*Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
"We hope that they will be on the road to EU membership sooner instead of later. Obviously, we don't have a vote in the EU, but we have made it clear to a number of our counterparts how valuable we think it will be when Croatia is a member," US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, said after meeting Croatian foreign minister, Gordan Jandrokovic, in Washington on Thursday (10 December).
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stepped up their media charm offensive on Friday morning (11 December), as part of ongoing efforts to bury their recent differences. Announcing their intentions to work together is securing an ambitious EU agreement on `fast-start' climate funding (2010-2012) for developing countries and EU emission cuts, the two leaders went out of their way to show all was well between London and Paris. "It is a very strong relationship and one that is working today as we examine climate change," said Mr Brown in a joint press conference with the French leader. The day before France announced it would follow the UK's lead and implement a one-off 50 percent windfall tax for French bankers receiving bonuses of over €27,000.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stepped up their media charm offensive on Friday morning (11 December), as part of ongoing efforts to bury their recent differences.
Announcing their intentions to work together is securing an ambitious EU agreement on `fast-start' climate funding (2010-2012) for developing countries and EU emission cuts, the two leaders went out of their way to show all was well between London and Paris.
"It is a very strong relationship and one that is working today as we examine climate change," said Mr Brown in a joint press conference with the French leader.
The day before France announced it would follow the UK's lead and implement a one-off 50 percent windfall tax for French bankers receiving bonuses of over €27,000.
Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy last night called a truce in their battle over how the City of London should be regulated and declared a joint offensive against excessive bonuses for bankers. The Prime Minister and French President held a 30-minute tête-a-tête in the margins of a European Union summit in Brussels. A week ago, their meeting was billed as a showdown over inflammatory remarks by M Sarkozy, who declared that Britain was the "big loser" in the share-out of jobs on the European Commission and suggested that his French ally Michel Barnier would use his new post as Internal market commissioner to rein in the "excesses of Anglo-Saxon financial capitalism".
The Prime Minister and French President held a 30-minute tête-a-tête in the margins of a European Union summit in Brussels. A week ago, their meeting was billed as a showdown over inflammatory remarks by M Sarkozy, who declared that Britain was the "big loser" in the share-out of jobs on the European Commission and suggested that his French ally Michel Barnier would use his new post as Internal market commissioner to rein in the "excesses of Anglo-Saxon financial capitalism".
IT SEEMED like a safe bet. Mircea Geoana, the centre-left challenger in Romania's presidential election, had the money, media and political backing that he needed to win. Sleek and Western-educated, he portrayed himself as the safe consensus candidate against Traian Basescu, the lively but exasperating former sea-captain (and once mayor of Bucharest) who has been the country's president since 2004. For a few hours on December 6th it even appeared to have paid off. Exit polls gave Mr Geoana a narrow victory. He did win inside the country by 14,738 votes. But Romanians abroad cast 146,876 votes and Mr Basescu took 78% of them. The campaign was exceptionally dirty: observers think that both sides cheated. Mr Basescu's victory against largely hostile news coverage was impressive. Mr Geoana wants a rerun, but his support is dwindling. His Liberal allies now hope to form a government with Mr Basescu's centre-right Democrats.
IT SEEMED like a safe bet. Mircea Geoana, the centre-left challenger in Romania's presidential election, had the money, media and political backing that he needed to win. Sleek and Western-educated, he portrayed himself as the safe consensus candidate against Traian Basescu, the lively but exasperating former sea-captain (and once mayor of Bucharest) who has been the country's president since 2004.
For a few hours on December 6th it even appeared to have paid off. Exit polls gave Mr Geoana a narrow victory. He did win inside the country by 14,738 votes. But Romanians abroad cast 146,876 votes and Mr Basescu took 78% of them. The campaign was exceptionally dirty: observers think that both sides cheated. Mr Basescu's victory against largely hostile news coverage was impressive. Mr Geoana wants a rerun, but his support is dwindling. His Liberal allies now hope to form a government with Mr Basescu's centre-right Democrats.
The Romanian Constitutional Court on Friday ordered a re-examination and recount of votes annulled in Sunday's presidential run-off election. Social Democrat candidate Mircea Geoana lost by a margin of just 70, 000 votes to incumbent President Traian Basescu, garnering 49.7 percent to Basescu's 50.3 percent. Some 138,000 ballots papers previously declared invalid by electoral officials are to be recounted in the coming week. Though mathematically possible, some analysts said it was unlikely that the move would change the election result.
The Romanian Constitutional Court on Friday ordered a re-examination and recount of votes annulled in Sunday's presidential run-off election.
Social Democrat candidate Mircea Geoana lost by a margin of just 70, 000 votes to incumbent President Traian Basescu, garnering 49.7 percent to Basescu's 50.3 percent.
Some 138,000 ballots papers previously declared invalid by electoral officials are to be recounted in the coming week.
Though mathematically possible, some analysts said it was unlikely that the move would change the election result.
AFP - Turkey's top court on Friday banned the country's main Kurdish group, on charges of links to separatist rebels. The 11 judges of the Constitutional Court decided unanimously that the Democratic Society Party (DTP) had become a "focal point of activities against the indivisible unity of the state, the country and the nation", court president Hasim Kilic told a news conference here. He said DTP chairman Ahmet Turk and fellow lawmaker Aysel Tugluk had been stripped of parliamentary immunity and banned from politics for five years along with 35 other party members.
AFP - Turkey's top court on Friday banned the country's main Kurdish group, on charges of links to separatist rebels.
The 11 judges of the Constitutional Court decided unanimously that the Democratic Society Party (DTP) had become a "focal point of activities against the indivisible unity of the state, the country and the nation", court president Hasim Kilic told a news conference here.
He said DTP chairman Ahmet Turk and fellow lawmaker Aysel Tugluk had been stripped of parliamentary immunity and banned from politics for five years along with 35 other party members.
Although there are five candidates in the running for leadership, the race is really between incumbent President Sergei Bagapsh and former prime minister, Raul Khajimba. The two are no strangers. Following the disputed outcome of the 2004 elections, they entered into an uneasy power-sharing arrangement, which was called off earlier this year when Khajimba resigned on the grounds of political incompatibility. Some observers said the move was motivated by Khajimba's need to distance himself from the policies of the current administration ahead of the upcoming elections. But the two were never happy bedfellows. The opposition leader, who is campaigning on a platform of nationalism, has repeatedly accused Bagapsh of being too "Georgia-friendly," while the incumbent president, hoping to ride back into power on a health and education ticket, has accused his rival of making promises he won't be able to keep.
Although there are five candidates in the running for leadership, the race is really between incumbent President Sergei Bagapsh and former prime minister, Raul Khajimba.
The two are no strangers. Following the disputed outcome of the 2004 elections, they entered into an uneasy power-sharing arrangement, which was called off earlier this year when Khajimba resigned on the grounds of political incompatibility.
Some observers said the move was motivated by Khajimba's need to distance himself from the policies of the current administration ahead of the upcoming elections. But the two were never happy bedfellows.
The opposition leader, who is campaigning on a platform of nationalism, has repeatedly accused Bagapsh of being too "Georgia-friendly," while the incumbent president, hoping to ride back into power on a health and education ticket, has accused his rival of making promises he won't be able to keep.
AFP - Thieves opened the grave of former Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos and stole his corpse during the night, state television reported on Friday, interrupting its normal programming. The current leader of Papadopoulos's centre-right DIKO party, Marios Garoyan, condemned what he called a "heinous and terrible crime." Andros Kyprianou, head of the communist AKEL party that leads the Mediterranean island's government, expressed outrage at the crime, which came the day before a memorial service to mark the first anniversary of Papadopoulos's death.
AFP - Thieves opened the grave of former Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos and stole his corpse during the night, state television reported on Friday, interrupting its normal programming.
The current leader of Papadopoulos's centre-right DIKO party, Marios Garoyan, condemned what he called a "heinous and terrible crime."
Andros Kyprianou, head of the communist AKEL party that leads the Mediterranean island's government, expressed outrage at the crime, which came the day before a memorial service to mark the first anniversary of Papadopoulos's death.
It would have been "right to remove" Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein even without evidence that he had weapons of mass destruction, Tony Blair has said.The former prime minister said it was the "notion of him as a threat to the region" which had tilted him in favour of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Without WMD claims it would have been necessary to "use and deploy different arguments," he told the BBC. Mr Blair is expected to face the Iraq war inquiry early next year.
It would have been "right to remove" Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein even without evidence that he had weapons of mass destruction, Tony Blair has said.
The former prime minister said it was the "notion of him as a threat to the region" which had tilted him in favour of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Without WMD claims it would have been necessary to "use and deploy different arguments," he told the BBC.
Mr Blair is expected to face the Iraq war inquiry early next year.
In this instance, a toothless contained dictator was replaced with an anarchy of occupation troops, puppet and not-so-puppet confessionary leaders with own militias faking a national government, tribal militias, criminal syndicates, and terrorists of all sorts. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Iraq's oil capacity could reach 12 million barrels per day (bpd) in six years, the country's oil minister says.Hussein al-Shahristani told reporters in Baghdad that oil producers would not necessarily operate at full capacity, but would take into account demand. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has a capacity of 12.5m bpd. Earlier, a joint bid by Russian and Norwegian oil firms won the contract for the "supergiant" West Qurna field, said to have reserves of 13bn barrels. Lukoil and Statoil will get $1.15 a barrel and will work to raise output from West Qurna Phase 2, in the Basra region, to 1.8m bpd. In June, a winning bid to develop another Iraqi field received $2 a barrel. On Friday, the contract to develop the 12.6bn-barrel Majnoon field in southern Iraq was won by a consortium led by Shell. It also pledged to increase daily production to 1.8m barrels, up from only 46,000.
Iraq's oil capacity could reach 12 million barrels per day (bpd) in six years, the country's oil minister says.
Hussein al-Shahristani told reporters in Baghdad that oil producers would not necessarily operate at full capacity, but would take into account demand.
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has a capacity of 12.5m bpd.
Earlier, a joint bid by Russian and Norwegian oil firms won the contract for the "supergiant" West Qurna field, said to have reserves of 13bn barrels.
Lukoil and Statoil will get $1.15 a barrel and will work to raise output from West Qurna Phase 2, in the Basra region, to 1.8m bpd. In June, a winning bid to develop another Iraqi field received $2 a barrel.
On Friday, the contract to develop the 12.6bn-barrel Majnoon field in southern Iraq was won by a consortium led by Shell. It also pledged to increase daily production to 1.8m barrels, up from only 46,000.
...But that's probably just a coincidence.
It's not because we no longer talk about Iraq in our news that things have stabilized over there, or that oil companies will invest a cent (ie, more than a few million in PR / diplomacy / long term strategic relationship maintenance). I seem to remember that big contracts were awarded a few years ago already... In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
The defense lawyers think that the Hague Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz is "behind yesterday's police action the goal of which was to find the so-called artillery logs", and therefore are asking the trial chamber to "take concrete legal measures against him". ... Croatian police yesterday morning searched the apartments of several persons from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as a part of the search for the artillery logs. They included the apartments of retired general and former Hague indictee Rahim Ademi, Gotovina's associates and member of his defense team Željko Kučić and Marin Ivanović, and former chief of General Petar Stipetić's cabinet, Miroslav Vidović. ... Brammertz's report about Croatia's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal depends on these logs, because some members of the EU do not wish to allow Croatia to start the judiciary and fundamental rights chapter negotiations, unless the logs have been given to the prosecution.
...
Croatian police yesterday morning searched the apartments of several persons from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as a part of the search for the artillery logs.
They included the apartments of retired general and former Hague indictee Rahim Ademi, Gotovina's associates and member of his defense team Željko Kučić and Marin Ivanović, and former chief of General Petar Stipetić's cabinet, Miroslav Vidović.
Brammertz's report about Croatia's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal depends on these logs, because some members of the EU do not wish to allow Croatia to start the judiciary and fundamental rights chapter negotiations, unless the logs have been given to the prosecution.
