French MPs have voted in favour of amending their country's constitution to allow adoption of the EU Lisbon Treaty.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon called the decision: "a vote that distinguishes the actors of history from the spectators."

The Versailles assembly, bringing together both the French Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, voted 560 to 181.

Of the 893 voters present, 741 votes were cast

The opposition Socialists, while in favour of the treaty, largely abstained in protest at the decision to "take the parliamentary road" to pass the treaty rather than hold a referendum.

The party, however, is very much divided on the issue. Although ahead of the vote, the Socialists had announced they were all to abstain, many voted for the amendment and many voted against.

The prospect of a general election in Italy in April grew stronger yesterday after an attempt failed to form an interim government in order to first change the voting rules.

Senate speaker Franco Marini had been asked last Wednesday, after Romano Prodi's centre-left government lost a confidence vote last month, to find cross-party support for an interim government to legislate a change in elections so they produce a more decisive outcome.

Being ahead in opinion polls, Silvio Berlusconi and his opposition centre-right allies blocked talks, thus paving the way for the dissolution of parliament this week and a poll on the existing law on April 6 or 13. Berlusconi passed the law during his second term in 2005; it is credited with giving undue weight in parliament to small parties.

Forming an interim administration now to change that system, as Marini had been requested by President Giorgio Napolitano, was "a useless waste of time," Berlusconi said yesterday.

Angry employees locked their British boss in his factory for 48 hours in an attempt to stop him shipping their jobs to Central Europe to avoid France's onerous labour laws.

The incident at the BRS car parts company, near to the eastern city of Besançon, was the second this year in which French workers have detained a British manager amid anger over job losses blamed on globalisation. "Anglo-Saxon" free trade doctrines are seen as a spur for la délocalisation, the much-feared export of jobs, which President Sarkozy promised to fight.

Mike Bacon, the head of BRS, which makes fittings for the car industry, was prevented from leaving his plant on Saturday morning after workers spotted Slovakian lorries loading equipment. The 38 staff had not received their January pay and suspected that he was shipping out to Slovakia, where he runs another plant.

The workers released Mr Bacon yesterday afternoon after accompanying him to a court where a judge ordered the liquidation of the company, which was taken over a year ago by a subsidiary of the Suffolk-based Utilux company.

FRANKFURT: The day after the emergency interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve two weeks ago, Jean-Claude Trichet went before the European Parliament to deliver perhaps the most eagerly anticipated speech of his four years as president of the European Central Bank.

It was a dense, technical presentation, packed with meaty thoughts on how Europe's financial system could navigate the credit crisis that had begun in the United States. But his audience only cared about one thing: Would the European Central Bank follow the Fed's landmark cut?

The answer, which Trichet saved for the tail end of the talk, was no. Fighting inflation, he said, was still the bank's No. 1 goal, the "needle of our compass," to use his well-worn phrase, which doesn't mean, of course, that the bank will never cut rates again.

It was a vintage performance by the world's other most important central banker, showing off both Trichet's cool-headed response to the market turmoil and his iron resolve that the ECB chart its own course in responding to the troubles in the United States.

Nato has begun an investigation into British findings that wind farms make overflying planes invisible to radar as military chiefs fear a security threat from the rapid spread of the turbines.

The US has been attending tests by Britain's Air Warfare Centre after it made the surprise discovery that the energy plants create blind spots in air defences.

Renewable energy campaigners have been stung by a spate of last-minute objections from the Ministry of Defence to proposed new wind farms in northeast England and the Scottish Borders.

Nato's alarm about this potential Achilles' heel against airborne terrorists or invaders is disclosed in evidence, seen by The Times, for a planning inquiry.

The MoD is now objecting routinely to all wind farms within line of sight of radar stations, irrespective of distance. There is currently no known technical solution.

Evidence was given by Squadron Leader Chris Breedon, opposing a 48-turbine wind farm at Fallago Rig in the Lammermuir Hills in Scotland. "As a result of MoD trials proving that wind turbines adversely influence the performance of military and civilian radar systems operating within radar line of sight, Nato has become concerned about the rapid increase in the number of wind turbine farm projects under planning or in development in a number of Nato countries," he said.

Recent election setbacks and internal party squabbles have hit the popularity of both Angela Merkel and her Christian Democrats, opinion polls revealed on Monday.

Support for the CDU fell four percentage points to 35 per cent, the lowest level in 10 months, according to a survey by the Forsa agency. The chancellor remains Germany's most popular politician, although her ratings fell four points to 74 per cent, according to a separate poll.

The Social Democrats, Ms Merkel's coalition allies, have also lost support, down two points to 25 per cent. Analysts said the parties are still reeling from regional elections in late January in which both the CDU and SPD suffered heavy losses and the Left Party, a new anti-reform grouping, for the first time entered important regional parliaments in west Germany.

The Left, composed largely of ex-communists and SPD dissidents, saw their support increase to 14 per cent in the Forsa poll, the highest level for over a year.

Last Friday, and again since Monday, one of the rail unions is striking. They have their effect in East Hungary and around Budapest, including my daily commute. It's the same routine every day: maybe one or two trains in the morning, but as striking workers are replaced, traffic runs up in the afternoon.

This time, I thnk the strike is foolish, and clearly a power-gaining attempt from that one union (which was in the lead during the prior strikes, too). The precedent is something I opposed, the privatisation of the freight branch on 2 January (sold to the Austrian Federal Railways's freight branch): the striking union calls for a 'dividend' to all railway workers from the privatisation income.

Methinks dividends should come from operating profits only, and as sad as it is to spend privatisation income on the maintenance of the remaining state railways, that's still more sensible for employees than cashing in and then let the state dissolve the remains of the company.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has attended the launch of a new high-speed train made by engineering giant Alstom.

The AGV (Automotrice Grande Vitesse) train will travel at up to 360km/h (224mph), powered by engines placed under each carriage, the company says.

The absence of locomotives at either end allows it to carry more passengers.

Alstom compares the AGV - successor to the TGV - to the world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, in terms of importance and innovation.

United Arab Emirates Economics Minister Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi speaks with SPIEGEL about the success of her country's economy, her work to tear down stereotypes about Arab countries and how women can gain from the boom in the Gulf.

 Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi, United Arab Emirates economics minister. SPIEGEL: Sheikha Lubna, the oil price is over $90, money is overflowing the coffers of the Persian Gulf states, your country recently raised the salaries of civil servants by 70 percent -- have you been able to keep your feet on the ground or have you already lost touch with reality?

Lubna: Don't worry, we're on steady ground. As far as the 70-percent salary increase for our civil servants goes, we simply had to keep up with inflation...

SPIEGEL: ...which is 9 percent.

Lubna: Yes, but the salaries in the private economy have risen so rapidly that we are in danger of losing our best people.

SPIEGEL: Other Arab governments would love to have such problems.

Lubna: It's true we are doing well at the moment. Our economy grew last year by 9 percent and what's particularly rewarding is that 62.5 percent of our gross national product no longer comes from oil production. We suffered greatly when the oil prices were so low in the 1980s and so we developed our own know-how which we today export: tourism, logistics, aerospace and airport management. All together that in turn brings back foreign investment -- $12.5 billion last year. Believe me, this capital wouldn't have appeared had we not worked in a very disciplined fashion over the last 20 years.

The US presidential election campaign is becoming more heated, fiercer and grotesque. In the final spurt before Super Tuesday, the candidates are invoking the memories of their parties' legendary figures, Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy. Meanwhile, the Clintons are invoking memories of -- the Clintons.

 Presidential candidate Barack Obama with members of the Kennedy family (Ted, right, Caroline, center, and Patrick): pathos and patriotism to the fullest It was a clear, cold winter morning in Washington when the Kennedys finally reached into the wheels of world politics again. Caroline Kennedy said she had been waiting half of her life for a politician who is like her father, and this man had finally arrived. She stood on a small stage in the auditorium at American University, wearing a grey blazer, smiling shyly and pushing her brown hair behind her ears.

"Barack Obama is the president we need," she said to an audience of cheering students, before looking over at her uncle.

"He will be a president who refuses to be trapped in the patterns of the past," Senator Edward "Teddy" Kennedy, the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated, told the crowd. "He has the power to inspire and make America good again," Kennedy the elder statesman roared, speaking with a forcefulness that surprised many in the audience

WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush is requesting $719.8 million in fiscal 2009 to begin construction of a missile defense in Europe to intercept long-range Iranian missiles, according to Pentagon budget documents.

Funding for the system would total $4.5 billion through 2013, according to documents provided to Bloomberg News ahead of their release later Monday. Likely participants in the program are Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Orbital Sciences, the main companies participating in the ground-based system on the West Coast and Alaska.

In fiscal 2009, Bush is requesting a total of $10.5 billion for missile defense, about $600 million more than Congress approved for this year. The rest of the funding would continue development, purchase and testing of the U.S.-based system, new weapons to shoot down missiles before launch and outfitting U.S. Navy vessels for missile defense.

Congress last year allowed spending to develop a new interceptor and a construction plan but prohibited spending money to start construction of sites in Poland and the Czech Republic until the United States signs formal agreements.

Celebrations in Germany's carnival-crazed cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz reached their apex on Rose Monday, after a weekend of carnival parties. However the fun turned nasty in some European cities, with far-right violence and two deaths.

Germany's boisterous carnival celebrations reached their climax Monday, when the traditional Rose Monday parades were held. Millions of revelers flooded the streets of German cities, especially the Carnival-crazed metropolises of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz, to watch parades featuring marching bands and politically

In Cologne, the heartland of Germany's carnival, more than a million people watched a parade that included 97 floats and 123 marching bands. The floats in Cologne and Düsseldorf are made of paper maché and themed to lampoon newsmakers and current events. Osama bin Laden took a literal "blood bath" on one float, while a weary and naked German Chancellor Angela Merkel shared a diaper with Kurt Beck, leader of the country's Social Democrats, on another.

Applied Materials, a leader in chipmaking equipment, is ramping up on solar-panel machines and counting on European regulations for business.

A field of solar panels near Leipzig, Germany Europe has set an ambitious target to obtain 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Trouble is, even if only one-quarter of it comes from the sun, that much power will require enough solar panels to generate 200 gigawatts of electricity. That's a tall order -- some 25 times the current annual production of solar panels around the world. Clearly, manufacturing volumes have to jump, or Europe's green energy target will be out of reach.

Help is on the way from an unlikely source: Silicon Valley's Applied Materials, the world leader in chipmaking equipment. For 40 years, Applied Materials has been producing high-precision manufacturing gear for semiconductors and flat-panel displays; now it's racing to sell specialized machines that churn out solar panels more cheaply and in higher volumes than ever before.

The immediate goal is to drive down the cost-per-watt of solar electricity by at least 25 percent -- and eventually bring it to parity with conventional sources such as coal and natural gas. "Applied has a history of using technology and smart engineering to lower cost and grow markets," says Chief Executive Mike Splinter. "We see a real opportunity to change the cost equation for solar power through adoption of our existing technology and new innovation."

A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.

The vast expanse of debris - in effect the world's largest rubbish dump - is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.

Charles Moore, an American oceanographer who discovered the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" or "trash vortex", believes that about 100 million tons of flotsam are circulating in the region. Marcus Eriksen, a research director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which Mr Moore founded, said yesterday: "The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States."

OTTAWA (Reuters) - It may be wishful thinking, but a Canadian government ministry has sent out a directive to its employees urging them to relax and not to use their BlackBerry smartphones at night or on weekends and holidays.
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Trying to re-establish a proper balance between work and life, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is starting by trying to cut the chains to what some have called CrackBerries.

The department's deputy minister, Richard Fadden, sent out a memo asking employees to implement a BlackBerry "blackout" between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and on weekends and holidays.

"Work/life quality is a priority for me and this organization because achieving it benefits us both as individuals and as a department," Fadden wrote.

Ten human embryos each containing the DNA from one man and two women have been created in a project that within three years could lead to the first genetically altered babies being born in Britain.

Have your say: How far should scientists go in the quest to cure disease?

Daily Telegraph Q&A: three-parent embryos

The form of gene transplant proposed in Newcastle will be bitterly opposed by pro-life campaigners but offers the first realistic hope of an effective treatment for an entire class of serious genetic diseases.

Progress is such that Lord Walton of Detchant has tabled an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would allow this radical treatment to be used without seeking the permission of Parliament by seeking the approval of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority instead.

(And I'm not going to bed right now... I have a website to finish...)

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

Or is everybody sick of US election discussions?

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!