Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon traveled to Moscow this week to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. At the top of the agenda was the long-delayed ratification of the agreement, signed last year by the two presidents, to extend the presence of Russia's 201st military base in Tajikistan until 2042. While Russia has already ratified the agreement, Tajikistan has been dragging its feet for reasons that remain unclear. But after the meeting in Moscow, Rahmon promised that the parliament would ratify the deal by this fall:
?I'd like to say that we treat this issue [of the Russian military base] very seriously,? Rahmon said, ?and we are firmly committed to fulfilling our obligations. Now that we have solved a range of issues concerning the base, and as our parliament is returning from holiday, we will solve this issue by the fall of 2013.?
The two sides also apparently discussed the $200 million in military aid that Moscow has promised Dushanbe. One detail that emerged is that this amount is to be disbursed over a period stretching until 2025. ?President Vladimir Putin?s orders are straightforward: to assess all risks and to help the Tajik armed forces face these risks,? Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said after the Putin-Rahmon meeting.
As usual with these sorts of meetings, details were scarce but speculation rampant. Much speculation centered around what the two discussed about Tajikistan's upcoming presidential elections. Political analyst Shokirjon Hakimov told the Tajikistan newspaper Avesta:
I think that as we approach the presidential elections in Tajikistan, considering the influence Russia has over the media and the Russian factor in the region as a whole, Rahmon will make some concessions and give the order to the Tajikistan parliament to ratify the agreement on the extension of the presence of the Russian military base, although many conditions of the agreement contradict the national interests of Tajikistan.
Even pro-presidential analyst and member of parliament Sukhrob Sharipov acknowledged that Putin's support in the elections was probably discussed "over tea," though he emphasized that the accumulated issues around the ratification of the base agreement would have necessitated the meeting anyway.
Still, no new details emerged about the particular elements of the base agreement, like the deals on labor migrants and supplies of gas and oil, which seem to have been sticking points. But Tajikistan's defense minister, Sherali Khairulloyev, stayed on in Moscow to work with Russian defense officials on the details about military cooperation, so perhaps some political decision was reached on that.
MONTREAL ? The Dan Hawkins era lasted only five games in Montreal.
The Alouettes, who have struggled to a 2-3 record to start the season, announced Thursday that Hawkins has been fired.
Jim Popp will step in as head coach for the third time in his 18 years as general manager of the Canadian Football League club.
The firing came during a bye week in the Alouettes schedule. The team's next game is Aug. 8 against the Toronto Argonauts.
The offence, which was Montreal's strength under former coach Marc Trestman, looked disorganized and lifeless under Hawkins, who was coaching a professional team for the first time in his career.
Owner Bob Wetenhall asked Popp to step in.
"Jim is the person most responsible for the success we have had over all these years," Wetenhall said in a statement. "I feel confident that he is the best person to coach our team at this time and I am very appreciative of him being willing to make this additional contribution to our franchise.
"He has the respect of our players as well as mine."
Hawkins was hired Feb. 19 after working as a broadcaster. He had previously coached mainly U.S. college teams, taking Boise State to four Western Athletic Conference titles from 2002 to 2005 before compiling a disappointing 19-39 record at Colorado from 2006 to 2010.
It was the second time in a row Montreal hired a coach with no CFL experience.
But while it worked with Trestman, who won two Grey Cups in a five-year stint before being named head coach of the NFL's Chicago Bears, Hawkins did not appear comfortable with the 12-man game.
He bowed out a winner, however. Despite the team's spotty play, the Alouettes are in second place in the weak East Division and are coming off a nervy 32-27 win over 1-4 Edmonton.
Popp first stepped in as coach to finish off a disastrous 2001 campaign under Rod Rust, but Don Matthews took over the following season.
He took over as coach again when Matthews fell ill during the 2006 season and brought the Alouettes to the Grey Cup game.
He stayed on for 2007, in which the rookie-laden club that was missing starting quarterback Anthony Calvillo for much of the season went 8-10 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Winnipeg.
It was the team's only losing record since it returned to Montreal after a 10-year hiatus in 1996. Popp has been general manager all of that time.
His CFL regular-season coaching record is 10-13, with a 1-3 mark in playoff games.
The team did not say if Popp would coach on an interim basis or when the search for a new head coach would begin.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Astronomers have discovered a graveyard of comets. The researchers describe how some of these objects, inactive for millions of years, have returned to life leading them to name the group the ?Lazarus comets?.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday met top industrialists, including RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani and Tata Consultancy Services chairman N Chandrasekaran, in Mumbai and said the state was more investment friendly now with a "good work culture". The Chief Minister spoke to reporters after an hour-long closed door meeting with about 40 top industry leaders.
"Earlier, because of strikes, it was a minus point from the industry point of view," she said, adding that after Trinamool Congress came to power, the number of manhours lost due to strikes has declined. "The work culture is very good nowadays and we don't support any strike or a bandh. We believe that there should be a good relationship between industrialists and workers," Mamata said.
Her government had framed a detailed land use policy and created a 10,000 acre land-bank for industrial purposes apart from creating `an employment bank', she said. On the Singur land controversy, Mamata refused to comment saying it is a sub-judice matter, but added that ultimate solution will make both the industry as well as the farmers happy.
Mamata Banerjee woos India Inc, says Bengal better for investment now
"Whatever I've done for Singur, I'm proud to do. I'm in favour of industry and I am in favour of agriculture too. Don't worry, industry will also smile and agriculture will also smile," she said, reminding the audience that Chandrasekaran was present in the meet, while Shapoorji Pallonji, the largest shareholder in Tata Sons, had agreed to create a project of 20,000 houses.
It may be noted that Trinamool Congress opposition to land acquisition in Singur had forced Tata group move its small car (Nano) project out of West Bengal to Gujarat. Others who attended the meeting included Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar, Sanjiv and Harsh Goenka, Nitin Paranjpe of Hindustan Unilver, Sajjan Jindal, ITC's YC Deveshwar and Ashok Hinduja.
Listing the opportunities for investment in the state, Mamata claimed that Mukesh Ambani described West Bengal as a "gold mine" at the meeting. Accompanied by her finance minister Amit Mitra, Mamata, however, declined to give a specific target on the investment front saying she had presented her case to industrialists who will now prepare a plan.
"Today, we announced all projects where they can invest and now they will decide whether to invest. I am confident we will get investments," she said. She also debunked adverse reports on law and order issues, especially about the safety of women, and added had it been the case, her party would not have won 80 per cent of the seats in the local body polls last week. Her government had decided to create a financial hub in Kolkata which will also have `a World Trade Centre', she said.
Quarterback Sam Keller of the Arizona State Sun Devils during a game against the USC Trojans on October 1, 2005 in Tempe, Ariz. Keller has successfully sued EA to stop using his likeness.
Electronic Arts' college sports franchises have been sacked by a U.S. federal appeals court.
In a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that EA had used the images in its video games of several ex-NCAA athletes without their permission in its NCAA football and basketball series. The decision comes two weeks after EA lost the rights to put the NCAA logo and name on its games beyond this year.
Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, writing for the majority of the court, said EA's game "literally recreates [Arizona State University quarterback Samuel] Keller in the very setting in which he has achieved renown."
Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas dissented, however, arguing that the games' creative elements "predominate over the commercial use of the athletes' likenesses" and that "Keller's impressive physical likeness can be morphed by the gamer into an overweight and slow virtual athlete, with anemic passing ability".
The decision could open up additional legal action against the video game publisher from other former college athletes who have been unhappy with their likenesses being used in the games without compensation.
In a statement, EA said it was "disappointed with the ruling against First Amendment protection in the Keller case. We believe the reasoning in Judge Thomas' dissent in that decision will ultimately prevail as we seek further court review."
(Read more: No porn please, we're British)
EA is already facing similar suits to the one ruled on today by the appeals court. The company asked a judge on Tuesday to dismiss the latest complaint, which was filed on behalf of a group of athletes led by Ed O'Bannon, a former star at the University of California, Los Angeles. Also, in May, a federal appeals court revived a similar suit from former Rutgers University quarterback Ryan Hart.
EA had argued in the case that using the athletes' likeness was protected under the free expression clause of the First Amendment. Judges disagreed in the case of college athletes, but?in a separate decision?agreed with EA in the case of former pro players.
The court unanimously upheld the dismissal of a suit by Hall of Famer Jim Brown, whose image was used in EA's Madden game.
EA has used the First Amendment argument before when facing legal action for images in its games. In 2011, Bell Helicopter parentTextron sued over the game maker's use of images of a trio of real world helicopters in "Battlefield 3."
Textron argued its choppers were used without permission and EA failed to pay licensing fees. EA claimed protection under the First Amendment and the use of the aircraft constituted fair use.
The case is still pending, though EA did lose an attempt to have the complaint dismissed a year ago.
(Read more:Xbox 180: Microsoft bows to consumer pressure, sets Xbox One free)
While the Madden franchise is a larger driver of revenues, EA still relied heavily on its NCAA franchise. But sales this year have been soft, say analysts. John Taylor of Arcadia Investment Corp. said he believes sales of the 2013 installment are off roughly 10 percent compared to the 2012 game.
And starting next year, the company won't be able to use the NCAA name. The league recently announced it would not negotiate a new contract with EA when the current one expires next June.
"We are confident in our legal position regarding the use of our trademarks in video games," the NCAA said at the time. "But given the current business climate and costs of litigation, we determined participating in this game is not in the best interests of the NCAA. ... The NCAA has never licensed the use of current student-athlete names, images or likenesses to EA. The NCAA has no involvement in licenses between EA and former student-athletes."
EA has vowed to continue making college sports games, however.
"Our relationship with the Collegiate Licensing Company [which manages the trademarks of the majority of the colleges in the game] is strong and we are already working on a new game for next generation consoles which will launch next year and feature the college teams, leagues, and all the innovation fans expect from EA Sports," said Andrew Wilson, executive vice president of EA in a statement.
Analysts say they don't expect the loss to have a material financial impact on Electronic Arts, noting that the NCAA was a co-defendant in the suit.
"The transgressor here is the NCAA, I believe," said Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities. "I don't believe EA said to the NCAA 'can we use licensed images of the players.' The NCAA said 'no' and EA said 'we're going to do it anyway'."
"The NCAA has the right to license the athletes image without compensation to the athlete if he's playing in a [real world] game," Pachter added. "The question is: Can it exploit the likenesses out of the game? That depends on the contract the player signs with the NCAA."
LONDON, July 31 (UPI) -- A British delegate said Wednesday before leaving for Myanmar he was "very concerned" about the status of reforms under way in the country.
Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow leads a delegation of British lawmakers this week to Myanmar, known also as Burma. He said he's expected to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, policy makers and members of civil society during his visit.
Myanmar President Thein Sein, a former military commander, was feted in London by British Prime Minister David Cameron mid-July. Cameron congratulated the leader for democratic reforms embraced since 2010 general elections, though he expressed concern about violence targeting the minority Muslim community in the coastal state of Rakhine.
"Although I welcome the recent change of atmosphere in Burma, I remain very concerned about the ethnic violence and the pace of constitutional and democratic reform and said so directly to the president when I met him on July 16," the speaker said Wednesday.
Myanmar earned international praise for political changes that began with general elections in 2010 but human rights issues and religious conflict have overshadowed some of the reforms.
Myanmar's president freed 73 political prisoners last week. More than 600 were released last year as part of a political reform effort.
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The rising Rams and improving Cards. Jason La Canfora explains how the NFC West became the NFL's best. 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