This is not a vintage Brazil side and they will be under huge pressure to deliver at home
The mother of all parties beckons in Brazil if Luiz Felipe Scolari's Brazil side lift the World Cup at the Maracana in Rio on 13 July. And the home side are runaway favourites to do just that. The Selecao Brasileira won the Confederations Cup test event last summer and that only whetted the public's appetite for more. In 20 games since November 2012, when Scolari returned to the helm, Brazil have only lost twice, against England in his first game in charge and then against Switzerland in August. In Neymar they have one the world game's biggest stars, but it is at the back that Brazil have proved themselves. Since that defeat against Switzerland a defence marshalled by Thiago Silva has conceded just two goals in seven games. This Brazil team might lack some of the samba flair of their predecessors, but they have the look of winners.- Players to watch: Neymar is the obvious candidate, and his performances could have a direct impact on how Brazil fare at their own party. Alongside him will be one of the exotically-named strikers – Jo, Fred, Bernard and Hulk. It will be interesting to see how the Chelsea trio of Ramires, Willian and Oscar fare, and if they can be incorporated into the side. Thiago Silva will be one to watch at the back, as will David Luiz, his new Paris Saint-Germain team mate. The likes of Marcelo and Maxwell will also provide attacking intent from defence.
Why they could win it: Simple: they are Brazil and they are playing at home. There can be no more persuasive argument than that. But those are not the only things in their favour. Scolari guided Brazil to victory in South Korea and Japan in 2002 and knows exactly what is expected of his players. He has "installed a disciplined, reliable spine to the side in a 4-2-3-1 system", according to The Guardian. And, unusually for a Brazil team, their strength is at the back. They even have the backing of Goldman Sachs. The City economists have crunched the data and say that the hosts have a 48.5 per cent chance of winning the tournament. Argentina are second favourites with a 14.5 per cent chance. Perhaps Brazil's status as overwhelming favourites is understandable when you consider just how many Brazilians play at the highest level. The Times notes that more than 100 appeared in the Champions and Europa Leagues this season, while many more are heading home to play in the increasingly powerful domestic league. Scolari really is spoiled for choice. Why they might not: Simple: they are Brazil and they are playing at home, and the pressure on the side will be crippling. The last time the World Cup came to Brazil, in 1950, the hosts were beaten by Uruguay in the final and 64-years later the pain of that defeat still lingers. Even the former manager Carlos Alberto Parreira, now the team's technical director, admits to feeling the strain. "This is something that has haunted us for the past 64 years. Of all the big teams, we're the only one that hasn't won at home," he said. Not only must the players deal with the intense pressure to win, they must also find a way to deal with the unrest that the tournament is causing in their country. There is widespread anger over the cost of the World Cup and some of it has been aimed at the players, with their team bus coming under attack. Will that unsettle them ahead of big games? On the field there are other issues to address. Brazil may be solid at the back, but with the notable exception of Neymar, they lack a certain something in attack. "Funtional" and "unspectacular" is how the Guardian describes the team. "It is not a classic Brazilian side but they will grind out wins." They are the "least flawed" of the candidates, which suggests that if their rivals hit their straps then Brazil could be in trouble. Getting the ball from defence to attack has also been a problem for Brazil, says Bleacher Report, which also wonders what kind of form Neymar will be in after a disappointing season for Barcelona. Statistics suggest that they are susceptible to long range shots and long balls over the top. So expect opponents to test them with some route one football. How far can they go? If they don't at least make the final it will be a cause for national mourning. And if they win their group then they are likely to face European teams in the quarter and semi finals. Their destiny is in their own hands. What the bookies think: Unsurprisingly the bookies are backing Brazil to lift the cup in Rio next month and have installed them as 3/1 favourites. Their odds on making the last four are a prohibitive 5/6. · For further concise, balanced comment and analysis on the week's news, try The Week magazine. Source: The Week UK
Emerging powerhouses China and India will lead the way in churning out university graduates by the end of the decade, the OECD has said. Forty percent of the over 200 million university graduates aged 25 to 34 in 2020 will come from the two countries, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). "By contrast, the United States and the European Union countries are expected to account for just over a quarter of young people with tertiary degrees in OECD and G20 countries," the OECD said in a new education report. China alone will account for 29 per cent of graduates in 2020, after quintupling its numbers in the last decade, while India will account for 12 and the United State for 11 per cent. The latest report from the Education in Focus series highlights the strides emerging economies like China and India and other non-OECD nations have made in higher education since 2000. By gradually shifting the focus from mass production jobs to knowledge-based work, the top developing nations have nearly caught up to developed nations in terms of college graduates. "If this trend continues, the number of 25- to 34-year-olds from Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, Saudia Arabia and South Africa with a higher education degree will be almost 40 per cent higher than the number from all OECD countries by the year 2020," OECD press officer Spencer Wilson said. The United States, for example, has seen its share fall, from 17 per cent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2010, and to the expected 11 per cent in 2020. OECD also found that between 1998 and 2008, employment in science and technology grew at a higher rate in both developed and developing nations than total employment.
a 78% share of total consumption, as against 21% for bioethanol. Biogas fuel consumption (0.5%) is still a purely Swedish phenomenon and vegetable oil consumption has reverted to marginal status (0.5%) since Germany started taxing this product Sales of E10, a fuel made up of 90% unleaded petrol and 10% bioethanol by volume in some countries are behind the faster growth in bioethanol consumption (6.2% up on 2010) compared to biodiesel (2.4%). The European Commission would like E10 to be the main petrol fuel used in all the Member States by 2013. In 2011 the situation is just as tense as it was for European biodiesel last year. The European Biodiesel Board’s (EBB) first estimates are that European Union production receded for the first time, dropping 8% from 9 570 000 tonnes in 2010 to 8 800 000 tonnes in 2011. The EBB says it will publish firmer figures in October. This means that European industry did not gain from the slight increase in biodiesel consumption. For the first time European plant capacity utilisation, put at 22 117 000 tonnes in 2011, should drop below the 40% mark, which has put a number of European operators in dire straits. The Spaniards in particular have been forced to close their plants and lay off workers. Where does this leave the 2020 targets? As it stands, biofuel consumption in transports (13.6 Mtoe in 2011) is lower than anticipated in the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (14 Mtoe in 2010), amounting to a level a little over one year behind schedule. The data published in these NREAP plans was compiled then updated by ECN in November 2011 in its report “Renewable Energy Projections as Published in the National Renewable Energy Action Plans of the European Member States”. This publication forecast 14 038 ktoe of biofuel consumption in transports in 2010 (2 871 ktoe of bioethanol, 10 956 ktoe of biodiesel, 211 ktoe of other biofuels), 19 778 ktoe in 2015 (4 968 ktoe of bioethanol, 14 542 ktoe of biodiesel, 268 ktoe of other biofuels) and 29 745 ktoe in 2020 (7 307 ktoe of bioethanol, 21 649 ktoe of biodiesel, 789 ktoe of other biofuels) (graph 3). “Given the Directive deadline, which was still nine years away in 2011, this delay gives no cause for concern. The 2020 target,” find the authors of the Biofuels Barometer. “As a matter of course and based on the more intense use of second-generation biofuels, consumption growth should be more buoyant in the second half of the decade. This conservative view partly reflects the forthcoming developments of sustainability criteria, primarily involving factoring in the Iluc effect. A number of countries such as Germany have also deliberately cut back the development of 1st-generation biofuels to leave considerable room for 2nd-generation biofuels to expand. However, in the light of the efforts required to develop them industrially, this growth cannot start until the second half of the decade.” The authors go on to say that prospects for first-generation development in Europe are limited by the dearth of dedicated farming land and the trends in global demand. For instance, Brazil, which only a short while ago was the leading bioethanol exporter has now become its leading importer. The drop in domestic production, as a result of a bad harvest, has even prompted the Brazilian government to reduce the incorporation rate in petrol from 25 to 20%. American bioethanol exports, which are currently frustrating European industry sales, could also end up lessening. Continued high prices paid for petrol in the US have increased pressure to increase the bioethanol incorporation rate there, which is already almost up to 10%. In January 2011, EPA, which is responsible for regulating biofuel incorporation, authorised petrol blends with 15% ethanol for vehicles made after 2001, which means that about two-thirds of the vehicles on the road in the United States can use E15. The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act provides for increased consumption of 9–36 billion US gallons of ethanol by 2022 (34–136 billion litres), which means that American consumption will steadily grow. Accordingly, the development of second-generation biofuels could start much sooner than expected – as early as the middle of the decade. The use of ligno-cellulosic biomass and algae will lead to clearer environmental benefits and relieve the pressure on farming land. 
After the release of 
The head of the World Bank yesterday warned that financial markets face a rerun of the Great Panic of 2008.
