A father's grief and anger boiled over yesterday when he came face to face with the man he blames for his son's death. Tony Blair offered his hand to Peter Brierley during a reception following a service at St Paul's to commemorate the dead of the Iraq war. `Don't you dare,' roared Mr Brierley. `You have my son's blood on your hands.'
A father's grief and anger boiled over yesterday when he came face to face with the man he blames for his son's death.
Tony Blair offered his hand to Peter Brierley during a reception following a service at St Paul's to commemorate the dead of the Iraq war.
`Don't you dare,' roared Mr Brierley. `You have my son's blood on your hands.'
Tony Blair, the favourite to become Europe's first president, is believed to have accepted tens of thousands of pounds from a steel billionaire campaigning for Ukraine to join the European Union. Victor Pinchuk, who is championing the country's bid for EU membership, has already hired Stephen Byers, the former Labour cabinet minister, to press his case. He reportedly paid Blair to give a keynote speech in Ukraine. Ukrainian diplomats are preparing to launch a membership bid as early as next year and consider Blair a key ally. Several European countries support closer economic ties with Ukraine but have not directly backed a bid. Some, including Germany, are concerned that closer links with Ukraine may jeopardise relations with Russia.
Tony Blair, the favourite to become Europe's first president, is believed to have accepted tens of thousands of pounds from a steel billionaire campaigning for Ukraine to join the European Union.
Victor Pinchuk, who is championing the country's bid for EU membership, has already hired Stephen Byers, the former Labour cabinet minister, to press his case. He reportedly paid Blair to give a keynote speech in Ukraine.
Ukrainian diplomats are preparing to launch a membership bid as early as next year and consider Blair a key ally.
Several European countries support closer economic ties with Ukraine but have not directly backed a bid. Some, including Germany, are concerned that closer links with Ukraine may jeopardise relations with Russia.
Oh godz teeth
Please show your support for Tony Blair through this period of "trial" by signing this petition. [UPDATE] Fair treatment of his part in the war is all the more important at this time since his alleged war crimes are now being used to undermine his possible bid for the post of EU President.
However, that part of his pro-US/anti-EU behaviour over Iraq that is uncontested is sufficient to prevent any euroentric person considering him fit for High European office. keep to the Fen Causeway
Two weeks after the German election, the new coalition government is struggling with the consequences of the economic crisis. Both the Christian Democrats and the FDP want to lower taxes to please the electorate, but the country's massive budget deficit means that cost-cutting and tax hikes are more realistic. When politicians are forced to abandon big plans, they tend to come up with all kinds of excuses to explain their change of heart, talking about everything from unfavorable circumstances to modified forecasts. The leadership of Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) is turning to a no less tried-and-true approach: assigning the blame to others. Last Thursday, the leaders of the future coalition government of the FDP and Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) met for a second round of coalition negotiations at the offices of the Berlin representation of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The two teams consisted of Merkel and 17 other senior members of the CDU and the CSU, on the one hand, and the FDP's nine-member negotiating team, led by party Chairman Guido Westerwelle, on the other.
Two weeks after the German election, the new coalition government is struggling with the consequences of the economic crisis. Both the Christian Democrats and the FDP want to lower taxes to please the electorate, but the country's massive budget deficit means that cost-cutting and tax hikes are more realistic.
When politicians are forced to abandon big plans, they tend to come up with all kinds of excuses to explain their change of heart, talking about everything from unfavorable circumstances to modified forecasts. The leadership of Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) is turning to a no less tried-and-true approach: assigning the blame to others.
Last Thursday, the leaders of the future coalition government of the FDP and Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) met for a second round of coalition negotiations at the offices of the Berlin representation of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The two teams consisted of Merkel and 17 other senior members of the CDU and the CSU, on the one hand, and the FDP's nine-member negotiating team, led by party Chairman Guido Westerwelle, on the other.
Jürgen Rüttgers, 58, is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and governor of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He spoke to SPIEGEL about his warnings to the new federal government against imposing sweeping cuts to public spending, as well as his role as a supporter of workers' rights. SPIEGEL: Governor Rüttgers, do you know what your colleagues in the Christian Democrats and the Free Democratic Party FDP secretly call you? Jürgen Rüttgers: No. That's why it's secret. SPIEGEL: Then perhaps you could tell us which of the following titles you find appropriate: "Rüttgers, the anti-reformist." Rüttgers: I don't like it.
Jürgen Rüttgers, 58, is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and governor of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He spoke to SPIEGEL about his warnings to the new federal government against imposing sweeping cuts to public spending, as well as his role as a supporter of workers' rights.
SPIEGEL: Governor Rüttgers, do you know what your colleagues in the Christian Democrats and the Free Democratic Party FDP secretly call you?
Jürgen Rüttgers: No. That's why it's secret.
SPIEGEL: Then perhaps you could tell us which of the following titles you find appropriate: "Rüttgers, the anti-reformist."
Rüttgers: I don't like it.
Young people in Spain suffer the highest unemployment rate in the EU. And the financial downturn has only served to widen the gaps between the have and the have-nots in an increasingly two-tier labor market. Nothing divides Spain quite like the labor market. And the effects of the current economic crisis vary according to age, geographic location and sector. Young people are one group that is disproportionately affected by soaring unemployment, which stands at double the eurozone average. The national rate is 18.5 percent, but among Spaniards aged between 15 and 24 years old, this figure climbs as high as 37 percent, according to Eurostat. Job losses are concentrated in construction and the service industry - the same sectors that once drove the country's exponential growth. Figures from Spain's Youth Employment Observatory show the majority of workers laid off were recruited on temporary contracts , which account for a quarter of the nation's jobs, and half the jobs held by people under the age of 30.
Nothing divides Spain quite like the labor market. And the effects of the current economic crisis vary according to age, geographic location and sector.
Young people are one group that is disproportionately affected by soaring unemployment, which stands at double the eurozone average. The national rate is 18.5 percent, but among Spaniards aged between 15 and 24 years old, this figure climbs as high as 37 percent, according to Eurostat.
Job losses are concentrated in construction and the service industry - the same sectors that once drove the country's exponential growth. Figures from Spain's Youth Employment Observatory show the majority of workers laid off were recruited on temporary contracts , which account for a quarter of the nation's jobs, and half the jobs held by people under the age of 30.
There are a lot of rigidities in the Spanish labour market, and the market simply doesn't clear. But basically exploitation is the order of the day. Most of the employment created in the past 10 years was on temporary contracts or under the expedient of having people register as self-employed so the employer would not have to pay social contributions.
And it's not just the young who are suffering because of the precarious job situation (precarious even in the boom years as I have described). Ageism is rampant, as is sexism. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
Czech President Vaclav Klaus wants guarantees in the EU's Lisbon reform Treaty to protect his country from post-war property claims. This emerged from a meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, aimed at encouraging the eurosceptic Klaus to sign. He would be the last head of state to seal the treaty's ratification after Poland's president signs it into law on Saturday. In Prague, Klaus sought an exemption from the Charter of Fundamental rights, as Poland and the UK negotiated for themselves. London's opt-out means the European Courts cannot force changes to laws on labour in Britain. Warsaw's exemption proscribes individual rights such as for homosexual wedlock.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus wants guarantees in the EU's Lisbon reform Treaty to protect his country from post-war property claims. This emerged from a meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, aimed at encouraging the eurosceptic Klaus to sign.
He would be the last head of state to seal the treaty's ratification after Poland's president signs it into law on Saturday. In Prague, Klaus sought an exemption from the Charter of Fundamental rights, as Poland and the UK negotiated for themselves.
London's opt-out means the European Courts cannot force changes to laws on labour in Britain. Warsaw's exemption proscribes individual rights such as for homosexual wedlock.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has added her voice to a small but growing number of people who are increasingly alarmed about internet search giant Google's scheme to digitise millions of books from the globe's leading libraries. No curmudgeonly luddite, the leader of the European Union's largest economy made the comments via her weekly podcast on Saturday (10 October) ahead of this week's opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair. "The German government has a clear position: copyrights have to be protected on the internet," she said, warning of the "considerable dangers" to copyright from the digital world. However, she did not say she was opposed to any book digitalisation project tout court. The problem was the way the US search engine firm was going about it.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has added her voice to a small but growing number of people who are increasingly alarmed about internet search giant Google's scheme to digitise millions of books from the globe's leading libraries.
No curmudgeonly luddite, the leader of the European Union's largest economy made the comments via her weekly podcast on Saturday (10 October) ahead of this week's opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
"The German government has a clear position: copyrights have to be protected on the internet," she said, warning of the "considerable dangers" to copyright from the digital world.
However, she did not say she was opposed to any book digitalisation project tout court. The problem was the way the US search engine firm was going about it.
Two people have been injured in a bomb explosion at an army barracks in Milan in northern Italy.One of those injured was the attacker who threw the device, according to the Italian news agency, Ansa. The man was reported to be foreign, possibly from North Africa, though his nationality was not clear. He was said to be "in a serious condition". The other casualty was a soldier lightly hurt by glass shards after the blast, Ansa said.
Two people have been injured in a bomb explosion at an army barracks in Milan in northern Italy.
One of those injured was the attacker who threw the device, according to the Italian news agency, Ansa.
The man was reported to be foreign, possibly from North Africa, though his nationality was not clear. He was said to be "in a serious condition".
The other casualty was a soldier lightly hurt by glass shards after the blast, Ansa said.
Italy has such a history of agents provocateurs that no such event can be taken at face value keep to the Fen Causeway
Special report: Extent of FSA fears and reason for taxpayers' bank bailout revealedCity watchdogs were monitoring cash withdrawals from Royal Bank of Scotland every hour during the height of the banking crisis, the Guardian can reveal.The Financial Services Authority demanded 60-minute updates on cash flooding out of the bank's branches and hole-in-the-wall machines in the days before Britain's historic bank bailout, which took place a year ago.The regulators stepped up their surveillance after realising that confidence was draining from the banking system following the collapse of Lehman Brothers a month earlier, and that customers were concerned about the safety of their deposits.
City watchdogs were monitoring cash withdrawals from Royal Bank of Scotland every hour during the height of the banking crisis, the Guardian can reveal.
The Financial Services Authority demanded 60-minute updates on cash flooding out of the bank's branches and hole-in-the-wall machines in the days before Britain's historic bank bailout, which took place a year ago.
The regulators stepped up their surveillance after realising that confidence was draining from the banking system following the collapse of Lehman Brothers a month earlier, and that customers were concerned about the safety of their deposits.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - If you are a lobbyist in Brussels and you want to win over a public official to your client's point of view on a new law, whatever you do, do not invite the politician to a fancy evening reception. It just won't work. Such is the counter-intuitive and startling conclusion of a survey of European political elites on what sort of lobbying works and what does not. Decision makers do not find evening receptions useful Just two percent of decision-makers in the European institutions think that going to an after-work gathering with smoked-salmon triangles and tepid chardonnay is in any way useful in providing information on laws they are working on, says the report. In what will come as a goodly shock to the European capital's powerful croissant, rubber chicken and light-nibbles industry, breakfast, lunch and dinner briefings are also all considered something of a waste of time in comparison to plain old one-on-one meetings and written reports, according to the Guide to effective lobbying, published on Monday (12 October) by Burson-Marsteller, one of the largest lobbying, public relations and crisis management firms in the world.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - If you are a lobbyist in Brussels and you want to win over a public official to your client's point of view on a new law, whatever you do, do not invite the politician to a fancy evening reception.
It just won't work.
Such is the counter-intuitive and startling conclusion of a survey of European political elites on what sort of lobbying works and what does not.
Decision makers do not find evening receptions useful
Just two percent of decision-makers in the European institutions think that going to an after-work gathering with smoked-salmon triangles and tepid chardonnay is in any way useful in providing information on laws they are working on, says the report.
In what will come as a goodly shock to the European capital's powerful croissant, rubber chicken and light-nibbles industry, breakfast, lunch and dinner briefings are also all considered something of a waste of time in comparison to plain old one-on-one meetings and written reports, according to the Guide to effective lobbying, published on Monday (12 October) by Burson-Marsteller, one of the largest lobbying, public relations and crisis management firms in the world.
How is this "news"? In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will repay £12,415 after an independent audit of all MPs' expenses claims since 2004.Downing Street confirmed he would repay the money, largely for cleaning and gardening, even though the claims had been within the rules at the time. It said auditor Sir Thomas Legg had "deemed" that any annual claims above £2,000 for cleaning and £1,000 for gardening should be repaid. Some MPs are annoyed that new limits are being applied retrospectively.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will repay £12,415 after an independent audit of all MPs' expenses claims since 2004.
Downing Street confirmed he would repay the money, largely for cleaning and gardening, even though the claims had been within the rules at the time.
It said auditor Sir Thomas Legg had "deemed" that any annual claims above £2,000 for cleaning and £1,000 for gardening should be repaid.
Some MPs are annoyed that new limits are being applied retrospectively.
The Guardian has been prevented from reporting parliamentary proceedings on legal grounds which appear to call into question privileges guaranteeing free speech established under the 1688 Bill of Rights. Today's published Commons order papers contain a question to be answered by a minister later this week. The Guardian is prevented from identifying the MP who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question is to be found. The Guardian is also forbidden from telling its readers why the paper is prevented - for the first time in memory - from reporting parliament. Legal obstacles, which cannot be identified, involve proceedings, which cannot be mentioned, on behalf of a client who must remain secret. The only fact the Guardian can report is that the case involves the London solicitors Carter-Ruck, who specialise in suing the media for clients, who include individuals or global corporations.
Today's published Commons order papers contain a question to be answered by a minister later this week. The Guardian is prevented from identifying the MP who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question is to be found.
The Guardian is also forbidden from telling its readers why the paper is prevented - for the first time in memory - from reporting parliament. Legal obstacles, which cannot be identified, involve proceedings, which cannot be mentioned, on behalf of a client who must remain secret.
The only fact the Guardian can report is that the case involves the London solicitors Carter-Ruck, who specialise in suing the media for clients, who include individuals or global corporations.
It may depend where the servers for this blog are physically cited?
I posted the article "from" the Netherlands so I (hope) Dutch laws gives me some protection. Money is a sign of Poverty - Culture Saying
IANAL, but I can't see any libel in what you posted.
The existence of a previously secret injunction against the media by oil traders Trafigura can now be revealed.Within the past hour Trafigura's legal firm, Carter-Ruck, has withdrawn its opposition to the Guardian reporting proceedings in parliament that revealed its existence.Labour MP Paul Farrelly put down a question yesterday to the justice secretary, Jack Straw. It asked about the injunction obtained by "Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton Report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura".The Guardian was due to appear at the High Court at 2pm to challenge Carter-Ruck's behaviour, but the firm has dropped its claim that to report parliament would be in contempt of court.Here is the full text of Farrelly's question:
The existence of a previously secret injunction against the media by oil traders Trafigura can now be revealed.
Within the past hour Trafigura's legal firm, Carter-Ruck, has withdrawn its opposition to the Guardian reporting proceedings in parliament that revealed its existence.
Labour MP Paul Farrelly put down a question yesterday to the justice secretary, Jack Straw. It asked about the injunction obtained by "Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton Report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura".
The Guardian was due to appear at the High Court at 2pm to challenge Carter-Ruck's behaviour, but the firm has dropped its claim that to report parliament would be in contempt of court.
Here is the full text of Farrelly's question:
Fifteen million European buildings should have eco-friendly renovations over the next decade, with builders and architects re-educated to do the job, a draft EU report says. The European Union should also make mandatory its voluntary goal of cutting energy use, creating about 2 million new jobs, says a draft of the EU's "energy efficiency action plan" obtained by Reuters. .... "The Commission will launch a European Building Initiative, supported by the European Investment Bank ... that will aim at stimulating the major renovation of 15 million buildings by 2020," said the report. "A mandatory low energy building course for the building workforce, particularly for architects, should therefore be introduced."
The European Union should also make mandatory its voluntary goal of cutting energy use, creating about 2 million new jobs, says a draft of the EU's "energy efficiency action plan" obtained by Reuters.
....
"The Commission will launch a European Building Initiative, supported by the European Investment Bank ... that will aim at stimulating the major renovation of 15 million buildings by 2020," said the report.
"A mandatory low energy building course for the building workforce, particularly for architects, should therefore be introduced."
