Never has a defeated candidate looked so happy or known himself to be so important. The centrist politician François Bayrou refused yesterday to give his support to either of the remaining contenders for the French presidency and announced that he was creating a new party to break the "undemocratic" left-right mould of French politics.

However, Mr Bayrou - in a press conference in which he savoured and weighed every word - accepted an offer from the Socialist candidate, Ségolène Royal, to meet him for a public debate before the second round of the election a week on Sunday. Mme Royal later invited him to join her at a "forum" with the regional press on Friday.

M. Bayrou, who came third in Sunday's first round with 18.5 per cent of the vote, is in a pivotal position to influence the outcome of the second round on 6 May.

He refused to wield that influence directly yesterday but came close to hinting a personal preference for Mme Royal or, at least, a greater personal distaste for the centre-right candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy.

He criticised both the remaining candidates. He rejected as "impossible in the present situation" Mme Royal's suggestion that he might enter a "rainbow" government of left and centre if she became President.

Even though the European Union has a common counter-terrorism strategy, its implementation is left to individual member states. That is why anti-terror legislations differ from country to country.

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon in Europe. In the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland alone, it has claimed 5,000 deaths over the last 30 years.

The Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, however, have had a rippling effect across the Atlantic as well. Faced with the challenges posed by the war against international terrorism, which were only heightened by the attacks in London and Madrid, European countries were forced to adapt and expand their anti-terror legislations.

"Legislative and institutional requirements have definitely become stricter in all 27 member states of the European Union," said Annegret Bendiek of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and author of a study on fighting terrorism in the EU.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Updated 17.00 CET European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is in the process of organising a mini-summit brainstorming on a new-look EU constitution with the aim of giving "momentum" to the ongoing talks on the future treaty.

The informal meeting is to take place next month, soon after the second round of the French elections with 12-13 May being slated as the date.

Exactly who will be coming remains unclear, with only a select number of EU leaders expected to be invited.

Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reports that Dutch leader Jan Peter Balkenende has already been invited and that German chancellor Angela Merkel and Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates are also set to attend.

Sources have told EUobserver the upcoming EU presidencies until 2009 - the end of Mr Barroso's current mandate - have been invited.

German authorities have admitted they were aware of testimony that called a 1981 verdict in a left-wing terrorist murder case into question, but they never acted on it. Now, the investigation into the murder of Chief Prosecutor Siegfried Buback is being re-opened.

Verena Becker told German authorities her version of the Buback murder in 1982. But they never acted on it. Three decades ago, as Germany was overwhelmed by a series of bloody terrorist attacks committed by the home-grown Red Army Faction (RAF), the country was paralyzed by what came to be known as the German Autumn. Now, with new details regarding the dramatic 1977 murder of chief federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback emerging on an almost daily basis, the country may be experiencing a German Spring.

Indeed, on Wednesday it became increasingly clear that the German government had long had information that contradicted the version of the Buback murder used to convict RAF members Christian Klar and Knut Folkerts in 1981. A third attacker, Günter Sonnenberg, was not tried due to major injuries he received during his arrest. Now, though, evidence seems to be mounting that a fourth RAF member, Stefan Wisniewski, may have been involved in the attack. Indeed, he may have been the one to fire the deadly bullets.

Britons pursuing their dream of a house in the sun were warned yesterday that an outburst of panic in the Spanish construction sector would see the value of the overpriced properties they have bought in recent years plunge.

"This is not good news for UK investors in Spain," said Diana Choyleva, chief economist at Lombard Street Research. "We have had over-investment on a gigantic scale."

A wave of panic spread through the Spanish bourse over the past week as property developers saw up to 65% of their share price wiped out in frantic trading. The loss of confidence came amid growing signs that the market was already suffering from overbuilding and rising interest rates on euro mortgages. "We will definitely see house price growth stop and a fall in nominal prices is likely in Spain over the next 12 to 18 months," Ms Choyleva said.

Article continues Widespread corruption in the Spanish building sector together with property laws in some regions, such as Valencia, which have been denounced as abusive to buyers and owners, had set the scene for this week's dramatic downturn.

At the centre of the drama are the coming men of Spain's business world: builders and property developers who have ridden an unprecedented construction boom that shot them into the club of the world's richest people.

The European Parliament today called for the resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, adding to pressure on the head of the lending organisation.

Wolfowitz, a former member of Bush's administration, already faces calls to step down following revelations he approved a high-paying promotion for his bank-employee girlfriend before she was assigned to work at the US State Department.

By 332 votes against 251, the European Union's legislature added a paragraph to a resolution on next week's EU-US summit, calling on Germany, current president of the 27-nation bloc, and the United States to ask Wolfowitz to stand down.

FRANKFURT: Most years, the United States handily beats Europe for bragging rights in deal making, based on the total value of mergers and acquisitions.

But this year, Europe is pulling ahead. The current takeover battle in banking, the biggest in the industry's history, is just the latest sign of the growing deal frenzy on the Continent.

That frenzy is prompting changes in corporate behavior. European companies are scrambling to put themselves in play, or fend off unwanted approaches, much like American companies did in the 1980s.

Europe's deal mania reflects a number of trends: more active shareholders, particularly hedge funds; an influx of private equity money; low interest rates; and a wealth of European companies with valuable assets that are ripe for the picking, in some cases because they have been poorly managed.

Iran and the European Union held "constructive" talks on Wednesday night over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme, but each side gave a cautious assessment of the progress made.

The talks, held in Ankara at the invitation of the Turkish government, were the most serious attempt for seven months to tackle the international deadlock over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

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Iran insists that its programme is for purely peaceful purposes, but the EU and the US suspect it of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says it has a right to enrich uranium, a process that can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons grade material. The United Nations Security Council insists that Iran suspend such activities.

Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, held afternoon talks that continued over dinner with Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. The talks are expected to resume on Thursday.

Poland was accused of conducting a "witch hunt" yesterday after a renowned former dissident faced the prospect of losing his seat as an MEP for failing to submit to a vetting law aimed at exposing Communist-era informants.

Bronislaw Geremek, a former foreign minister and an activist with the Solidarity trade union that helped end Communist rule, refused to sign a declaration that he was not a collaborator.

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The new law mandates that all elected officials, as well as professors, journalists, lawyers, judges and other people holding jobs of public trust have to sign similar pledges or else risk losing their jobs. Politicians had until April 19 to file their statements, and Mr Geremek was the only one of Poland's 54 MEPs not to conform.

Poland's electoral authority said he would lose his mandate. The final decision rests with Poland's parliamentary speaker, who is to rule after May 7.

Mr Geremek has completed vetting forms in the past but yesterday said that to be told to sign another was "contradictory to the rule of law and disregards the will of 121,805 voters".

The government is to investigate evidence gathered by the BBC that migrant workers are being trafficked into Britain and exploited.
(...)
Undercover Lithuanian journalist Audrius Lelkaitis, working as part of the BBC News investigation, posed as a migrant worker seeking a job in the UK.
He discovered a new underclass subjected to deception, systematic underpayment and appalling living conditions.
(...)
Mr Lelkaitis paid hundreds of pounds to agencies in Lithuania and London in return for the promise of a job in Hull which did not exist.
After being offered work with licensed gangmasters Focus Staff Limited in Hull he was paid below the minimum wage two weeks in arrears.

After three weeks, he received £97 for 20 hours' work in his first week, although £50 was deducted for accommodation costs.
He also had money deducted for accommodation without it being shown on his payslip, which is illegal, and was forced to live in overcrowded accommodation.

Paul Whitehouse, who chairs the Gangmasters' Licensing Authority, told BBC 2's Newsnight: "It's two hundred years since slavery was abolished. We mustn't allow it to continue now."

And form a TUC press release;

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "The TUC is shocked by this exploitation of migrant workers which is tantamount to modern slavery, and has formally asked the Government to investigate Focus Staff Limited, the gangmasters involved.

"This case underlines TUC concerns about the deregulation of agency workers, which allows rogue employers to flourish. Too many unscrupulous bosses are getting rich by exploiting migrant workers and the full force of the law should be used against those profiting from such appalling ill treatment.

"Everyone should be treated fairly and with dignity and respect, wherever they come from. Unions will be stepping up their efforts to recruit migrant workers to protect them from employers who seek to deny them a fair day's work for a fair day's pay."

MOSCOW, April 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Thursday that Russia should suspend the implementation of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe until other parties to the treaty ratify the document.

"I propose discussing this issue in the Russia-NATO Council, and if progress is not reached in negotiations, consider the possibility of terminating our obligations under the CFE Treaty," the Russian leader said.