Earlier this month, the Euro 2012 qualifying match between Italy and Serbia was abandoned due to to rioting among supporters.  Serbian fans threw flares on to the pitch and at Italian supporters  (by climbing over a fence and cutting a hole in the netting intended to prevent objects being thrown).  This was after the Serbian goalkeeper pulled out of the match in fear of his life after being threatened by Serbian fans angry over his loan to Partizan, the rival of the club where he began his career (Red Star Belgrade).The supporters also clashed with police after the abandonment leading to 17 arrests. 

In response, UEFA has delivered the following verdict…

Verdict:  Serbia

Verdict:  Italy

This leaves Italy in first place in the group, 3 points clear of Slovenia (2nd) and Serbia in 5th place.

While Italy appear to be thrilled., the reaction in Serbia seems to be mixed.  The Serbian Federation is claiming the role of the victim, arguing that Italy used its influence to obtain a cushy victory for the abandoned match (3 points and +3 goal difference).  Unsurprisingly, they are planning on appealing…and they want a replay of the match.

The Italian lobby did its job in order to get this result, but we are not satisfied with UEFA’s verdict, especially the 3-0 defeat.

- Tomislav Karadzic, Serbian Football Federation President

The press though seem to be taking a more moderate position – acknowledging that it could have been oh-so-much worse.  Before the verdict was released to the public, there was speculation that Serbia could be banned from international competition for several years.  Politika, a newspaper in Serbia (I think…), agreed that the fines were harsh but also acknowledged that Serbia “got off well.”

Had UEFA really applied what (its president Michel) Platini calls ‘zero tolerance,’ we could have already said an international farewell to this generation of players

- Politika

Perhaps the more surprising opinion floated in the Serbian press is the idea that a national ban would have been beneficial for the country’s long-term success.

Had it forced us into isolation, we would have had plenty of time to clean the house, like England did [reference to England's 5-year ban following the 1995 Heysel Stadium disaster].

Only then, after punishing our own for our own mistake, could we return to Europe with a clean face and point at others for their faults.

- Politika

But this decision doesn’t just punish Serbian fans (who did and didn’t riot)…but also Northern Ireland fans planning on traveling to the game to support their team.

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Chrysler has made public its plans for the SEMA show. The company  will be introducing 35 vehicles – including the 2011 Challenger SRT8 392, the RedLine Charger, the Citadel Black & Tan concept and several Jeep Cherokees.

Dodge’s 2011 Challenger SRT8 392 has the benefit of a revised styling and now possesses a new 6.4-liter HEMI V8 with 470 hp (350 kW / 477 PS) and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm) of torque. Sources have confirmed that the engine will have a variable intake manifold, multi-cylinder deactivation, and VVT technology.

These changes make the new SRT8 15-20% more fuel-efficient than its predecessor. Dodge will also be displaying the RedLine Charger, which has a lowered suspension, an aluminum hood, a carbon fiber front lip spoiler, and 22-inch ‘Super Alloy’ wheels.

It has a 5.7-liter HEMI V8 with a cold-air intake system in place and a new exhaust system.

Dodge will also be showcasing the Citadel Black & Tan concept in an effort to promote the Durango. This vehicle has an exclusive grille, polished stainless steel exhaust tips, a lowered suspension, and 22-inch alloy wheels.

From Jeep comes the Wrangler Sahara Mopar Edition with its 35-inch tires, steel bumpers, and a Warn winch. A more luxurious Jeep is the Jeep Grand Cherokee Off-Road Edition, which will also be shown.

This one has a lifted suspension, skid plates, rock rails, tow hooks, and 33-inch BFG Mud-Terrain tires. Also on display will be the Jeep Street Cherokee, which has a 5.7-liter HEMI V8, a custom lower front fascia, blacked-out headlamps, and 22-inch alloy wheels.

Fiat’s very first showing at SEMA will be a 500 concept with an aerodynamic body kit, a lowered suspension, and 18-inch Alcoa wheels.

View full post on Car Blog | Breaking Motoring News Daily

It’s one of the biggest weeks in U.S. politics, with the mid-term elections to the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it may well eventually impact the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, even though it’s not been a campaign issue. If the Republicans win big, as everyone expects them to, what happens to President Barack Obama’s war strategy for the two countries, increasingly operating as two full-fledged theatres, rather than a conjoined Af-Pak mission?

Max Boot at the Council on Foreign Relations says given the Republicans’ solid support for the war in Afghanistan, a defeat may not be such a bad thing for Obama so far as his Afghan mission is concerned in the near term. Support and funding for the war could be enhanced if they gained control, which may not be the case if the Democrats, who have serious doubts about the mission, were to return. Big Republican gains will also signal to Afghanistan and Pakistan that America remained serious and committed to the region, despite a deteriorating security environment on both sides of the Durand Line.

Indeed the one big reason why the war hasn’t made it as a campaign issue is because of the schisms it has opened in the two parties. Democrats are silent because many oppose the war but don’t want to run on an anti-Obama platform. Most Republicans, on the other hand, support the war but now find themselves uncomfortably aligned with a Democratic president whose every other policy they are bitterly opposed to.

But this may not be the situation for long. First off, carrying the argument further,  many Republicans who support Obama’s decision to send additional troops don’t like the idea of setting out  a withdrawal date as the president did when announcing the surge.  They argue that the July 2011 deadline for the withdrawal of troops to begin sends the wrong signals to U.S. partners in the region who question Washington’s commitment, as well as further emboldens the insurgents to simply wait out the U.S. departure from the region. They are also more likely, reflexively, to oppose any truck with the Taliban; certainly not at this point when the insurgency is at its strongest. They would rather General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces, were given more time to pound the militants into coming to the negotiating table.  As Politico blog says :

For starters, Republicans would almost surely press President Barack Obama to loosen the July 2011 deadline to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, as well as seek assurances that he would be willing to send in more troops if Gen. David Petraeus, his commander there, asks for them.

It quotes Republican strategist John Ullyot, a former staffer of the Armed Services Committee , as saying that putting deadlines on the mission is going to be a lot tougher to defend in a beefed-up Republican congress. “There is no question there will be a lot more pressure on the administration to give commanders as much time as they need; the summer deadline is going to be huge.”

Already, the administration has been insisting that no high-level talks with the insurgents are going on. On Friday, Richard Holbrooke, the special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said while more Taliban foot soldiers were coming forward to lay down their arms, reports of peace talks were overblown. Official sources, though, say all parties in the conflict are considering ways to reach a political settlement, and have described cautious preliminary contacts between the Taliban and the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

While broader support for the war is assured, you can be sure that U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will be closely watching all civilian aid going to Afghanistan. They have grown increasingly sceptical of President Hamid Karzai’s inability or unwillingness to crack down on corruption and as the Congressional Quarterly reports the pressure on civilian aid programmes is likely to increase after the mid-terms. Already it says :

Lawmakers are slapping conditions on reconstruction funding, working to cut funding or threatening to block it altogether. Some are outright scornful about the ability of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government to hold the country together.

Across the border in Pakistan,  pressure from the U.S. Congress is expected to be just as intense both to fight America’s war on the Islamist militancy, as well as  to use the billions of dollars of aid  given to the country effectively. Last month at a hearing to confirm the new U.S. envoy to Pakistan, Republican senator James Risch asked  if there was any sense of appreciation in Pakistan of the amount of money and effort the United States had invested in the country to pull it back from the brink. “This government is going to borrow 41 cents out of every dollar it spends this year. I mean this … is a real sacrifice Americans are making. They’re sacrificing their children’s and grandchildren’s futures in order to build infrastructure in Pakistan.”

You can already hear voices urging the administration to hold Pakistan’s feet to the fire. Further aid must be made conditional to the administration fighting militancy according to a set of benchmarks, argues Ashley Tellis at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  Change the rules of the game to force Pakistan to stop supporting the groups that are helping the Afghan insurgency and plotting attacks elsewhere, he says.

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The Forester tS model from Subaru that will be available in the Japanese market has been shown to the public. The Forester tS seems to have some similarities to the S-Edition concept vehicle from Subaru that was displayed recently at the Australian Motor Show.

The 2.5 liter Boxer engine turbocharged to 263 PS (193 kW) and 347 Nm of torque on the Forester tS was seen on the S-Edition concept.

The main difference is that while the concept has not moved forward, the Forester tS will definitely be getting into the production stage, at least for the Japanese market.

Sources say that the model will have a specially tuned suspension which will include STi-tuned dampers and springs and flexible front and rear sway bars.

As per information received, only 300 units of the Forester tS will be made, and they will be available only in Japan.

(Via 7Tune)

View full post on Car Blog | Breaking Motoring News Daily

Spy photos of the BMW X1 M Package have surfaced. Not too many details were visible, thanks to the extensive, well done camouflage that was in place. What’s obvious from the pictures is that the M Package has modified the side sills, redone the rear bumper and also added a revised front fascia. Also spotted were unique wheels, a paint job in monotone and Shadow Line trim.

The interior is likely be equipped with a sport steering wheel. Seats will be sporty, an M gear knob will be active and the cabin will have an anthracite headliner.

The car is to be launched next year, and price details are likely to be revealed in the coming months.

(Via WCF)

View full post on Car Blog | Breaking Motoring News Daily

The details of Apple’s 10-K filing for 2011 include an increased employee headcount, higher capital expenditure targets, and a decrease in its gross margin, for the second year in a row. Is this a mix that promises another year as innovative as was 2010?

Apple made its annual regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday. It said gross margins will fall again in 2011, just as they did in 2010, “due to a higher mix of new and innovative products,” and predictions of higher prices for components and other production-related costs.

It said much the same thing last year; 2010 brought the introduction of the iPad, possibly Apple’s biggest gamble of the past decade when viewed from the vantage point of Dec. 2009. No wonder they expected gross margins to fall.

This time around, what might account for the same worry? The iPad is a winner, as will be its successor, and one would assume that the next iteration will be evolutionary, not revolutionary, so margins should go down. Same with the iPhone and its next iteration, though Apple might shake things up in that arena to get rid of the stigma of the antenna problems that plagued its latest smartphone release.

The redesigned MacBook Air, which will affect Apple’s 2011 financial year, could account for some of those narrower margins, but I think Apple has even more up its sleeve if it sees the gross margin percentage dropping below levels of a year when it launched a brand new product category. Maybe we’ll see changes as dramatic as the MacBook Air’s new internals come to the rest of the notebook line, or another new device category to extend the reach of iOS further still.

One other noteworthy element of the filing is Apple’s prediction regarding capital expenditure. The company plans to spend $4 billion in 2011, with $600 million of that earmarked for new brick-and-mortar retail. Plans for new stores include between 40 and 50 new locations, more than half of which will be located outside the U.S.

While 2010 is a tough act to follow, the next year should be another big one for Apple, especially as the Android-iOS battle heats up. What do you see it planning for 2011?

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• Can Anyone Really Compete With the iPad?

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Jumping past Research in Motion, Apple has entered the top five in global mobile phone sales, trailing only Nokia, Samsung, and LG. Number four may not count for much in the realm of professional sports, but it means a lot in the technology business.

Last week, TheAppleBlog discussed Apple’s climb to number two in the global smartphone battle. In a report released yesterday by research firm IDC, we learned Apple is moving up the ladder in the broader cellphone category worldwide, too.

Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC, says “The entrance of Apple to the top 5 vendor ranking underscores the increased importance of smartphones to the overall market. Moreover, the mobile phone makers that are delivering popular smartphone models are among the fastest growing firms…Vendors that aren’t developing a strong portfolio of smartphones will be challenged to maintain and grow market share in the future.”

Don’t forget that Apple has only been manufacturing phones since 2007 and, in that time, has achieved market dominance with only one or two models on sale at once. With the iPhone’s release in 17 different countries in the past quarter alone, it’s set to push that progress even further. Nokia still has a huge lead, but it is eroding.

According to IDC, Nokia dropped over 4 percentage points to 32.4 percent market-share, and LG electronics missed its shipment goal by double digits. Samsung is the only company  ahead of Apple that experienced growth during the quarter.

Reception issues that spurred a product-wide free case program not only weren’t enough to slow down iPhone 4 sales, but seem to be a minor blip looked at from the vantage point of today. Apple continues to be the leader of the pack in design and product growth, despite occasional flaws and constant challenges from other strong contenders.

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Will President Barack Obama make some public remarks on Kashmir during his trip to India next month?

At a White House press briefing, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes refused to be pinned down on specifics,  beyond saying that the United States would continue to express support for India and Pakistan to pursue talks.

“I wouldn’t — I don’t want to get into prefacing with precision what his comments are, in part because he’ll be answering a lot of questions there in the town hall and press conference and we haven’t — we’re still working through his remarks on certain things,” he said.

Yet it is a question that cannot — and will not — be left to chance.

Indian is deeply sensitive about foreign visitors talking about Kashmir — as British foreign ministers have learned to their cost on earlier trips. It regards Kashmir as an integral part of India and refuses even to recognise the territory at the heart of more than 60 years of enmity with Pakistan as disputed. Moreover, it has consistently rejected outside interference, saying that its disputes with Pakistan must be settled bilaterally.

Obama, who raised hackles in India during his presidential election campaign by suggesting the Washington should try to help resolve the Kashmir dispute, is hoping to use the trip to help U.S. business tap into India’s growing economy. With a flagging economy at home, he cannot afford to offend his hosts.

But at the same time, the biggest foreign policy challenge of his administration is over how to deal with Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The war in Afghanistan cannot be ended without Pakistan’s help. And Pakistan itself faces serious instability — potentially a much bigger worry than Afghanistan with its 180 million people and nuclear bombs. Pakistan’s identity in turn is intimately bound up with India – its past support for Islamist militants was driven by its belief that this was the only way to neutralise the influence of its much bigger neighbour both in Kashmir and in Afghanistan.  Depending on who you listen to, it either will not, or can not, tackle Islamist militants based in Pakistan without a peace settlement with India, including on Kashmir.

View full post on Global News Journal

After an extensive tuning job at the hands of the German tuner TECHART, the Porsche Panamera is now out as a version they are calling the GrandGT. Reports say that the newly tuned version will be seen in Switzerland next month at the Zurich Auto Show.

Outfitted with a power upgrading kit – the TA 070/T1 – which gives it 580 PS (426 kW / 572 bhp) on the 4.8 liter twin-turbo engine, up from the series’ 500 PS (368 kW / 493 bhp). It now has an increased torque -830 Nm (612 lb-ft) from the standard 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) and gets to 0 to 100 km/h in a mere 3.8 seconds

TECHART has given the vehicle a fibre-reinforced material body kit – a mix of carbon, glass-fibre-reinforced plastic and polyurethane RIM components.

The front bumper has LED daytime running lights are embedded into it and also features an integrated splitter ventilation intake.

Also in place are the TECHART sport exhaust system and a choice of light-alloy wheels from 20 to 22-inches.

Typical of TECHART is the fact that their version definitely stands out in a crowd – and in this vehicle it is the Aero carbon fibre bonnet with integrated air outlets which adds to its distinct look.

The side skirts and fender flares also add to its style, and also widen the car by 21 mm at the front wheel arches and 42 mm at the rear axle.

View full post on Car Blog | Breaking Motoring News Daily

New rumors are circulating that the next iPad will have front- and back-facing cameras, and FaceTime. We looked at what you might expect from the iPad 2 back in August, but in the intervening months, much has come to light that paints a different picture.

With more competitors entering the fray, Apple will have to really impress to maintain its commanding lead when it does introduce a new model. The next iPad will deliver more of what users want, and it’ll pick up a few tricks from its nearest Mac relative, the MacBook Air.

All-in on FaceTime

Apple will bring front and back cameras to the iPad. Even if the reports about OmniVision’s contract for image sensors for both a 5-megapixel rear and VGA front-facing camera hadn’t surfaced, I’d be sure of this. The cameras are a definite upgrade incentive for first-gen iPad owners, but they also expand the reach of FaceTime and bolster Apple’s mobile video standing.

Many will object that the rear-facing camera isn’t as much of a certainty, especially if Apple just wants people to use video calling, but I think we’ll see it. It’ll draw in users who don’t already have an iPhone or iPod touch for mobile video, and besides, the ability to switch between views is something Apple really pushed in its FaceTime-based iPhone marketing campaigns. It’s a key differentiator, and Apple wants users to have it on all mobile platforms.

More Ports

If there’s one thing Apple hates, it’s slots, knobs and buttons marring the edges of its machines. Still, some are predicting more of those for the next iPad. Goldman Sachs analysts say the iPad 2 will get mini-USB, and Mission:Repair says the iPad will have two dock connectors so it can be docked in either portrait or landscape mode.

The mini-USB thing just isn’t going to happen. Apple has too much invested in the dock connector for now, and I think if they ever do replace it, it’ll be with a micro-dock connector or some other proprietary tech. I do think two 30-pin ports makes sense. From a UX perspective, the lack of a second dock connector is probably the thing I find most frustrating about the iPad. It’s a minor annoyance, but it annoys so frequently that I can see Apple addressing it.

New Case

The case will get an update, though it probably won’t be a dramatic one, like what we saw with the iPhone 4. Instead, look to the example of the iPod touch and the MacBook Air, arguably the iPad’s spiritual “parents,” for what’s coming next for the physical design of the iPad.

We’ll see a slimmer and lighter iPad, made possible by new tech introduced in the MacBook Air, including a low-profile camera unit and better battery tech. The aluminum back will stay, unless Apple’s patent for nitride coatings for stainless steel has already borne fruit, since that would allow better communication from the iPad’s various antennas.

More Power

The A4 powering will remain, but it’ll get a speed bump. We’ll probably see a 1.5GHz version, and we’ll definitely get at least 512MB of RAM to bring the iPad up to par with the iPhone 4. I’m thinking speed and performance will be what Apple focuses on to distance itself from BlackBerry and other competitors, since it has a head start in this arena with its own low-power mobile processor design.

The Best Mobile Screen Available

Another focus, and one that Apple will sell much more heavily to consumers, will be the quality of the display. Apple showed with the iPod touch that it was committed to bringing Retina Display technology to devices beyond the iPhone, and it won’t stop there.

Analysts are predicting a Retina Display in the iPad 2, and I agree. By the time the next version is ready for production, costs on the tech should’ve come down considerably thanks to lessons learned with the iPhone 4 and iPod touch, and I bet even with the size increase, there won’t be a problem with margins. Apple’s introduction of higher res screens in the MacBook Air is a good indication of where its priorities lie.

More Storage

Another inheritance the MacBook Air will pass on to the iPad 2 is greater storage capacity. As Apple boosts mobile storage to further its efforts with Apple TV and AirPlay, and as flash prices continue to drop, 128GB will be an option with the next lineup. More storage will also be important as more and more people opt to take their video files with them on the go.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

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