against Manchester United in the Champions League. Their affection killed me, I was so happy.

"I had fantastic moments and I appreciate this club. For me, it’s one of the best clubs in the world and I have passion for this club.

"Some players I am still in contact with because, when I was there, I created a good relationship with everybody - not just the players, but all of the staff.

"It was like my second family there, so I’ll not forget that the people treat me good. I love Manchester United and to go back... With football you never know.

"Of course, I’m happy at Real Madrid - it’s my home, my club - but Manchester United treated me unbelievable so you never know."

Ronaldo also believes United will prosper under Louis van Gaal’s guidance following their worst-ever Premier League campaign last season under fired coach David Moyes, who had replaced Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.

"It will be a better season for sure. My feeling is Van Gaal is a fantastic coach, he showed that all the time for Netherlands, the team played unbelievable at the World Cup, and I hope that Man Utd come back like the people know," he added.

No rush decision on Reus from Bayern - Rummenigge

The chairman of the Bundesliga champions has commented on speculation linking the Dortmund star to his club, suggesting that no move has been made as of yet

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has insisted that no rush decision will be made with regards to their pursuit of Marco Reus.

The Dortmund star has recently been mooted to follow former team-mates Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski to the Allianz Arena having starred for Jurgen Klopp's men for two seasons now.

However, the chairman of the Bavarian side has claimed that no agreement is in place yet and was vague regarding a future bid due to the topsy turvy nature of modern day football.

"I like to give myself a year in advance to make transfer decisions," the 58-year-old told Bild when asked about whether Pep Guardiola's men would bid for Reus. "But this cannot be done in the football of football any more.

"In the past we have tried to clarify our transfers early, but today the philosophy is different.

"

Reus was tipped to star for Germany at this summer's World Cup in Brazil, but an ankle ligament injury saw the 25-year-old miss the tournament altogether, which Joachim Low's men ultimately won.

The 25-year-old is currently back in training with Dortmund as they prepare for their assault on the Bundesliga in the forthcoming campaign.

Bartomeu hints at additional Barcelona signings

Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Claudio Bravo, Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez and Jeremy Mathieu have already arrived at Camp Nou, but the club's spending may not be over yet

Barcelona could yet make further signings before the end of the summer transfer window, according to club president Josep Bartomeu.

Five players - Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Claudio Bravo, Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez and Jeremy Mathieu - have already arrived at Camp Nou for a combined cost of around €156 million.

And Bartomeu has now revealed that new boss Luis Enrique may well add several more new faces to his squad before the September 1 deadline.

He told reporters: "The transfer window isn't over yet, it ends in a months' time. I think we still have some things left to do this summer."

Reports in Spain suggested that Camp Nou sporting director Zubizarreta and coach Luis Enrique will be meeting on Friday to finalise transfer plans, with young Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Marquinhos seen as the first-choice option.Barca are desperate to do as much business as possible this summer with a potential 14-month transfer ban looming for breaking rules involving the international transfers of players under the age of 18.

The club were initially banned from buying any players for that period starting from April, but Fifa agreed to put that suspension on hold after the Blaugrana lodged an appeal.

Box office ‘kicked’: Rs50.78m in three days

KARACHI: 

There are films that fulfill your expectations on the box office and then there are films that outperform your expectations. But then there are the game changers, the ones that bring about unimaginable results at the box office and Salman Khan’s Kick did just that in Pakistan. After all, it earned a whopping Rs50.78 million in Pakistan over the three days of Eid, creating box office history.

Excluding the few pre Eid shows, Kick formally opened in Pakistan on the first day of Eid and generated a total of Rs20.08 million in one day. No film ever in the history of local box office has received an opening of more than Rs20 million.

The film received housefuls in both, single screen cinemas and multiplexes and the trend hiked on the second day of Eid. This is when the film went to earn an even bigger total of Rs20.2 million in one day and the third day of Eid saw a slight decline with a total business of 15 million.

Biggest opening ever

Expectedly, Salman Khan proved to be a goldmine for the box office, as Kick created history with its all-time high with a collection of Rs20.08 million on the first day of Eid.

Kick not only breaks the Rs11.4 million opening day business of Waar, but also eclipsesDhoom 3‘s all-time highest opening day collection of Rs19 million.

Kick sets new records in Karachi, Hyderabad and Multan

All previous opening records were broken at the historic Bambino cinema, where Kickgenerated an average collection of Rs180,000 per show on the first day of Eid, with the first show making up to as much as Rs200,000.

“Kick has broken all previous records of opening collections at our cinema but the exact grand figure will be compiled by this evening,” Adeel Siddiqui, the owner of Bambino cinema toldThe Express Tribune.

According to sources, even Ghalib cinema in Korangi received the highest-ever opening with an average of Rs70, 000 per show, which is quite significant. The owners of Ghalib are yet to corroborate these figures.

On the other hand, Dreamland cinema in Multan set a new record by earning Rs1 million in one day and the Hyderabad circuit generated the highest-ever one-day return of Rs1.3 million.  The film was released in two cinemas in Hyderabad with Bambino cinema alone generating Rs0.7 million.

Can Kick be the all-time winner?

To date, Dhoom 3 holds the record of the highest grossing film in Pakistan, with a whopping Rs240 million as its total business. Having said that, Dhoom 3‘s huge earnings can be attributed to a few odds that worked in its favour and the most significant among them was the fact that there was a ban on Indian films for about two months before Dhoom 3 was released.

At the time of the release, people who were craving quality films raided both the multiplexes and single screens in Pakistan, making the film achieve this milestone. Apart from that, no significant Bollywood film followed the Dhoom 3 release for a couple of weeks, which gave it a smooth running at the box office.

Kick has the advantage of being released on Eid, but also faces possible competition from Akshay Kumar’s Its Entertainment and Ajay Devgn’s much-anticipated Singham Returns, scheduled to release 10 and 16 days from now, respectively. Both these films may reduceKick’s chances of achieving anything extraordinary in the long run, but Salman Khan has always proved the odds wrong

Imam of China's biggest mosque killed in Xinjiang

BEIJING: The head of China’s largest mosque was murdered after conducting morning prayers, the local government in far western Xinjiang said Thursday, amid intensifying violence in the turbulent region.

Jume Tahir, the government-appointed imam of the 600-year-old Id Kah mosque in the city of Kashgar, was killed Wednesday by “three thugs influenced by religious extremist ideology”, the Xinjiang government web portal Tianshan said.

Police launched an all-out investigation and shot dead two of the alleged assailants while capturing the other at about noon on Wednesday as they violently resisted with “knives and hatchets,” Tianshan said.

Tianshan said Tahir’s killing was “premeditated” and that the suspects intended to commit a “ruthless murder”.

It also said they wanted to “increase their influence through ‘doing something big’”.

Tianshan identified the suspects by their names in phonetic Chinese. The official Xinhua news agency in an English-language report gave their names as Turghun Tursun, Memetjan Remutillan and Nurmemet Abidilimit.

Neither Tianshan nor Xinhua initially identified who among them was shot dead and who was apprehended.

Tahir was found dead in a pool of blood outside the mosque’s prayer house, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported earlier on its website.

Xinjiang, home to China’s mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, has seen escalating violence which in the past year has spilled over into other parts of China.

RFA cited what it described as “witnesses and other officials”, including the director of a neighbourhood stability committee in Kashgar, who described the killing as an assassination.

Imams and other religious leaders in China are appointed by the government and subject to strict control on the content of their preaching.

US-based RFA said that Tahir had been critical of violence carried out by Uighurs, and China’s official Xinhua news agency in early July quoted him as condemning terrorist violence carried out in the name of ethnicity and religion.

Tahir, 74, “enjoyed a high reputation among Muslims nationwide”, Xinhua said in its dispatch Thursday.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesperson for the exiled World Uyghur Congress (WUC), did not condemn the killing.

“Chinese policies in the area have caused things to happen which should not happen,” he told AFP in an email.

“According to local Uighurs, Jume Tahir consistently cooperated with the government, aided the monitoring of religious activities, and used his position in the mosque to promote Chinese policies which are unacceptable to Uighurs,” he said.

“Local Uighurs suspected he had a special relationship with the Chinese ministry of security.”

The Id Kah mosque is said to have a capacity of up to 20,000 people.

Kashgar, where the mosque is located, is an old oasis city that was part of the Silk Road trade route that ran from Europe to Asia.

The killing of Tahir came two days after dozens of people died in violence between Uighurs and security authorities in the Kashgar region.

Nearly 100 people were left dead or wounded, the WUC said, while authorities put the toll in the “several tens” in what they called a “terror attack” on a police station and township in Shache county, known as Yarkand in the Uighur language.

Beijing commonly blames separatists from Xinjiang for carrying out terror attacks which have grown in scale over the past year and spread outside the restive and resource-rich region.

A market attack in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital city, in May left 39 people dead, while a deadly rampage by knife-wielding assailants at a train station in Kunming in China’s southwest in March killed 29 people.

They came after a fiery vehicle crash at Tiananmen Square, Beijing’s symbolic heart, in October last year.

The violence has led China to carry out a broad crackdown on terrorism. President Xi Jinping on a visit to Xinjiang in late April called for a “strike first” strategy to fight terrorism and said the Kashgar area is China’s “front line in anti-terrorist efforts”.

Chinese prosecutors on Wednesday brought charges of separatism — which can carry the death penalty — against prominent Uighur academic Ilham Tohti, detained earlier this year.

Rights groups and analysts accuse China’s government of cultural and religious repression which they say fuels unrest in Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia.

The government, however, argues it has boosted economic development in the area and that it upholds minority rights in a country with 56 recognised ethnic groups.