The European Commission is launching two new anti-competition investigations against US computer giant Microsoft. The first will look at whether Microsoft unfairly ties its Explorer internet browser to its Windows operating system. In a parallel investigation, the Commission will look at the interoperability of Microsoft software with rival products. Microsoft agreed to comply with Brussels' previous ruling in October. "This initiation of proceedings does not imply that the Commission has proof of an infringement," said the Commission in a statement. "It only signifies that the Commission will further investigate the case as a matter of priority."
The first will look at whether Microsoft unfairly ties its Explorer internet browser to its Windows operating system.
In a parallel investigation, the Commission will look at the interoperability of Microsoft software with rival products.
Microsoft agreed to comply with Brussels' previous ruling in October.
"This initiation of proceedings does not imply that the Commission has proof of an infringement," said the Commission in a statement.
"It only signifies that the Commission will further investigate the case as a matter of priority."
Millions of Ukrainians have queued at banks across the country to claim compensation for bank savings lost in the collapse of communism. Claimants braved freezing temperatures - with at least two pensioners dying in the process. Each applicant is able to withdraw a maximum of 1,000 hryvnas ($198; £101). They are being encouraged to put the money - the equivalent of a month's wages for the average Ukrainian - into a savings account. Economists have warned that a sudden cash injection into the economy could worsen inflation in Ukraine, currently running at 16%.
Claimants braved freezing temperatures - with at least two pensioners dying in the process.
Each applicant is able to withdraw a maximum of 1,000 hryvnas ($198; £101).
They are being encouraged to put the money - the equivalent of a month's wages for the average Ukrainian - into a savings account.
Economists have warned that a sudden cash injection into the economy could worsen inflation in Ukraine, currently running at 16%.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The small Alpine Republic of Slovenia took over the onerous task of running the EU for six months on 1 January - but since then has had to contend with a lime-light stealing France and an agenda that must not upset the EU's treaty ratification process. As the first of the member states to join the EU in 2004 to assume the six-month rotating presidency and having already been the first of these countries to adopt the euro, Ljubljana was proud of its fast-track European credentials. But although it has some major issues to deal with, including settling the final status of the breakaway province of Kosovo, the thorniest foreign policy issue to face the bloc in years, it risks been upstaged by France and high-octane president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Diplomats say it is telling that on the days that EU journalists travelled to Slovenia for the traditional get-to-know-the-new-EU-presidency trip, two major announcements emerged from France overshadowing the news coming from Ljubljana.
PARIS -- What have white horses got to do with the future of Europe?In 2008, plenty. For the first six months of this year, Slovenia -- whose town of Lipica is stud-farm home of those dancing Lipizzaner steeds of Vienna's Spanish Riding School -- holds the rotating European presidency. In the second half, the presidency falls to France, home of cowboy-favoured Camargue stallions that gallop wildly through waves on Mediterranean beaches.Two white horses, two styles. And each horse portrays perfectly its homeland's diplomatic approach. Tiny Slovenia, with barely two million people and a delightful, unspellable capital (Ljubljana), has launched its presidency with elegant restraint. It hopes to go with the flow of events -- the scariest being, for this fellow-remnant of disintegrated Yugoslavia, Kosovo. Likely within the current half-year, the 90-per-cent Albanian majority of this Serbian province will declare its independence. This will enrage Serbs and raise tensions between Russia and the West.
PARIS -- What have white horses got to do with the future of Europe?
In 2008, plenty. For the first six months of this year, Slovenia -- whose town of Lipica is stud-farm home of those dancing Lipizzaner steeds of Vienna's Spanish Riding School -- holds the rotating European presidency. In the second half, the presidency falls to France, home of cowboy-favoured Camargue stallions that gallop wildly through waves on Mediterranean beaches.
Two white horses, two styles. And each horse portrays perfectly its homeland's diplomatic approach. Tiny Slovenia, with barely two million people and a delightful, unspellable capital (Ljubljana), has launched its presidency with elegant restraint. It hopes to go with the flow of events -- the scariest being, for this fellow-remnant of disintegrated Yugoslavia, Kosovo.
Likely within the current half-year, the 90-per-cent Albanian majority of this Serbian province will declare its independence. This will enrage Serbs and raise tensions between Russia and the West.
The j is often used in combination with another vowel to make a dipthong. For instance, ja ~ Я
Now, these "hard vowels" or dipthings will palatalize a preciding "soft consonant".
So I presume Ljubljana (you have one i too many, BTW) would be transcribed as Любляна and the L's are pronounced palatalised as lj (the same sound as Spanish ll, Italian gli, or or French ill). We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
And Я isn't a diphtong ; in isolation it represent yod+a ; after a consonant it represents a soft consonant (except after ь or ъ). From my russian phonetics courses the 'hard vowels' actually indicate a phonetically different consonant, and it is a bit wrong to think that the vowel modifies the consonant ; consonants are inherently 'soft', or 'hard', and modify the way the vowel is pronounced and written. Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
The cyrillic transcription is correct, though.
Certain consonants such as l are ambiguous in that they take both hard and soft vowels and their pronunciation changes accordingly.
The phoneme to grapheme mapping is far from perfect in this case. We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
Ya (Я, я) is a letter in the Cyrillic alphabet, representing either the combination ja (a so-called iotated vowel) or a after a palatalized consonant.
This must be a huge headache for Western students of Slavic languages who don't know anything about phonology. We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
One diplomat summed up the attitude of France towards Slovenia as being "You can do your dance but it will be up to us to make the real decisions," suggesting that on two topics in particular - the liberalisation of the EU's energy giants and picking the names for the top EU posts that are coming up next year - are being tacitly left to Paris. <...> "For us, he [Mr. Sarkozy] is a kind of a showman," said a diplomat from a small member state. "We are waiting to see what he will produce of substance."
<...>
"For us, he [Mr. Sarkozy] is a kind of a showman," said a diplomat from a small member state. "We are waiting to see what he will produce of substance."
Y'know that suggestion a couple of days ago that Sarko might have some sort of manic condition begins to make increasing sense. keep to the Fen Causeway
The European Commission is re-thinking draft rules on reaching the EU's target to boost biofuels amid strong criticism by green campaign groups and development NGOs that the goal could lead to environmental damage and social dislocation. The commission is due on 23 January to publish legislation on the production of biofuels, aimed at promoting the use of these alternatives to oil. In March last year, EU leaders agreed that 10 percent of transport fuels should come from biofuels by 2020, a goal the commission is now turning into concrete legislation. But even before making the legislation public, several expert reports have highlighted the possible negative consequences of the target. Last Friday, a group of 17 NGOs - including Oxfam and Friends of the Earth - sent a letter to EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs, asking him to introduce much tougher standards for biofuel production or give up mandatory transport biofuel targets altogether.
The EU has admitted that it failed to foresee problems raised by its policy to encourage motorists in Europe to drive vehicles which run on fuels derived from plants as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions. The European Union's environment chief said the bloc would rethink new draft rules on boosting the production of biofuels amid growing criticism by green campaign groups that the move could lead to rainforest destruction and social dislocation. "We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully," Stavros Dimas told the BBC on Monday, Jan. 14. It would be better to miss the target than achieve it by harming the poor or damaging the environment, Dimas said.
The European Union's environment chief said the bloc would rethink new draft rules on boosting the production of biofuels amid growing criticism by green campaign groups that the move could lead to rainforest destruction and social dislocation.
"We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully," Stavros Dimas told the BBC on Monday, Jan. 14.
It would be better to miss the target than achieve it by harming the poor or damaging the environment, Dimas said.
"We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully,"
I know it sounds quite cynical, but a statement like this would suggest that we should be prepared for an announcement by the British that they were expanding biofuels aggressively.
doing the wrong thing at the worst possible moment is what we're good at. keep to the Fen Causeway
PARIS: In a sign of shifting attitudes toward biofuels, European Union officials are proposing to ban imports of certain fuel crops whose production could do more harm than good in fighting climate change, according to a draft law seen Monday. The proposals, to be unveiled next week, are aimed at enhancing the environmental credentials of biofuels like biodiesel or ethanol to counter concerns that European drivers are playing a role in destroying wetlands, forests and grasslands in areas like Southeast Asia or Latin America each time they fill up their tanks. In its draft, the EU requires that biofuels from crops grown on some kinds of land covered in forest, wetlands and grasslands as of January 2008 should be banned for use in the 27-nation bloc. The commission also would require that biofuels used in Europe should deliver "a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings." The text, which could change before European commissioners meet Jan. 23 to adopt a final version, also emphasizes that areas like rainforests and lands with high levels of biodiversity should not be converted to growing biofuels. At the same time, the EU does not want to abandon biofuels because of the contribution they could still make to increasing Europe's energy independence.
PARIS: In a sign of shifting attitudes toward biofuels, European Union officials are proposing to ban imports of certain fuel crops whose production could do more harm than good in fighting climate change, according to a draft law seen Monday.
The proposals, to be unveiled next week, are aimed at enhancing the environmental credentials of biofuels like biodiesel or ethanol to counter concerns that European drivers are playing a role in destroying wetlands, forests and grasslands in areas like Southeast Asia or Latin America each time they fill up their tanks.
In its draft, the EU requires that biofuels from crops grown on some kinds of land covered in forest, wetlands and grasslands as of January 2008 should be banned for use in the 27-nation bloc. The commission also would require that biofuels used in Europe should deliver "a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings."
The text, which could change before European commissioners meet Jan. 23 to adopt a final version, also emphasizes that areas like rainforests and lands with high levels of biodiversity should not be converted to growing biofuels.
At the same time, the EU does not want to abandon biofuels because of the contribution they could still make to increasing Europe's energy independence.
the EU does not want to abandon biofuels because of the contribution they could still make to increasing Europe's energy independence.
But this isn't going to happen, as we said in our contribution to the Biofuels Consultation eighteen months ago. What they mean by saying it now is that the agro-industry/farm lobby won't be denied its slice of cake (ie subsidies for industry, high prices for farmers).
A candidate campaigning for the Graz city council in Austria says it is time that Islam was "thrown back ... behind the Mediterranean," and alleges Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits." Susanne Winter, campaigning for the Graz city council, called the Prophet Muhammad a child molester. Election campaigns, it would seem, are uncomfortable times for immigrants to be in Europe. First, it was Ronald Koch, the conservative politician in the German state of Hesse who turned up the rhetoric and began railing against "criminal young foreigners" in his country. Now, an Austrian politician has followed suit. Susanne Winter, a right-wing politician with the FPÖ party running for a city council seat in the city of Graz, blasted Muslims on Sunday, saying that "in today's system" the Prophet Muhammad would be considered a "child molester," apparently referring to his marriage to a six-year-old child. She also said that it is time for Islam to be "thrown back where it came from, behind the Mediterranean." Not yet finished, she also claimed that Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits." In an interview with the daily Österreich published on Monday, Winter continued the onslaught saying that child abuse is "widespread" among Muslim men and that Graz is facing a "tsunami of Muslim immigration." In 20 or 30 years, she warned, half of Austria's population would be Muslim.
A candidate campaigning for the Graz city council in Austria says it is time that Islam was "thrown back ... behind the Mediterranean," and alleges Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits."
Susanne Winter, campaigning for the Graz city council, called the Prophet Muhammad a child molester. Election campaigns, it would seem, are uncomfortable times for immigrants to be in Europe. First, it was Ronald Koch, the conservative politician in the German state of Hesse who turned up the rhetoric and began railing against "criminal young foreigners" in his country. Now, an Austrian politician has followed suit.
Susanne Winter, a right-wing politician with the FPÖ party running for a city council seat in the city of Graz, blasted Muslims on Sunday, saying that "in today's system" the Prophet Muhammad would be considered a "child molester," apparently referring to his marriage to a six-year-old child. She also said that it is time for Islam to be "thrown back where it came from, behind the Mediterranean." Not yet finished, she also claimed that Muhammad wrote the Koran in "epileptic fits."
In an interview with the daily Österreich published on Monday, Winter continued the onslaught saying that child abuse is "widespread" among Muslim men and that Graz is facing a "tsunami of Muslim immigration." In 20 or 30 years, she warned, half of Austria's population would be Muslim.
But Arnold has, unwittingly, already taken precautions. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
But quite why it is necessary to bring this up in such an offensive manner, particularly coupled with the slur that he wrote the Qu'ran during epileptic fits (huh ??), is entirely beyond me. It's one of those things that you are entitled to think and even to question, but to raise it in this manner is going to be ultimately counter-productive. keep to the Fen Causeway
It seems that the allegation that he began a sexual relationship with Aisha when she was 9 years old is correct.
i just googled this, and i am stunned. i had thought he had married Aisha as a formality because she was an orphan or something. but the consensus does seem that she was indeed nine when the marriage was consummated.
even more disturbing to me is this practice of mufa'khathat --
"literally translated means "placing between the thighs" which means placing the male member between the thighs of a child)"
-- which was apparently explicitly condoned by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in his Tahrir-ol-vasyleh:
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, The Supreme Leader of Iran, the Shia Grand Ayatollah, 1979-89 said in his official statements: "A man can quench his sexual lusts with a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate. Sodomizing the baby is halal (allowed by sharia). If the man penetrates and damages the child, then he should be responsible for her subsistence all her life. This girl, however, does not count as one of his four permanent wives. The man will not be eligible to marry the girl's sister. It is better for a girl to marry when her menstruation starts, and at her husband's house rather than her father's home. Any father marrying his daughter so young will have a permanent place in heaven." Khomeini, "Tahrirolvasyleh" fourth volume, Darol Elm, Gom, Iran, 1990 (Yahoo! Answers: Muslims, what is mufa'khathat? I heard it translated to "thighing"? I wanted to be sure?)
"A man can quench his sexual lusts with a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate. Sodomizing the baby is halal (allowed by sharia). If the man penetrates and damages the child, then he should be responsible for her subsistence all her life. This girl, however, does not count as one of his four permanent wives. The man will not be eligible to marry the girl's sister. It is better for a girl to marry when her menstruation starts, and at her husband's house rather than her father's home. Any father marrying his daughter so young will have a permanent place in heaven."
Khomeini, "Tahrirolvasyleh" fourth volume, Darol Elm, Gom, Iran, 1990
(Yahoo! Answers: Muslims, what is mufa'khathat? I heard it translated to "thighing"? I wanted to be sure?)
This seems too outrageous to be true. And coming from Yahoo! Answers, I am withholding judgement. Can anyone shed some light here? Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
How long is it since you'd have been laughed off the face of the planet for suggesting it was criminal for an older man to have sex with a sixteen year old? Or a fourteen year old for that matter?
you are the media you consume.
What verifiable historical sources are there on Muhammad (or for that matter any figure from that far back in history?).
I'm afraid that, in the absence of an Islamic scholar on the site to give us a different view, everything points to the fact that he did. keep to the Fen Causeway
Serbian Foreign Minster Vuk Jeremic spoke with SPIEGEL about how his country is going to deal with any declaration of independence by Kosovo, and explained that the upcoming presidential elections are really a referendum on how much Serbia wants to be a part of the EU. Protesting Serbs in Kosovo have vowed not to accept any declaration of independence. SPIEGEL: Mr. Minister, there is new government in Kosovo that is expected to declare the province's independence from Serbia. What will you do then? Vuk Jeremic: It would be a bad decision. It would be a violation of United Nations resolution 1244 and also an infringement of Serbia's sovereignty. We would use all means at our disposal to oppose this, short of the use of military force, because no good can come of that. Over the past 16 years the people of the Balkans have often enough borne the brunt of physical violence. We will do what a country can do to defend its territorial integrity.
Serbian Foreign Minster Vuk Jeremic spoke with SPIEGEL about how his country is going to deal with any declaration of independence by Kosovo, and explained that the upcoming presidential elections are really a referendum on how much Serbia wants to be a part of the EU.
Protesting Serbs in Kosovo have vowed not to accept any declaration of independence.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Minister, there is new government in Kosovo that is expected to declare the province's independence from Serbia. What will you do then?
Vuk Jeremic: It would be a bad decision. It would be a violation of United Nations resolution 1244 and also an infringement of Serbia's sovereignty. We would use all means at our disposal to oppose this, short of the use of military force, because no good can come of that. Over the past 16 years the people of the Balkans have often enough borne the brunt of physical violence. We will do what a country can do to defend its territorial integrity.
After 10 months of bitter bargaining and crippling strikes, Germany's train drivers have clinched 11 percent more pay and the right to their own, separate labor contract. That, say media commentators, spells trouble for Germany's system of collective wage bargaining. Job done: Engine-driver union GDL leader Manfred Schell has secured 11 percent more pay and key concessions from railway operator Deutsche Bahn. Germany's train drivers finally appear to have reached an agreement on pay and conditions with railway operator Deutsche Bahn after a 10-month dispute that brought chaos to the network. The GDL train drivers' union and Deutsche Bahn said on Sunday they were close to reaching a deal and that only details had yet to be ironed out. German media commentators say the small GDL union has emerged the winner, having clinched an 11 percent wage hike, an €800 ($1,182) one-off payment and crucially, the right to negotiate separately from the country's two other, bigger railway unions. Deutsche Bahn managed to resist GDL's initial demand of 31 percent more pay but failed in its bid to keep the GDL locked into a sector-wide labor contract. Some commentators say the deal could spell trouble (more...) for Germany's system of industry-wide wage bargaining, a tradition that has been credited with ensuring relatively smooth industrial relations for decades. Both doctors and pilots have led the way in splitting off from larger, collective bargaining agreements. Now that the country's engine drivers have secured their own separate wage contract, other distinct job categories within the industrial sector may decide to follow suit, starting a trend that could lead to frequent labor disputes and crippling strikes.
After 10 months of bitter bargaining and crippling strikes, Germany's train drivers have clinched 11 percent more pay and the right to their own, separate labor contract. That, say media commentators, spells trouble for Germany's system of collective wage bargaining.
Job done: Engine-driver union GDL leader Manfred Schell has secured 11 percent more pay and key concessions from railway operator Deutsche Bahn. Germany's train drivers finally appear to have reached an agreement on pay and conditions with railway operator Deutsche Bahn after a 10-month dispute that brought chaos to the network.
The GDL train drivers' union and Deutsche Bahn said on Sunday they were close to reaching a deal and that only details had yet to be ironed out. German media commentators say the small GDL union has emerged the winner, having clinched an 11 percent wage hike, an €800 ($1,182) one-off payment and crucially, the right to negotiate separately from the country's two other, bigger railway unions. Deutsche Bahn managed to resist GDL's initial demand of 31 percent more pay but failed in its bid to keep the GDL locked into a sector-wide labor contract.
Some commentators say the deal could spell trouble (more...) for Germany's system of industry-wide wage bargaining, a tradition that has been credited with ensuring relatively smooth industrial relations for decades. Both doctors and pilots have led the way in splitting off from larger, collective bargaining agreements. Now that the country's engine drivers have secured their own separate wage contract, other distinct job categories within the industrial sector may decide to follow suit, starting a trend that could lead to frequent labor disputes and crippling strikes.
Train drivers are unlike doctors and pilots in that they really did not get paid all that much (1500 euros net pay on average for a 41 hour work week, with travel time 55 hours).
It's really distasteful to read all the concern in the press at a time when on average the wage rise in Germany is still below productivity gains + inflation.
I forget that this is an international community sometimes!
Since Germany moved into the crosshairs of Islamist terrorists, a number of threats have been made against the country's infrastructure and people. The latest has been investigated and revealed as less than credible. After receiving a threat of a possible attack against the Federal Justice Ministry last week, German security officials have scaled down their terror warning. Interior Ministry spokesperson Stefan Kaller announced during a press conference in Berlin on Monday, Jan. 14, that there was a "lower degree of seriousness" in terms of likely terror attacks on German soil. The German press reported over the weekend that al Qaeda sympathizers were allegedly planning terrorist attacks in Germany following the recent arrest of a number of suspected Islamist terrorists.
After receiving a threat of a possible attack against the Federal Justice Ministry last week, German security officials have scaled down their terror warning. Interior Ministry spokesperson Stefan Kaller announced during a press conference in Berlin on Monday, Jan. 14, that there was a "lower degree of seriousness" in terms of likely terror attacks on German soil.
The German press reported over the weekend that al Qaeda sympathizers were allegedly planning terrorist attacks in Germany following the recent arrest of a number of suspected Islamist terrorists.
LONDON: Surrounded by parrot fish, doctor fish, butter fish, Effa Edusie is engulfed by pieces of her childhood in Ghana. Caught the day before far off the coast of West Africa, they have been airfreighted to London for dinner. Edusie's relatives used to be fishermen. But no more. These fish are no longer caught by Africans. Under the waterlogged brown cardboard box that holds the snapper is the improbable red logo of the Chinese National Fisheries Corp., one of the largest suppliers of West African fish to Europe. Europe's dinner tables are increasingly supplied by global fishing fleets that are depleting the world's oceans to feed the ravenous consumers who have become fish's most effective predators. Fish is now the most traded animal commodity on the planet, with a global turnover of more than 100 million tons each year. Europe has suddenly become the world's largest market for fish, each year worth more than €14 billion. Europe's appetite has grown as its native fish stocks have shrunk, so that 60 percent of fish sold in Europe now needs to be imported, according to the European Union. "So much of fishing is motivated by consumer demand," said Rupert Howes, chief executive of the Marine Stewardship Council, a private global group. "The world wants more seafood at a time when 50 percent of stocks are exploited as hard as we can and 25 percent overexploited. There is a real disconnect."
LONDON: Surrounded by parrot fish, doctor fish, butter fish, Effa Edusie is engulfed by pieces of her childhood in Ghana. Caught the day before far off the coast of West Africa, they have been airfreighted to London for dinner.
Edusie's relatives used to be fishermen. But no more. These fish are no longer caught by Africans.
Under the waterlogged brown cardboard box that holds the snapper is the improbable red logo of the Chinese National Fisheries Corp., one of the largest suppliers of West African fish to Europe. Europe's dinner tables are increasingly supplied by global fishing fleets that are depleting the world's oceans to feed the ravenous consumers who have become fish's most effective predators.
Fish is now the most traded animal commodity on the planet, with a global turnover of more than 100 million tons each year. Europe has suddenly become the world's largest market for fish, each year worth more than €14 billion. Europe's appetite has grown as its native fish stocks have shrunk, so that 60 percent of fish sold in Europe now needs to be imported, according to the European Union.
"So much of fishing is motivated by consumer demand," said Rupert Howes, chief executive of the Marine Stewardship Council, a private global group. "The world wants more seafood at a time when 50 percent of stocks are exploited as hard as we can and 25 percent overexploited. There is a real disconnect."
BERLIN: You don't get much of an argument in Germany's halls of power against the proposition that Nicolas Sarkozy is Europe's most interesting politician. What you get is a kind of leery smile. And, with it, a story about a getting-to-know-you meeting between Angela Merkel and the relatively new French president. Back then, she told Sarkozy: "I learned from Helmut Kohl you have to work things out over time. About staying the course. You're the other way round. We are completely different people. Knowing this, we can work together." Months later, here's a practical measure of how they have not: Merkel and Sarkozy were scheduled to meet in London on Jan. 29 at the invitation of Gordon Brown to discuss the impact of America's subprime crisis on Europe. At Germany's insistence, Romano Prodi of Italy was added last week to the original threesome. Why? Because Prodi's presence assures Germany - Prodi doesn't like Sarkozy's challenges to the independence of the European Central Bank, and Sarkozy doesn't like him - that Merkel won't have to stand alone if the French talk up an outcome she insists hasn't taken place.
BERLIN: You don't get much of an argument in Germany's halls of power against the proposition that Nicolas Sarkozy is Europe's most interesting politician.
What you get is a kind of leery smile.
And, with it, a story about a getting-to-know-you meeting between Angela Merkel and the relatively new French president. Back then, she told Sarkozy: "I learned from Helmut Kohl you have to work things out over time. About staying the course. You're the other way round. We are completely different people. Knowing this, we can work together."
Months later, here's a practical measure of how they have not: Merkel and Sarkozy were scheduled to meet in London on Jan. 29 at the invitation of Gordon Brown to discuss the impact of America's subprime crisis on Europe. At Germany's insistence, Romano Prodi of Italy was added last week to the original threesome.
Why? Because Prodi's presence assures Germany - Prodi doesn't like Sarkozy's challenges to the independence of the European Central Bank, and Sarkozy doesn't like him - that Merkel won't have to stand alone if the French talk up an outcome she insists hasn't taken place.
Merkel won't have to stand alone if the French talk up an outcome she insists hasn't taken place.
why "the French"? It's just Sarkozy. They can't yet come aroud to saying that he is a compulsive limelight grabber and liar... but they're getting closer. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has condemned the actions of Corsican nationalists after seeing the island's fire-damaged parliament building. He said the nationalists' actions were "delinquent" and "indescribable". Several offices were damaged at the parliament in Ajaccio on Saturday, after nationalist demonstrators had broken into the building. The office of regional council chairman Ange Santini was gutted. No-one was hurt and the fire was quickly put out. Prime Minister Fillon, quoted by the French news agency AFP, vowed that those responsible would face justice. On Saturday night shots were fired at the facade of the main justice building in Ajaccio.
He said the nationalists' actions were "delinquent" and "indescribable".
Several offices were damaged at the parliament in Ajaccio on Saturday, after nationalist demonstrators had broken into the building.
The office of regional council chairman Ange Santini was gutted. No-one was hurt and the fire was quickly put out.
Prime Minister Fillon, quoted by the French news agency AFP, vowed that those responsible would face justice.
On Saturday night shots were fired at the facade of the main justice building in Ajaccio.
The diplomatic crisis between the UK and Russia - stemming from the radiation poisoning in London of the former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko - escalated significantly yesterday as the Russian government retaliated after Britain decided to reopen two regional cultural offices in defiance of the Kremlin. The head of the British Council in Russia, James Kennedy, acknowledged that his organisation had become the latest casualty of the Litvinenko affair, telling the BBC: "We regret that the British Council, as a cultural and educational organisation, has become involved in what is essentially a political dispute." The Russian foreign ministry summoned Britain's ambassador to Moscow, Sir Anthony Brenton, to protest against the reopening of the council's St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg offices after the new year break. "The ambassador was told that the Russian side sees such actions as a deliberate provocation aimed at inciting tension in Russian-British relations," the ministry said, adding that it would refuse new visas for British Council staff in the two cities.
The diplomatic crisis between the UK and Russia - stemming from the radiation poisoning in London of the former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko - escalated significantly yesterday as the Russian government retaliated after Britain decided to reopen two regional cultural offices in defiance of the Kremlin.
The head of the British Council in Russia, James Kennedy, acknowledged that his organisation had become the latest casualty of the Litvinenko affair, telling the BBC: "We regret that the British Council, as a cultural and educational organisation, has become involved in what is essentially a political dispute."
The Russian foreign ministry summoned Britain's ambassador to Moscow, Sir Anthony Brenton, to protest against the reopening of the council's St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg offices after the new year break.
"The ambassador was told that the Russian side sees such actions as a deliberate provocation aimed at inciting tension in Russian-British relations," the ministry said, adding that it would refuse new visas for British Council staff in the two cities.
The Seven Lakes of the snow-capped Rila mountains of south-western Bulgaria lie nestled in a valley just below Musala, the highest peak in the country. The ancient name of the mountains refers to an abundance of water; in addition to glacial lakes and hot springs, four major rivers find their source in these snow-capped mountains. Recently, however, the quiet beauty of the region has been broken by the whine of chain saws carving away at the forest below the lakes. A network of dirt roads now provides access for earth-moving vehicles. Just above the first lake, aptly named "The Tear," excavation equipment clears the way for a new chair lift to bring in ski tourists. Beside the lift, one of the national park's backcountry chalets is being transformed into the "Edelweiss Resort," a benchmark construction for the ski area developers. The Rila Mountain ski project reflects a national frenzy to cash in on an anticipated tourist boom in Bulgaria. In the last seven years, tourism revenues in the country have increased 18 per cent and arrivals are projected to grow from 4.8 million visitors in 2005 to 20 million by 2020. Property values in popular destinations have increased by 20 to 30 percent in the past year alone. Here among the highest mountains of the region, the construction of a new ski complex promises jobs and economic growth in one of the poorer countries to join the European Union (EU). On the one hand it sounds as though business is riding to the rescue of an impoverished area in former socialist Eastern Europe. On closer inspection, however, the brave new world of free enterprise in Rila National Park looks more like a corporate scam that is taking advantage of compliant police and politicians, while causing massive environmental destruction.
Something similar is happening in my town of sandanski where there has been a pattern of purchases by significant figures in the criminal fraternity that suggest that a ski resort will be developed up the valley here. And absolutely nobody will stop it because this is such a poor country that even the crumbs from the table of criminal enterprise such as this are worth having. And quite frankly there is no other significant entrepreneurial money available. Everybody is Sandanski can't wait for the ski resort cos all they thin is jobs, cafes, tourists...money. And looking at their lives, I can't blame them. keep to the Fen Causeway
Gordon Brown said yesterday that it would be a mistake to question Britain's EU membership at a time of global economic problems. Recent financial turbulence was "a wake-up call" for every economy, the Prime Minister told an audience of business leaders. He also urged the EU to focus on economic reform and to be open, flexible and outward-looking rather than protectionist. Critics have questioned Brown's commitment to Europe, particularly after he arrived late last month in Portugal for the signing of the Lisbon Treaty, overhauling the EU's structures. Britain was well placed to withstand the global financial turbulence expected this year because of low inflation and interest rates and record high employment, Brown said, adding public finances were "in a sustainable position". Brown said the EU must act immediately to protect against financial turbulence. He plans to host a meeting this month with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to discuss stability measures.
Gordon Brown said yesterday that it would be a mistake to question Britain's EU membership at a time of global economic problems.
Recent financial turbulence was "a wake-up call" for every economy, the Prime Minister told an audience of business leaders.
He also urged the EU to focus on economic reform and to be open, flexible and outward-looking rather than protectionist.
Critics have questioned Brown's commitment to Europe, particularly after he arrived late last month in Portugal for the signing of the Lisbon Treaty, overhauling the EU's structures.
Britain was well placed to withstand the global financial turbulence expected this year because of low inflation and interest rates and record high employment, Brown said, adding public finances were "in a sustainable position".
Brown said the EU must act immediately to protect against financial turbulence. He plans to host a meeting this month with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to discuss stability measures.
Brown promises to 'keep Britain at heart of Europe'
Well, that was certainly entertaining. :)
To Brown, europe is a business entity, a grand EFTA. It is not a political project and anybody who thinks Brown has any interest in this aspect will be greatly disappointed. keep to the Fen Causeway
But I think Helen is right - as usual. This is really just an assertion of the dominance of the City, and its aimless self-serving witterings about 'reform', within the Eurozone.
To take out the relevant part:
Whenever there's a big shitpile, people try to shove the shit towards others. I've seen this happening live in an environmental NGO I interned in (you'd think work relations are good in an NGO, but no...), and have heard quotes using this literal terminology (in Dutch). I've also seen it happening in a marketing firm I worked in. It's not so much shifting the blame (also important) as making others deal with the problem. Really a basic principle of organisational logic.
Brown is now trying to make Merkel, Sarkozy, Prodi et al deal with his problem. They should realise that this puts them in a good position to extract far-reaching concessions from Brown, if they are to do anything at all.
This concept is worthy of a diary. It needs preserving in our institutional memory. Of course, I say that because it accords with my experience too.
The Spanish government called a General Election, firing the starting gun on a campaign widely expected to be one of the most fiercely contested in the country's 30-year democratic history. With less than two months to go until the March 9 vote, opinion polls show that the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, 47, is facing a tough fight to secure a second term in office. His Socialist Party's lead over the conservative Popular Party in Opposition has shrunk to only three percentage points, according to the latest study by Instituto Opina, released yesterday. Government strategists take heart in poll data showing that the Prime Minister remains personally far more popular than his principal opponent, Mariano Rajoy, 52. The Leader of the Opposition has long received low marks for likeability, despite recent efforts by image-makers to give the bearded and bespectacled politician a makeover. The candidates have agreed to participate in two televised debates, the first in a Spanish national election since 1993.
The Spanish government called a General Election, firing the starting gun on a campaign widely expected to be one of the most fiercely contested in the country's 30-year democratic history.
With less than two months to go until the March 9 vote, opinion polls show that the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, 47, is facing a tough fight to secure a second term in office. His Socialist Party's lead over the conservative Popular Party in Opposition has shrunk to only three percentage points, according to the latest study by Instituto Opina, released yesterday.
Government strategists take heart in poll data showing that the Prime Minister remains personally far more popular than his principal opponent, Mariano Rajoy, 52. The Leader of the Opposition has long received low marks for likeability, despite recent efforts by image-makers to give the bearded and bespectacled politician a makeover.
The candidates have agreed to participate in two televised debates, the first in a Spanish national election since 1993.
MADRID: The government dissolved Parliament on Monday and called general elections for March 9, officially opening what promises to be a close race between the governing Socialists and the opposition Popular Party. The cabinet of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero held a special meeting to name the election date, and Zapatero then met with King Juan Carlos for official approval. Spain's two main parties look set for a fairly tight contest in which both will woo voters at the political center, analysts here say. Polls in recent days give the Socialists a narrow lead over the Popular Party. That spread widens when voters are asked whether Zapatero or Mariano Rajoy, the opposition leader, is the more appealing candidate.
MADRID: The government dissolved Parliament on Monday and called general elections for March 9, officially opening what promises to be a close race between the governing Socialists and the opposition Popular Party.
The cabinet of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero held a special meeting to name the election date, and Zapatero then met with King Juan Carlos for official approval.
Spain's two main parties look set for a fairly tight contest in which both will woo voters at the political center, analysts here say. Polls in recent days give the Socialists a narrow lead over the Popular Party.
That spread widens when voters are asked whether Zapatero or Mariano Rajoy, the opposition leader, is the more appealing candidate.
European states are gearing up for a rearguard action against Brussels' green energy plan, just months after many of them signed up to placing the European Union at the forefront of the fight against climate change.Just days before the European Commission is to unveil its detailed country-by-country targets for cutting emissions, leaders are already privately battling to water down proposals they fear will damage their economies. After the targets were agreed, it was left to Brussels to translate them into detailed policy.The French government is currently in talks with German counterparts about building a common front against the proposals, much as the two joined forces to undermine Brussels' energy package last year.
Just days before the European Commission is to unveil its detailed country-by-country targets for cutting emissions, leaders are already privately battling to water down proposals they fear will damage their economies. After the targets were agreed, it was left to Brussels to translate them into detailed policy.
The French government is currently in talks with German counterparts about building a common front against the proposals, much as the two joined forces to undermine Brussels' energy package last year.
Efforts to boost farm production in Europe have failed in spite of record market prices and a move by Brussels to let farmers use more of their land to grow crops. The European Union last year scrapped a long-standing rule requiring farmers to set aside 10 per cent of their land in an attempt to increase output and cool prices. But data released on Monday showed that French and Germans farmers sowed less than 2 per cent more winter crops in spite of the measures.The weak response makes it likely that prices for wheat, barley, rapeseed and other crops will remain high. The French agriculture statistics office reported a "modest" rise of 1.2 per cent in winter crop sowing, although it warned farmers could still increase their spring crops. France is the largest agriculture producer in Europe. Germany reported a mere 1.9 per cent rise in sowing.
The European Union last year scrapped a long-standing rule requiring farmers to set aside 10 per cent of their land in an attempt to increase output and cool prices. But data released on Monday showed that French and Germans farmers sowed less than 2 per cent more winter crops in spite of the measures.The weak response makes it likely that prices for wheat, barley, rapeseed and other crops will remain high.
The French agriculture statistics office reported a "modest" rise of 1.2 per cent in winter crop sowing, although it warned farmers could still increase their spring crops. France is the largest agriculture producer in Europe. Germany reported a mere 1.9 per cent rise in sowing.
The system of subsidising "set-aside", or fallow, land began over fifteen years ago when the CAP switched to aiding surface, not product prices. Logically enough farmers chose all the tiny fields, the irregularly-shaped bits, etc, to classify as "set-aside" -- and, once set aside, you couldn't chop and change whenever you felt like it. Since then farmers have invested in ever-larger tractors and machinery, and those small fields are even less easily mechanisable than fifteen years ago.
There are also wetlands that have ecological protection in the "set-aside" category.
So only part of "set-aside" land can profitably be brought back into production (how much I don't know). This is where farmers set aside a strip on the edge of a larger field, or a field that it is now easy to join up with another.
Otherwise, given the price of wheat, I should think they'd be scrambling to sow.
Senior British police officials are talking to the FBI about an international database to hunt for major criminals and terrorists.The US-initiated programme, "Server in the Sky", would take cooperation between the police forces way beyond the current faxing of fingerprints across the Atlantic. Allies in the "war against terror" - the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - have formed a working group, the International Information Consortium, to plan their strategy.Biometric measurements, irises or palm prints as well as fingerprints, and other personal information are likely to be exchanged across the network. One section will feature the world's most wanted suspects. The database could hold details of millions of criminals and suspects.The FBI is keen for the police forces of American allies to sign up to improve international security. The Home Office yesterday confirmed it was aware of Server in the Sky, as did the Metropolitan police.
The US-initiated programme, "Server in the Sky", would take cooperation between the police forces way beyond the current faxing of fingerprints across the Atlantic. Allies in the "war against terror" - the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - have formed a working group, the International Information Consortium, to plan their strategy.
Biometric measurements, irises or palm prints as well as fingerprints, and other personal information are likely to be exchanged across the network. One section will feature the world's most wanted suspects. The database could hold details of millions of criminals and suspects.
The FBI is keen for the police forces of American allies to sign up to improve international security. The Home Office yesterday confirmed it was aware of Server in the Sky, as did the Metropolitan police.
Allies in the "war against terror" - the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
Non-English-speaking NATO countries or any others of the ragbag "coalition of the willing" should learn the essential qualification for being a true "Ally" : the English language.
The British Empire remorphs again.
But be fair to the Kiwis! They ain't so bad. Never went along with that Iraq thing.
Britain faces a £1 billion black hole after the 2012 Olympics because of "ludicrous" property price projections backed by ministers, it emerged last night. Today the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will, for the first time, vote against government plans to give the Olympics more money. Their move comes after a report for the London Development Agency (LDA) suggesting that the Government's estimates for the amount it will recoup in land sales after the Games are unrealistic. The shortfall will hit heritage, sports and arts projects already suffering from tight squeezes on their budgets. Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, signed a memorandum of understanding last year stating that at least £1.8 billion would be raised in land sales after the Games. The LDA now fears that this figure, based on a 16 per cent per annum increase in land prices in Stratford, East London, over the next 15 to 20 years, is too optmistic. It told the London Assembly last week that it now plans to raise £800 million, leaving a £1 billion shortfall. About £675 million of this had been due to go to the National Lottery to repay money lent to the Games. This money could now be lost.
Britain faces a £1 billion black hole after the 2012 Olympics because of "ludicrous" property price projections backed by ministers, it emerged last night.
Today the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will, for the first time, vote against government plans to give the Olympics more money. Their move comes after a report for the London Development Agency (LDA) suggesting that the Government's estimates for the amount it will recoup in land sales after the Games are unrealistic. The shortfall will hit heritage, sports and arts projects already suffering from tight squeezes on their budgets.
Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, signed a memorandum of understanding last year stating that at least £1.8 billion would be raised in land sales after the Games. The LDA now fears that this figure, based on a 16 per cent per annum increase in land prices in Stratford, East London, over the next 15 to 20 years, is too optmistic. It told the London Assembly last week that it now plans to raise £800 million, leaving a £1 billion shortfall. About £675 million of this had been due to go to the National Lottery to repay money lent to the Games. This money could now be lost.
If the Olympic village is packaged as the sort of quasi REIT I advocate, then it changes the entire game. ie the government would not sell the land but rather the investment in the land to overseas (it doesn't yet work for UK pension funds) investors interested in a 2 or 3% real (and Islamically sound) return backed by land/property.
Moreover, with a reasonable proportion of "social" tenant what is effectively a government backed cash flow (ie housing benefits). The more affordable the rental, the more certain it is.
With the "Credit Crash" looming it's even worse than they think, because the "Black Hole" they pooh pooh is based upon the lowest scenario of land price growth ie 6% pa.
IMHO land price growth is not going to come close to that over the next 4 years. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
They made a projection based on an increase of 16% in rates over the next 15 to 20 years???
Hello? And those people are kept in position of power rather than in a, to put it kindly, specialised insitution?
Maybe government has become that kind of institution after all. "Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. - Galbraith"
You're in rare form today TBG.
6 months after being chosen, the budget had already trebled. At that rate, it would not have stood a chance (which would not necessarily mean that Paris would have won since London and Madrid had an agreement that whoever went out first would then vote for the other and bring its supporting countries to the fray).
What do you know, trebling wasn't enough. It keeps going up and up. They will not repeat the fiasco of the Track and Field world championship (which had to be held in another country when London failed to organise them) of course, but it's less than impressive. "Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. - Galbraith"
Britain revolves around the cult of the amateur. We do not have professional or experienced people involved at senior levels of projects, we have the "great and the good". People who have been to public school, ie of "good standing", but who are too stupid to make money in the city and too lazy to be directly involved in government. A comic character known as Tim "nice but dim". These are the appointed idiots tasked with running all of the great projects.
None of them can count properly , none of them can read properly. The idea that any of them could even understand an explanation of how a budget works, yet these are the people who make decisions. Dilbert's pointy-haired manager would be a paragon of virtue compared with these parasitical misfits. keep to the Fen Causeway
Carefully sugest that people in positions of authority should have some kind of competence and you will immediately be branded as "elitist", "technocrat", "undemocratic", and 10 seconds later they will be haranguing about Auschwitz. Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
Open the Future (Jamais Cascio): "Techno-Doping" and the New Olympics
Oscar Pistorius, AKA "Blade Runner" -- the South African sprinter who uses carbon fiber prosthetics in place of the lower legs amputated as a child -- has officially lost his bid to run in the 2008 Olympics. He's going to give one last appeal to the International Association of Athletics Federations, but his chances of success are slim. The official reason, according to the BBC: "...his prosthetic limbs give him an advantage over able-bodied opponents..." For now, Pistorius' artificial legs make him fast, but still human-fast (he came in second at a recent meet); although his prosthetics reduce his energy requirements by 25%, he has yet to hit the qualifying speed for the 400m race. It's entirely possible that, even had the IAAF accepted his bid, he wouldn't have made it to this Olympics. But it's also entirely possible that, in 2012, he'd be breaking records right and left. And shortly thereafter, he wouldn't be alone in doing so.
"...his prosthetic limbs give him an advantage over able-bodied opponents..."
For now, Pistorius' artificial legs make him fast, but still human-fast (he came in second at a recent meet); although his prosthetics reduce his energy requirements by 25%, he has yet to hit the qualifying speed for the 400m race. It's entirely possible that, even had the IAAF accepted his bid, he wouldn't have made it to this Olympics.
But it's also entirely possible that, in 2012, he'd be breaking records right and left. And shortly thereafter, he wouldn't be alone in doing so.
German train drivers are to receive an 11 per cent pay increase under an outline agreement with the state-owned railway operator, Deutsche Bahn - a move that could add to trade union pressure this year for large wage rises.The draft deal between the rail operator and the GDL train drivers' trade union, signed on Sunday, was welcome news on Monday for millions of German commuters, who have been hit repeatedly by rail strikes during a 10-month wage dispute.Manfred Schell, GDL chairman, said he was "99 per cent sure" that there would be no further strikes. Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the breakthrough and called for a "quick resolution" of outstanding issues.The deal represents a victory for the GDL, a splinter trade union that last year demanded a separate agreement withDeutsche Bahn, after the two main rail unions agreed a 4.5 per cent wage increase. The union has also achieved another of its core demands, for the right to negotiate a separate agreement on pay and working hours for train drivers.
The draft deal between the rail operator and the GDL train drivers' trade union, signed on Sunday, was welcome news on Monday for millions of German commuters, who have been hit repeatedly by rail strikes during a 10-month wage dispute.
Manfred Schell, GDL chairman, said he was "99 per cent sure" that there would be no further strikes. Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the breakthrough and called for a "quick resolution" of outstanding issues.
The deal represents a victory for the GDL, a splinter trade union that last year demanded a separate agreement withDeutsche Bahn, after the two main rail unions agreed a 4.5 per cent wage increase. The union has also achieved another of its core demands, for the right to negotiate a separate agreement on pay and working hours for train drivers.
The European Union's first full-time president may not be able to start work as planned on January 1 next year, because of delays in ratifying the treaty that creates the job, according to EU diplomats.Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Sweden and the UK are five countries in which the ratification process could stretch well into the second half of this year, meaning that it would difficult to meet the January 1 target.
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Sweden and the UK are five countries in which the ratification process could stretch well into the second half of this year, meaning that it would difficult to meet the January 1 target.
The European Union has wasted too much time squabbling over how to share power among its member states, when it should have been working to recoup economic and political influence in the world, says Felipe González, the former Spanish prime minister.The EU asked Mr González last month to chair a committee that will ponder the future of Europe. The former premier, who took Spain into the EU in 1986, was surprised at his nomination."I have been excessively critical over the direction the EU has taken since at least the fall of the Berlin Wall," he said. But now he has accepted the job, he intends to speak "with freedom and clarity". Mr González wants his report, which will be delivered in 2010, to be "a wake-up call" for a continent that is rapidly losing economic and geopolitical power.
The EU asked Mr González last month to chair a committee that will ponder the future of Europe. The former premier, who took Spain into the EU in 1986, was surprised at his nomination."I have been excessively critical over the direction the EU has taken since at least the fall of the Berlin Wall," he said.
But now he has accepted the job, he intends to speak "with freedom and clarity". Mr González wants his report, which will be delivered in 2010, to be "a wake-up call" for a continent that is rapidly losing economic and geopolitical power.
"The Lisbon agenda identified the symptoms of Europe's malaise - lower growth, loss of competitiveness, widening technology gap - but misdiagnosed the disease," Mr González said. "Europe suffers from an extraordinary corporate rigidity," he said. "And I am not only talking about the power of trade unions and labour rights. There is also enormous rigidity on the corporate side. You only have to compare the rankings of US and European companies now and 30 years ago. Most of the top US companies today were not around in the 1980s. There is a lot of mobility: it is a system that rewards risk, initiative and efficiency and allows companies to succeed as well as to fail. "In Europe, there have been hardly any changes in the corporate rankings. Business, labour and political elites protect each other. We stifle innovation. That is why Europe has failed to produce a Bill Gates. It is a cultural problem." Mr González said.
"Europe suffers from an extraordinary corporate rigidity," he said. "And I am not only talking about the power of trade unions and labour rights. There is also enormous rigidity on the corporate side. You only have to compare the rankings of US and European companies now and 30 years ago. Most of the top US companies today were not around in the 1980s. There is a lot of mobility: it is a system that rewards risk, initiative and efficiency and allows companies to succeed as well as to fail.
"In Europe, there have been hardly any changes in the corporate rankings. Business, labour and political elites protect each other. We stifle innovation. That is why Europe has failed to produce a Bill Gates. It is a cultural problem." Mr González said.
<silent scream>
You only have to compare the rankings of US and European companies now and 30 years ago. Most of the top US companies today were not around in the 1980s.
Surely this has nothing to do with the total renunciation to applying antitrust laws in the US. And anyway, I won't even bother checking that Exxon, GE, Ford, GM, Morgan Stanley... were present then.
Which is not to say that big companies aren't protected in Europe, by neo-liberal politicians more often than not though. "Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. - Galbraith"
And I am not only talking about the power of trade unions and labour rights. There is also enormous rigidity on the corporate side.
This is off-tune. Could he be playing some jiu-jistu on the neolibs?
In Europe, there have been hardly any changes in the corporate rankings.
He's joking, right? In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Actually, I have a question someone with access to financial databases might be able to answers.
Has the composition of the EuroStoxx 50 index changed since its inception?
How about the composition of the Euronext 100? We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
GÖTTINGEN, Germany: The future of indigenous American studies in this historic German university town now lies partly in the hands of a 56-year-old Australian named Gordon Whittaker. Whittaker is one of the last professors in Germany who cultivates the dying languages of native peoples in North and South America. At the University of Göttingen, where he has been a professor since 1990, he looks likely to witness the end of such work there. This year, the university decided that students will be able to get degrees for the study of Africa and Southeast Asia, but not the Incas, Aztecs or the Sioux. Until he retires in 2019, Whittaker will continue his own work preserving the language of an American Indian tribe, the Sac and Fox Nation, but that is about it. "Göttingen will no longer produce the next generations of scholars who keep these kinds of languages and cultures alive," Whittaker said. "It will simply stop." The destiny of indigenous American studies in Göttingen - and the university's president protests that he is not trying to kill it off - underscores an historic change now taking place at German universities, institutions once known for cultivating of highly specialized fields of study in the humanities.
GÖTTINGEN, Germany: The future of indigenous American studies in this historic German university town now lies partly in the hands of a 56-year-old Australian named Gordon Whittaker.
Whittaker is one of the last professors in Germany who cultivates the dying languages of native peoples in North and South America. At the University of Göttingen, where he has been a professor since 1990, he looks likely to witness the end of such work there.
This year, the university decided that students will be able to get degrees for the study of Africa and Southeast Asia, but not the Incas, Aztecs or the Sioux. Until he retires in 2019, Whittaker will continue his own work preserving the language of an American Indian tribe, the Sac and Fox Nation, but that is about it.
"Göttingen will no longer produce the next generations of scholars who keep these kinds of languages and cultures alive," Whittaker said. "It will simply stop."
The destiny of indigenous American studies in Göttingen - and the university's president protests that he is not trying to kill it off - underscores an historic change now taking place at German universities, institutions once known for cultivating of highly specialized fields of study in the humanities.
Swiss butchers have raised the alarm over a shortage of the Brazilian cows' intestines used to wrap the nation's favourite sausage, the Cervelat. The Swiss Meat Association says dwindling stocks may run out by the summer, when football fans descend for the Euro 2008 championship. Although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, it does accept import rules handed down by Brussels. And BSE fears have led to curbs on the purchase of the intestines.
The Swiss Meat Association says dwindling stocks may run out by the summer, when football fans descend for the Euro 2008 championship.
Although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, it does accept import rules handed down by Brussels.
And BSE fears have led to curbs on the purchase of the intestines.
A German court on Monday jailed the lawyer of a convicted Holocaust denier for calling the Nazis' World War II slaughter of European Jews "the biggest lie in world history." Judges in the western city of Mannheim sentenced lawyer Sylvia Stolz to three and a half years in prison on charges that include inciting racial hatred, and barred her from practicing law for five years, a court spokeswoman said. Stolz made the remarks in 2006 while representing "historian" Ernst Zündel, who was handed a five-year prison term in Germany last February for repeatedly disputing the Holocaust as a historical fact. The 44-year-old also signed a motion during Zündel's trial with "Heil Hitler" and shouted that the lay judges deserved the death penalty for "offering succour to the enemy" -- leading the court to dismiss her.
Judges in the western city of Mannheim sentenced lawyer Sylvia Stolz to three and a half years in prison on charges that include inciting racial hatred, and barred her from practicing law for five years, a court spokeswoman said.
Stolz made the remarks in 2006 while representing "historian" Ernst Zündel, who was handed a five-year prison term in Germany last February for repeatedly disputing the Holocaust as a historical fact.
The 44-year-old also signed a motion during Zündel's trial with "Heil Hitler" and shouted that the lay judges deserved the death penalty for "offering succour to the enemy" -- leading the court to dismiss her.
Does Europe still sport a sense of shame? How novel. Maybe we should import it to the states. Now where's the fun in that! - Megatron
The total is 11 million.
aspiring to genteel poverty
Media organisations including the Guardian yesterday challenged a demand unprecedented in modern times - that witnesses at a forthcoming murder trial should be heard in secret, for "national security" reasons.Such a trial would breach the common law principle of open justice and the principle of freedom of the press enshrined in the European human rights convention, Gavin Millar QC told an Old Bailey judge."There have been plenty of trials in the past in which issues have been raised about national security material. It is extremely rare for such cases to be heard in camera," Millar added. He referred to previous cases when allegations about the intelligence agencies had been made in court.The government wants the trial of Wang Yam, 45, a financial trader from Hampstead, north London, to be held behind closed doors for what Mark Ellison, counsel for the prosecution, described yesterday as "reasons of national security", and to protect witnesses. [...] Yam denies murdering an 86-year-old recluse, Allan Chappelow. Chappelow's body was discovered at his Hampstead flat in London in June last year after £10,000 reportedly went missing from his bank account. Yam also faces charges of burglary and deception.
Media organisations including the Guardian yesterday challenged a demand unprecedented in modern times - that witnesses at a forthcoming murder trial should be heard in secret, for "national security" reasons.
Such a trial would breach the common law principle of open justice and the principle of freedom of the press enshrined in the European human rights convention, Gavin Millar QC told an Old Bailey judge.
"There have been plenty of trials in the past in which issues have been raised about national security material. It is extremely rare for such cases to be heard in camera," Millar added. He referred to previous cases when allegations about the intelligence agencies had been made in court.
The government wants the trial of Wang Yam, 45, a financial trader from Hampstead, north London, to be held behind closed doors for what Mark Ellison, counsel for the prosecution, described yesterday as "reasons of national security", and to protect witnesses.
[...]
Yam denies murdering an 86-year-old recluse, Allan Chappelow. Chappelow's body was discovered at his Hampstead flat in London in June last year after £10,000 reportedly went missing from his bank account. Yam also faces charges of burglary and deception.
Hmmm, doesn't sound like an act of terror (or even "terror"). So it sounds to me like the govt doesn't want to disclose the means by which it gathered its information.
Does anyone have any background on this? The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
France set to announce UAE nuclear deal In a sign of accelerating interest in nuclear power, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was expected to sign a deal Tuesday enabling Total, the big French oil company, to join forces with the reactor-designer Areva and the utility company Suez to build power stations in the United Arab Emirates. The companies said Monday that they had reached a partnership agreement to submit a nuclear power plant project to the United Arab Emirates authorities and that local partners would take part. They said they would submit a proposal for an integrated nuclear power generation "solution" comprising two 1600-megawatt European pressurized reactors and fuel-cycle products and services. Such a project would be a first for Total, which has long been a force in the oil market and is the largest company in the euro zone by market capitalization. The Total chief executive, Christophe de Margerie, has emphasized the growing difficulty of obtaining sufficient oil to meet global demand growth, and he has signaled an interest in diversifying its business into nuclear power.
In a sign of accelerating interest in nuclear power, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was expected to sign a deal Tuesday enabling Total, the big French oil company, to join forces with the reactor-designer Areva and the utility company Suez to build power stations in the United Arab Emirates.
The companies said Monday that they had reached a partnership agreement to submit a nuclear power plant project to the United Arab Emirates authorities and that local partners would take part. They said they would submit a proposal for an integrated nuclear power generation "solution" comprising two 1600-megawatt European pressurized reactors and fuel-cycle products and services.
Such a project would be a first for Total, which has long been a force in the oil market and is the largest company in the euro zone by market capitalization. The Total chief executive, Christophe de Margerie, has emphasized the growing difficulty of obtaining sufficient oil to meet global demand growth, and he has signaled an interest in diversifying its business into nuclear power.
Article in IHT. Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
The Liberal Democrats say it is the only answer. The Tories oppose it. The government is thinking about it. What would happen if Northern Rock were nationalised?
The government is now the single biggest creditor. The bank clearly cannot repay the £25bn or so it has already borrowed.
And more here:
BBC NEWS | Business | Northern Rock faces shareholders
Northern Rock faces a fight over its future as the beleaguered lender holds a key meeting with shareholders. At the meeting in Newcastle, investors are getting their first chance to grill management since the bank ran into trouble last September. They are expected to demand a bigger say in the bank's sale process. But analysts have warned that if they succeed, the lender is certain to be nationalised, leaving investors with little or nothing for their shares.
At the meeting in Newcastle, investors are getting their first chance to grill management since the bank ran into trouble last September. They are expected to demand a bigger say in the bank's sale process.
But analysts have warned that if they succeed, the lender is certain to be nationalised, leaving investors with little or nothing for their shares.
