The former Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt returned to what she called her "other family" in France today as doubt was cast on the apparently daring rescue that won her freedom. Arriving to a warm embrace from Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, the 46-year-old, who was largely brought up in France as the daughter of a Colombian diplomat and also has French nationality, was welcomed at the Villacoublay military air base near Paris, where she flew in on the French presidential Airbus. But while she was still in the air, the Swiss radio station RSR broadcast a report questioning the official version of the operation to free Ms Betancourt and 14 other hostages - saying that money, not cunning, had clinched their freedom. According to Bogota, the hostages were freed in an elaborate ruse by Colombian intelligence agents who had infiltrated the Marxist Farc rebels holding them.
The former Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt returned to what she called her "other family" in France today as doubt was cast on the apparently daring rescue that won her freedom.
Arriving to a warm embrace from Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, the 46-year-old, who was largely brought up in France as the daughter of a Colombian diplomat and also has French nationality, was welcomed at the Villacoublay military air base near Paris, where she flew in on the French presidential Airbus.
But while she was still in the air, the Swiss radio station RSR broadcast a report questioning the official version of the operation to free Ms Betancourt and 14 other hostages - saying that money, not cunning, had clinched their freedom.
According to Bogota, the hostages were freed in an elaborate ruse by Colombian intelligence agents who had infiltrated the Marxist Farc rebels holding them.
ngrid Betancourt et 14 otages des FARC n'auraient pas été libérés au cours d'une action militaire, mais achetés au terme d'une opération de retournement et d'infiltration de leurs gardiens. Une information exclusive de la RSR. Cliquez pour voir l'animation Une source fiable, éprouvée à maintes reprises au cours de ces vingt dernières années, a fourni des détails à notre collègue Frédéric Blassel. Selon elle, le montant de la transaction est de quelque vingt millions de dollars. C'est l'épouse du gardien des otages, aperçu par Ingrid Betancourt nu et bâillonné au pied de l'hélicoptère, qui a servi d'intermédiaire depuis son arrestation par les forces régulières colombiennes. Elle a permis d'ouvrir un canal de négociations avec les preneurs d'otages et d'obtenir de leur gardien, Geraldo Aguilar, qu'il change de camp.
Une source fiable, éprouvée à maintes reprises au cours de ces vingt dernières années, a fourni des détails à notre collègue Frédéric Blassel. Selon elle, le montant de la transaction est de quelque vingt millions de dollars.
C'est l'épouse du gardien des otages, aperçu par Ingrid Betancourt nu et bâillonné au pied de l'hélicoptère, qui a servi d'intermédiaire depuis son arrestation par les forces régulières colombiennes. Elle a permis d'ouvrir un canal de négociations avec les preneurs d'otages et d'obtenir de leur gardien, Geraldo Aguilar, qu'il change de camp.
PARIS: A jubilant France prepared Thursday to welcome Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician freed on Wednesday after six years of captivity by rebels in the Colombian jungle, while officials in Paris said that that the French government, which has kept her case high on its agenda, played no direct role in her liberation and was apprised of the Colombian initiative only in a general way. "We were not expecting that particular moment," said chief presidential aide Claude Guéant declared on France 3. "We were not waiting for the denouement at that precise moment." Guéant said that the French were informed of Betancourt's liberation only shortly before Colombian news reports started to appear. In contrast, American officials were "engaged in the planning stages," according to a White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, and President George W. Bush was kept apprised of the project. In addition, Senator John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee who had been visiting Colombia this week, said that President Alvaro Uribe and his defense minister had briefed him on the operation on Tuesday night.
PARIS: A jubilant France prepared Thursday to welcome Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician freed on Wednesday after six years of captivity by rebels in the Colombian jungle, while officials in Paris said that that the French government, which has kept her case high on its agenda, played no direct role in her liberation and was apprised of the Colombian initiative only in a general way.
"We were not expecting that particular moment," said chief presidential aide Claude Guéant declared on France 3. "We were not waiting for the denouement at that precise moment."
Guéant said that the French were informed of Betancourt's liberation only shortly before Colombian news reports started to appear.
In contrast, American officials were "engaged in the planning stages," according to a White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, and President George W. Bush was kept apprised of the project. In addition, Senator John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee who had been visiting Colombia this week, said that President Alvaro Uribe and his defense minister had briefed him on the operation on Tuesday night.
Harrowing details about the captivity of Ingrid Betancourt and other rebel-held hostages in Colombia emerged today, as doubts surfaced over the official version of their daring rescue.The French-Colombian politician and other captives freed in Wednesday's military operation described casual sadism, inhumane conditions and even executions in the jungle camps of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).Betancourt told reporters she was often chained to a tree and haunted by thoughts of killing herself during her six-year-ordeal. "Death is a hostage's most faithful companion. We lived with death ... and the seduction of suicide was always with us."Another former hostage, army nurse William Perez, said at one point Betancourt was so depressed she spent two weeks barely eating. "I had to spoon feed her, like a child, saying this spoonful is for Melanie (Betancourt's daughter) and this one for Lorenzo (her son)," Perez said.
Harrowing details about the captivity of Ingrid Betancourt and other rebel-held hostages in Colombia emerged today, as doubts surfaced over the official version of their daring rescue.
The French-Colombian politician and other captives freed in Wednesday's military operation described casual sadism, inhumane conditions and even executions in the jungle camps of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
Betancourt told reporters she was often chained to a tree and haunted by thoughts of killing herself during her six-year-ordeal. "Death is a hostage's most faithful companion. We lived with death ... and the seduction of suicide was always with us."
Another former hostage, army nurse William Perez, said at one point Betancourt was so depressed she spent two weeks barely eating. "I had to spoon feed her, like a child, saying this spoonful is for Melanie (Betancourt's daughter) and this one for Lorenzo (her son)," Perez said.
Bernd Pfaffenbach, German Chancellor Merkel's point man for next week's G8 summit, spoke with DW about the pressing issues on the agenda as the world's leading industrialized powers meet in Japan. There will be plenty of topics on the agenda at the G8 summit in Japan. Which issues do you think stand out? Bernd Pfaffenbach: G8 summits are always marked by a large variety of topics. The skill lies in structuring the topics in such a way that they are easy to manage. But I think climate change will be a huge issue at this year's summit. We Germans are satisfied with the agenda because it strongly reflects, draws upon and continues with our program from last year's G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany. You said climate change was a big topic at last year's summit. However the Japanese hosts have played down expectations this year. Do you think the summit declaration will fall far short of the goals issued by last year's G8 summit? I don't think so; we wouldn't like that at all. I don't think the Japanese can afford to rein in their ambitions so much as to create a setback compared to last year's summit. Of course, talks will be difficult. But I think we've prepared ourselves quite well. In the end, it will all depend on the deftness of the G8 heads of state and government leaders to draw the emerging economies into the process.
There will be plenty of topics on the agenda at the G8 summit in Japan. Which issues do you think stand out?
Bernd Pfaffenbach: G8 summits are always marked by a large variety of topics. The skill lies in structuring the topics in such a way that they are easy to manage. But I think climate change will be a huge issue at this year's summit. We Germans are satisfied with the agenda because it strongly reflects, draws upon and continues with our program from last year's G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.
You said climate change was a big topic at last year's summit. However the Japanese hosts have played down expectations this year. Do you think the summit declaration will fall far short of the goals issued by last year's G8 summit?
I don't think so; we wouldn't like that at all. I don't think the Japanese can afford to rein in their ambitions so much as to create a setback compared to last year's summit. Of course, talks will be difficult. But I think we've prepared ourselves quite well. In the end, it will all depend on the deftness of the G8 heads of state and government leaders to draw the emerging economies into the process.
The major developing countries are being drawn into climate-control policies under a process initiated during the German presidency of the Group of Eight, officials said in Berlin ahead of the G8 summit in Japan. The Heiligendamm Process, under which G8 members meet regularly with the five-strong Outreach Group -- Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa -- had shown progress over the past year, German government sources said on Thursday, July 3. Noting that the United States had declined to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions precisely because major developing countries, particularly China and India, were freed from its obligations, they said these countries were now being drawn into global climate change initiatives.
The Heiligendamm Process, under which G8 members meet regularly with the five-strong Outreach Group -- Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa -- had shown progress over the past year, German government sources said on Thursday, July 3.
Noting that the United States had declined to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions precisely because major developing countries, particularly China and India, were freed from its obligations, they said these countries were now being drawn into global climate change initiatives.
As the head of the World Bank warns world leaders that the planet is entering the "danger zone" with millions thrown into extreme poverty by the twin food and fuel crises, a leaked report from his organisation shows that biofuels have pushed up global food prices by 75 percent - a much bigger role in the disaster than previously thought. Biofuels are responsible for 75 percent of recent food price rises, according to a secret World Bank report. In a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, ahead of next week's G8 summit, and copied to other G8 leaders, World Bank president Robert Zoellick has called on them to act immediately to address the "man-made catastrophe" of soaring food and oil prices. "What we are witnessing is not a natural disaster - a silent tsunami or a perfect storm. It is a man-made catastrophe and as such must be fixed by people," he said in the letter. There has been an 82 percent rise in food commodity prices since 2006, with the crisis worsening since April, Mr Zoellick warned.
As the head of the World Bank warns world leaders that the planet is entering the "danger zone" with millions thrown into extreme poverty by the twin food and fuel crises, a leaked report from his organisation shows that biofuels have pushed up global food prices by 75 percent - a much bigger role in the disaster than previously thought.
Biofuels are responsible for 75 percent of recent food price rises, according to a secret World Bank report.
In a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, ahead of next week's G8 summit, and copied to other G8 leaders, World Bank president Robert Zoellick has called on them to act immediately to address the "man-made catastrophe" of soaring food and oil prices.
"What we are witnessing is not a natural disaster - a silent tsunami or a perfect storm. It is a man-made catastrophe and as such must be fixed by people," he said in the letter.
There has been an 82 percent rise in food commodity prices since 2006, with the crisis worsening since April, Mr Zoellick warned.
Everyone is upset at gas prices. But if you really want to see a radical cost shift, look at the real price of diesel fuel. No wonder Walmart has suddenly discovered the virtues of local produce.
Everyone is upset at gas prices. But if you really want to see a radical cost shift, look at the real price of diesel fuel.
No wonder Walmart has suddenly discovered the virtues of local produce.
Wal-Mart stores in Arizona now stock Grand Canyon sweet onions while aisles in New York display state-grown eggplant, as the world's largest retailer says it has become the nation's largest buyer of locally grown fruits and vegetables.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to purchase and sell $400 million worth of produce grown by local farmers within its state stores this year, an effort the company says will only grow. Academic studies show buying locally cuts down on transportation mileage while also assuring customers of a product's providence amid mass recalls.For example, the retail giant once only bought peaches from a few suppliers. Now, Wal-Mart buys 12 million pounds of peaches annually from farms in 18 different states, she said.Because of that, the company estimates it saves about 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year and cuts away 672,000 food miles -- the distance produce travels from farm to a customer's plate. That adds up to $1.4 million in annual savings, Galberth said."It's one of the ways we've been able to keep costs down," Galberth said. "Our customers right now are struggling with tough economic times and looking to us to provide them with products that are at the quality they want and a price they can afford."
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to purchase and sell $400 million worth of produce grown by local farmers within its state stores this year, an effort the company says will only grow. Academic studies show buying locally cuts down on transportation mileage while also assuring customers of a product's providence amid mass recalls.
For example, the retail giant once only bought peaches from a few suppliers. Now, Wal-Mart buys 12 million pounds of peaches annually from farms in 18 different states, she said.
Because of that, the company estimates it saves about 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year and cuts away 672,000 food miles -- the distance produce travels from farm to a customer's plate. That adds up to $1.4 million in annual savings, Galberth said.
"It's one of the ways we've been able to keep costs down," Galberth said. "Our customers right now are struggling with tough economic times and looking to us to provide them with products that are at the quality they want and a price they can afford."
Judging by that graph, this only starting. keep to the Fen Causeway
Which means that (i) there's a reasons people are beginning to notice these prices now, but (ii) we're still far away from "painful" prices. We've just moved from invisible to noticeable. painful will require a bit more. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Still, that does not mean that even now we have a price that reaches the cost -there are so many externalities that the price is still too low. But it's been noticeable for a while now. What people seem to be slowly realising is that it's likely to stay noticeable.
I am impressed when I read that if we stop speculation, oil could come back to 100$ a barrel. When the approach of 100$ had been repeatedly explained away as a trader thing (with the first one to trade at 100$ claimed as probably staying the only one for many, many years -not because future ones would trade higher either). I guess it's the same thing as military issues. The more you were wrong in the past, the more you are listened to, probably based on the assumption that everyone must be right the same percentage of the time in the long run and therefore you'd be more likely to be right if you've been wrong before. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
However, given the stagnation of the lowest quartiles' wages for several years now, many people in the US are living on a very tight budget and even a small increase in an important feature of their budget (like heating oil for people living in the northern parts of the country) is certainly very painful.
That's the reason why I agree with the idea of increasing taxes on oil products and, at the same time, subsidise people earning less than the median wage, to help them to change their lifestyle (investments in conservation measures, change in the transportation means...) and to support them through the period while the necessary public investments should be made (development of public transportation networks...). "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Shall we make a basket of goods and see if we can get something of a consensus? Too bad there isn't a LATomatoes.com like there is http://www.losangelesgasprices.com/ -
Things I always buy (in euros) Bread - 1.20 Tomatoes, vine ripened - 1.50 /kilo Leeks - 2.10 /kilo Eggplant - 1.65 /kilo Various sheep and goat cheeses - 10 /kilo Various Fruits ~ 2.50-3.00 /kilo
Things bought regularly, but not weekly Gazole - 1.35 /liter Coffee at cafe - 1.10 /injection Coffee American at cafe - 1.50 per cup (includes free internet) Olive Oil (going down in price) - 4.50 per liter 5 cheap cigars - 3.20
2 liters of 40 weight - 20.00 Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
By the way, I will be in Sophia Antipolis on Wednesday for a conference. I am arriving on Tuesday around 20h00. Any chance we could have a drink together? "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
noticeable
For the first time, I paid over £50 to fill the tank of my little diesel yesterday.
It's been close to £50 for a while. But it's still the round numbers that take your breath away.
KUMAGAYA, Japan -- With its towering furnaces and clanging conveyer belts carrying crushed rock, Taiheiyo Cement's factory looks like an Industrial Revolution relic. But it is actually a model of modern energy efficiency, harnessing its waste heat to generate much of its own electricity. Engineers from China and elsewhere in Asia come to study its design, which has allowed the company to slash the amount of power it buys from the grid. The plant is just one example of Japan's single-minded dedication to reducing energy use, a commitment that dates back to the oil shocks of the 1970s that shook this resource-poor nation.
Engineers from China and elsewhere in Asia come to study its design, which has allowed the company to slash the amount of power it buys from the grid.
The plant is just one example of Japan's single-minded dedication to reducing energy use, a commitment that dates back to the oil shocks of the 1970s that shook this resource-poor nation.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which makes the waste heat generator at the cement factory in Kumagaya, started developing the technology in 1979. But the generators were too expensive to sell outside Japan while energy prices were low. But overseas orders took off three years ago, after energy prices began rising. Since then, the company has sold 64 units, mainly through a joint venture in China. "Japan rushed to embrace these technologies back in the 1980s," said Katsushi Sorida, head of the waste heat plant department at Kawasaki Plant Systems, a subsidiary that markets and installs the units. "Now the rest of the world is finally catching up."
Since then, the company has sold 64 units, mainly through a joint venture in China.
"Japan rushed to embrace these technologies back in the 1980s," said Katsushi Sorida, head of the waste heat plant department at Kawasaki Plant Systems, a subsidiary that markets and installs the units. "Now the rest of the world is finally catching up."
Despite their gains industrially, the Japanese housing market seems completely unregulated. Un-insulated plastic boxes with no heating system are the norm, and people rely on kerosene heaters in the distinctly cold winters.
the Japanese housing market seems completely unregulated
Oh, it's regulated all right, there are still endless bureaucratic hoops to jump through (and pay for)... just nothing that encourages building sustainable, well-insulated houses that won't have to be torn down and replaced in 30 years like everyone else's.
people rely on kerosene heaters in the distinctly cold winters.
...and then desperately need aircon during the summers, choking the cities with even more heat.
Even if you want to build 'properly', it's not so easy or affordable to get hold of the materials.
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she's ``proud'' of the U.S. decision to wage the Iraq war and insisted that the world is not more dangerous than it was when George W. Bush took office. ``We're now beginning to see that perhaps it's not so popular to be a suicide bomber. We're beginning to see that perhaps people are questioning whether Osama Bin Laden ought to really be the face of Islam,'' Rice, 53, said in an interview to be broadcast this weekend on Bloomberg Television's ``Conversations with Judy Woodruff.'' ``And I am proud of the decision of this administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein,'' said Rice, who was Bush's national security adviser at the time of the March 2003 invasion. As of yesterday, 4,107 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq and more than 30,000 were wounded. She said the Iraq war has been ``tougher than any of us really dreamed.''
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she's ``proud'' of the U.S. decision to wage the Iraq war and insisted that the world is not more dangerous than it was when George W. Bush took office.
``We're now beginning to see that perhaps it's not so popular to be a suicide bomber. We're beginning to see that perhaps people are questioning whether Osama Bin Laden ought to really be the face of Islam,'' Rice, 53, said in an interview to be broadcast this weekend on Bloomberg Television's ``Conversations with Judy Woodruff.''
``And I am proud of the decision of this administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein,'' said Rice, who was Bush's national security adviser at the time of the March 2003 invasion. As of yesterday, 4,107 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq and more than 30,000 were wounded. She said the Iraq war has been ``tougher than any of us really dreamed.''
How long will the suicide bomber suffer from the stigma exactly? Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
TAIPEI: The first regular weekend flights between China and Taiwan took place on Friday, in the latest breakthrough in bilateral relations that are rapidly warming under the island's new president, Ma Ying-jeou. The first batch of nonstop weekend flights from the mainland carried 662 tourists on package tours from five cities. The number of tourists is expected to expand gradually to as many as 3,000 per day. Several nonstop flights also carried passengers from Taiwan to the mainland on Friday. The Chinese tourists were greeted with a warm welcome that included traditional Chinese lion dances and performances by Taiwanese Aboriginal groups. "We're all one family," said Liu Shao-yong, in remarks at Taipei's Taoyuan international airport. Liu, the president of China's Southern Airlines, was one of the pilots on the first flight, from Guangzhou to Taiwan.
TAIPEI: The first regular weekend flights between China and Taiwan took place on Friday, in the latest breakthrough in bilateral relations that are rapidly warming under the island's new president, Ma Ying-jeou.
The first batch of nonstop weekend flights from the mainland carried 662 tourists on package tours from five cities. The number of tourists is expected to expand gradually to as many as 3,000 per day.
Several nonstop flights also carried passengers from Taiwan to the mainland on Friday.
The Chinese tourists were greeted with a warm welcome that included traditional Chinese lion dances and performances by Taiwanese Aboriginal groups.
"We're all one family," said Liu Shao-yong, in remarks at Taipei's Taoyuan international airport. Liu, the president of China's Southern Airlines, was one of the pilots on the first flight, from Guangzhou to Taiwan.
