A political scandal is gathering pace over claims that 11 French submarine engineers were murdered in a bomb attack in Karachi seven years ago to punish France for the non-payment of arms contract "commissions" to senior Pakistani officials. Lawyers for the French victims' families believe the attack, allegedly carried out by Islamist terrorists, was in fact part of a web of financial chicanery and political manoeuvring which may yet severely embarrass senior figures, including the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari. Two French magistrates investigating the bombing of the engineers' bus in May 2002 have ruled out the possibility that it was an attack by al-Qa'ida on Western interests. They have told the victims' families there is "cruel logic" to an alternative explanation. They believe unknown figures in the Pakistani establishment may have fomented the attack in retaliation for the non-payment of part of the €80m (£68m) in sweeteners promised to senior officials when Lahore bought three Agosta 90B submarines from France in 1994.
A political scandal is gathering pace over claims that 11 French submarine engineers were murdered in a bomb attack in Karachi seven years ago to punish France for the non-payment of arms contract "commissions" to senior Pakistani officials.
Lawyers for the French victims' families believe the attack, allegedly carried out by Islamist terrorists, was in fact part of a web of financial chicanery and political manoeuvring which may yet severely embarrass senior figures, including the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari.
Two French magistrates investigating the bombing of the engineers' bus in May 2002 have ruled out the possibility that it was an attack by al-Qa'ida on Western interests. They have told the victims' families there is "cruel logic" to an alternative explanation. They believe unknown figures in the Pakistani establishment may have fomented the attack in retaliation for the non-payment of part of the €80m (£68m) in sweeteners promised to senior officials when Lahore bought three Agosta 90B submarines from France in 1994.
This is much graver than any excessive expenses, yet in France only readers of Canard Enchaîné and Libération have heard about it. That's why it can't hurt Sarko : there's no press left worthy of the name.
(And Charles Millon, Defense Minister from '95 to 97 has confirmed he had suspended the bakchich...) Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
EUOBSERVER / ASTANA - The remote capital of post-Soviet petro-state Kazakhstan hosted this year's security forum of Nato's partner countries, the first time the event took place outside Europe in a bid to secure more support for the alliance's mission in neighbouring Afghanistan. Barely 12 years old and still largely a construction site, Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, is a strange blend of Soviet-style apartment blocks, modern skyscrapers and artsy projects bearing the signature of famous architects such as Norman Foster. Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, wants to keep close ties with Nato, but also Russia and China In his keynote address on Thursday (25 June) during Nato's security forum with its partner countries (EAPC), secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer praised the city as a "haven for contemporary architecture in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan." The new capital, built from scratch in the middle of the deserted landscape of central Kazakhstan mirrors the ambitions of the country's perennial president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who just celebrated 20 years of uninterrupted leadership.
EUOBSERVER / ASTANA - The remote capital of post-Soviet petro-state Kazakhstan hosted this year's security forum of Nato's partner countries, the first time the event took place outside Europe in a bid to secure more support for the alliance's mission in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Barely 12 years old and still largely a construction site, Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, is a strange blend of Soviet-style apartment blocks, modern skyscrapers and artsy projects bearing the signature of famous architects such as Norman Foster.
Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, wants to keep close ties with Nato, but also Russia and China
In his keynote address on Thursday (25 June) during Nato's security forum with its partner countries (EAPC), secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer praised the city as a "haven for contemporary architecture in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan."
The new capital, built from scratch in the middle of the deserted landscape of central Kazakhstan mirrors the ambitions of the country's perennial president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who just celebrated 20 years of uninterrupted leadership.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Union environment ministers have cobbled together an agreement on plans to reduce industrial pollution, combining together a patchwork of previous anti-emissions legislation in a new piece of legislation that is expected to prevent thousands of deaths in the bloc every year. Rules on industrial emissions will be tightened but the schedule for adhering to them has been extended Environmentalists however say they were disappointed that the final compromise amongst EU member states was considerably weaker than what had originally been proposed. Targeting heavy industry, oil refineries and power plants, the deal agreed by ministers from the different member states meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday (25 June) tightens sulphur and nitrogen emissions as well as the release of dust particles, asbestos and heavy metals into the environment. Installations must meet the fresh emissions standards set by the member states by 2016, although countries may choose to apply the restrictions as late as the end of 2020. New plants must adhere to the rules by 2012, however.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Union environment ministers have cobbled together an agreement on plans to reduce industrial pollution, combining together a patchwork of previous anti-emissions legislation in a new piece of legislation that is expected to prevent thousands of deaths in the bloc every year.
Rules on industrial emissions will be tightened but the schedule for adhering to them has been extended
Environmentalists however say they were disappointed that the final compromise amongst EU member states was considerably weaker than what had originally been proposed.
Targeting heavy industry, oil refineries and power plants, the deal agreed by ministers from the different member states meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday (25 June) tightens sulphur and nitrogen emissions as well as the release of dust particles, asbestos and heavy metals into the environment.
Installations must meet the fresh emissions standards set by the member states by 2016, although countries may choose to apply the restrictions as late as the end of 2020.
New plants must adhere to the rules by 2012, however.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived for two days of talks with European Union officials in Brussels to try to revive his country's stalled EU membership bid in the face of renewed hostility from some member states. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Brussels on Friday to revive stalled European Union membership talks. Turkey has been urging the European Union not to leave its accession bid adrift and has said its membership would help the EU's relationship with Muslims. Erdogan deplored the slow pace of movement on accession "No other candidate nation has been submitted to this kind of treatment," said Erdogan, who travelled to Brussels with two senior colleagues for talks with European Union officials. "Some countries have adopted a political attitude in the negotiation process and their efforts to slow things down upsets us," he told reporters. Erdogan did not specifically mention Cyprus, France or Germany, the three EU nations harbouring the most doubts about Turkish membership.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Brussels on Friday to revive stalled European Union membership talks. Turkey has been urging the European Union not to leave its accession bid adrift and has said its membership would help the EU's relationship with Muslims.
Erdogan deplored the slow pace of movement on accession "No other candidate nation has been submitted to this kind of treatment," said Erdogan, who travelled to Brussels with two senior colleagues for talks with European Union officials. "Some countries have adopted a political attitude in the negotiation process and their efforts to slow things down upsets us," he told reporters. Erdogan did not specifically mention Cyprus, France or Germany, the three EU nations harbouring the most doubts about Turkish membership.
During a visit to Brussels to revive Ankara's deadlocked EU accession talks, Turkish Premier Erdogan expressed frustration at his country's lack of progress over meeting key EU demands to implement political reforms. Erdogan told journalists that plans to change the constitution, key to keeping Turkey's bid for EU membership on track, are a "waste of time" as long as opposition parties keep blocking all efforts in parliament. Erdogan's comments were the clearest sign yet that his government could ditch its long standing goal of joining the 27-nation bloc. Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Most Europeans oppose Turkey's entry bid because it is a Moslem country, poor, and situated mostly in Asia
Erdogan told journalists that plans to change the constitution, key to keeping Turkey's bid for EU membership on track, are a "waste of time" as long as opposition parties keep blocking all efforts in parliament. Erdogan's comments were the clearest sign yet that his government could ditch its long standing goal of joining the 27-nation bloc. Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Most Europeans oppose Turkey's entry bid because it is a Moslem country, poor, and situated mostly in Asia
For more than a decade, a drab, beige building in central Madrid has been the global destination of choice for anyone wanting to file allegations of genocide, torture and crimes against humanity.The Audiencia Nacional - National Criminal Court - has heard complaints of human-rights abuses as far afield as Guatemala, Rwanda, Chile, Tibet, Gaza and Guantanamo Bay. Currently, 10 cases from five continents are being investigated by Spanish judges, under the principle of "universal jurisdiction," which holds that some crimes are so grave that they can be tried anywhere, regardless of where the offences were committed. In a recent statement, almost 100 organisations collectively praised Spain's "pioneering approach," gushing that the country "should feel proud of itself" for becoming a reference point for other nations. Except, Spain's left-leaning government sees things rather differently.
For more than a decade, a drab, beige building in central Madrid has been the global destination of choice for anyone wanting to file allegations of genocide, torture and crimes against humanity.
The Audiencia Nacional - National Criminal Court - has heard complaints of human-rights abuses as far afield as Guatemala, Rwanda, Chile, Tibet, Gaza and Guantanamo Bay.
Currently, 10 cases from five continents are being investigated by Spanish judges, under the principle of "universal jurisdiction," which holds that some crimes are so grave that they can be tried anywhere, regardless of where the offences were committed.
In a recent statement, almost 100 organisations collectively praised Spain's "pioneering approach," gushing that the country "should feel proud of itself" for becoming a reference point for other nations.
Except, Spain's left-leaning government sees things rather differently.
One pair of sunglasses. That is what everyone in The Hague is getting worked up about. It seems Finance Minister Wouter Bos lost his Ray Bans during a trip to Brussels last year. No one would have noticed, except that he then declared them as an official expense and charged the Dutch taxpayer 113 euros for a new pair. This is just one of the expenses declared by cabinet ministers since they took office over two years ago, published in the best-selling Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. On the heels of the expenses affair in the UK, some see a similar scandal brewing here in the Netherlands. Besides Mr Bos and his sunglasses, various other ministers also turned in expense claims. Taxi receipt Another Labour Party cabinet member, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Frank Heemskerk, declared 90 euros for a tuxedo rental. The President of Ghana would have been surprised to see Mr Heemskerk show up at a state banquet in his regular suit.
One pair of sunglasses. That is what everyone in The Hague is getting worked up about. It seems Finance Minister Wouter Bos lost his Ray Bans during a trip to Brussels last year. No one would have noticed, except that he then declared them as an official expense and charged the Dutch taxpayer 113 euros for a new pair.
This is just one of the expenses declared by cabinet ministers since they took office over two years ago, published in the best-selling Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. On the heels of the expenses affair in the UK, some see a similar scandal brewing here in the Netherlands.
Besides Mr Bos and his sunglasses, various other ministers also turned in expense claims.
Taxi receipt Another Labour Party cabinet member, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Frank Heemskerk, declared 90 euros for a tuxedo rental. The President of Ghana would have been surprised to see Mr Heemskerk show up at a state banquet in his regular suit.
Complete records of the shadow cabinet's expenses claims have been published for the first time by Telegraph.co.uk. The documents and receipts, which were submitted to the Commons by members of David Cameron's front bench team, contain crucial details that were covered up in official data released by Parliament. The shadow cabinet's expenses in full Information in the documents - especially the identity of the properties for which the MPs claimed expenses - was key in exposing their abuses of the system, including:
The documents and receipts, which were submitted to the Commons by members of David Cameron's front bench team, contain crucial details that were covered up in official data released by Parliament.
Information in the documents - especially the identity of the properties for which the MPs claimed expenses - was key in exposing their abuses of the system, including:
France is to be taken to the European Court of Justice for failing to protect the Alsace hamster, a cuddly rodent threatened with extension in its native eastern France. The European Commission had long warned France it could face a multi-million pound fine if it failed to do more to save its hamsters from extinction.But French authorities refused all attempts by the commission to protect the diminutive mammal, also known as the European hamster, according to an official linked to the proceedings.According to the EU's executive body, the rodent requires around 600,000 acres of protected land to thrive, but now has less than 8,500 acres in eastern France in which to roam and feed.Once considered vermin, the Alsace hamster (Cricetus cricetus) has been all but wiped out by rat poison, traps and farmers flooding its burrows.
The European Commission had long warned France it could face a multi-million pound fine if it failed to do more to save its hamsters from extinction.
But French authorities refused all attempts by the commission to protect the diminutive mammal, also known as the European hamster, according to an official linked to the proceedings.
According to the EU's executive body, the rodent requires around 600,000 acres of protected land to thrive, but now has less than 8,500 acres in eastern France in which to roam and feed.
Once considered vermin, the Alsace hamster (Cricetus cricetus) has been all but wiped out by rat poison, traps and farmers flooding its burrows.
Silvio Berlusconi faced mounting pressure to come clean about his private life yesterday after revelations that he entertained about 20 women, including two lesbian escort girls, until dawn during a private party at his house in Rome. Patrizia D'Addario, the Bari prostitute who claims to have recorded footage that proves her encounters with the Prime Minister, gave more details of her first meeting with Mr Berlusconi, saying: "It felt like a harem. And there was only one sheikh. Him." She also spoke of the "strange burglary" in which her underwear, computer and the dress she wore to the party were allegedly stolen from her home days after she told a friend of the secret recordings. It is understood that the video recordings, taken on her mobile phone, show Ms D'Addario in the Prime Minister's bedroom. She claims that the four-poster bed with white drapes and duvets were given to him as a present by his friend Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister. A Kremlin spokesman denied that Mr Putin had ever given the Italian leader a bed.----Under the headline "Rivers of Cocaine" La Repubblica also reported yesterday that prosecutors had found evidence of frequent drug use at parties held by Mr Tarantini, 34.Mr Berlusconi has dismissed the allegations surrounding the sex scandal as rubbish, and insisted during an interview earlier this week that he had nothing to be ashamed of. There is no suggestion that he knew of drug use at the parties in question. At least five parties at Palazzo Grazioli, his residence in Rome, and two at Villa Certosa, his luxury villa on the Sardinia coast, are under investigation.
Silvio Berlusconi faced mounting pressure to come clean about his private life yesterday after revelations that he entertained about 20 women, including two lesbian escort girls, until dawn during a private party at his house in Rome.
Patrizia D'Addario, the Bari prostitute who claims to have recorded footage that proves her encounters with the Prime Minister, gave more details of her first meeting with Mr Berlusconi, saying: "It felt like a harem. And there was only one sheikh. Him."
She also spoke of the "strange burglary" in which her underwear, computer and the dress she wore to the party were allegedly stolen from her home days after she told a friend of the secret recordings.
It is understood that the video recordings, taken on her mobile phone, show Ms D'Addario in the Prime Minister's bedroom. She claims that the four-poster bed with white drapes and duvets were given to him as a present by his friend Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister. A Kremlin spokesman denied that Mr Putin had ever given the Italian leader a bed.
----
Under the headline "Rivers of Cocaine" La Repubblica also reported yesterday that prosecutors had found evidence of frequent drug use at parties held by Mr Tarantini, 34.
Mr Berlusconi has dismissed the allegations surrounding the sex scandal as rubbish, and insisted during an interview earlier this week that he had nothing to be ashamed of. There is no suggestion that he knew of drug use at the parties in question. At least five parties at Palazzo Grazioli, his residence in Rome, and two at Villa Certosa, his luxury villa on the Sardinia coast, are under investigation.
The Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has joked to workmen that if they succeed in rebuilding an earthquake-hit Italian town he will reward them by sending them showgirls. Mr Berlusconi appeared to have recovered some of his characteristic ebullience after being buffeted by weeks of scandal over his personal life. Renowned for his love of sometimes inappropriate quips, he was in jovial mood when he visited L'Aquila, which was badly damaged by an earthquake on April 6. Touring a construction site where new homes are being built for the 50,000 people who were left homeless by the quake, he joked to builders: "Where are the girls? I don't see any. In that case, I'll have to bring them next time I come".Mr Berlusconi has repeatedly promised that the thousands of people now living in tented camps will be re-housed by the autumn, when cold weather returns to the upland region in the province of Abruzzo."Well boys, if all goes well, I'll really bring the showgirls," he said. "Otherwise, we'll all come across as gays."
Mr Berlusconi appeared to have recovered some of his characteristic ebullience after being buffeted by weeks of scandal over his personal life. Renowned for his love of sometimes inappropriate quips, he was in jovial mood when he visited L'Aquila, which was badly damaged by an earthquake on April 6.
Touring a construction site where new homes are being built for the 50,000 people who were left homeless by the quake, he joked to builders: "Where are the girls? I don't see any. In that case, I'll have to bring them next time I come".
Mr Berlusconi has repeatedly promised that the thousands of people now living in tented camps will be re-housed by the autumn, when cold weather returns to the upland region in the province of Abruzzo.
"Well boys, if all goes well, I'll really bring the showgirls," he said. "Otherwise, we'll all come across as gays."
An English version has been put up.
There is also a 14 minute video chronicle of the cases.
For a few news bytes a day in advance of the English press, here goes.
B's daily, Il Giornale, has put together a farrago implicating two opposition politicians in an affair that date backs to 2000. The allegations involve Massimo D'Alema and Lorenzo Cesa who both supposedly had similar parties, butterflies and coke galore. D'Alema was prime minister at the time while Cesa is head of the Christian Democrat opposition party. The case was archived at the time for lack of evidence.
After B's paper published this, B expressed solidarity to both for being victims of the same sort of false charges he is now going through.
Cesa stated he had never been involved in the sort of parties and drugs now associated with B. And categorically refused his solidarity. D'Alema has menaced sueing for slander.
B then felt that Cesa was being ungracious and hoped he would come around. Il Giornale has since confirmed their charges. We can expect more from them in the days to come. B's papers have previously revealed that Veronica Lario has a relation with her bodyguard. Nude frontal shots ofB'S wife have also been published front page in his press.
B reiterated today his call to "close the mouth of catastrophists" and invited industries not to place advertisements in a "certain press." B has been sued by the Espresso-Repubblica group. His call was also a direct attack against Mario Draghi, president of the Federal Bank, who announced a 5% deficit this year.
B considers Draghi as a political menace. A former Bank of Italy president, Azeglio Ciampi, was called to save Italian finances in the 90's.
B continues to declare he was elected by the groveling masses and can in no way be ousted, a position shared by the racist demagogue Umberto Bossi.
To our relief he no longer claims that 73% of the Italians approve of him. He has set the percentage at 61% today.
In the next few days expect false scoops against other major opposition figures.
I have heard rumors that the ineffable cesspool shark Minzolini has actually broadcasted a primetime national news service on the Bari scandals involving B's dinner table buddy and gigolo Tarantini. The news service managed to say that Nikki Vendola, opposition governor of the Puglia, has been invited to testify on hospital contract bans. Funny B was not mentioned.
PARIS -- As the global economic crisis heads into the summer vacation season, Westerners have some advice for their political leaders: Keep on working.Even people in Spain, Italy and France, famous for jealously guarding their vacation time, strongly agreed with that sentiment in a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the International Herald Tribune and the cable news channel France 24. By a ratio of two to one, people in those countries as well as the United States and Britain said their leaders should reduce or eliminate their vacation time this year in response to the economy. Germans were split on whether Chancellor Angela Merkel should take her normal time off. The opinions about national leaders reflected sentiments within each country. In Germany, for instance, about half of those surveyed said the economy would have no impact on their vacation plans. In the other five countries, one-third of the respondents or fewer said so.
Even people in Spain, Italy and France, famous for jealously guarding their vacation time, strongly agreed with that sentiment in a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the International Herald Tribune and the cable news channel France 24.
By a ratio of two to one, people in those countries as well as the United States and Britain said their leaders should reduce or eliminate their vacation time this year in response to the economy. Germans were split on whether Chancellor Angela Merkel should take her normal time off.
The opinions about national leaders reflected sentiments within each country. In Germany, for instance, about half of those surveyed said the economy would have no impact on their vacation plans. In the other five countries, one-third of the respondents or fewer said so.
