26-year-old Mahinur Ozdemir, a Belgian lawmaker of Turkish origin, was sworn in at the Brussels regional parliament Tuesday wearing an Islamic headscarf, in a first for the kingdom.

AFP - A Belgian lawmaker of Turkish origin was sworn in at the Brussels regional parliament Tuesday wearing an Islamic headscarf, in a first for the kingdom.
  
"I swear to respect the constitution," 26-year-old Mahinur Ozdemir said, her hand raised, to applause and a rain of camera flashes, as she was sworn in at around 1400 GMT. She won her seat in local elections on June 7.
  
Members of her family and a strong contingent of Turkish media attended.
  
Ozdemir, dressed in a beige dress with a headscarf marked by turquoise coloured squares, smiled broadly in response and flashed a discreet V sign to her family.
  

President Nicolas Sarkozy has reshuffled his government, naming eight new ministers, including Frederic Mitterrand (pictured) as culture minister, but leaving the foreign affairs and economy portfolios unchanged.

AFP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled a major reshuffle of his right-wing cabinet Tuesday, naming new interior and justice ministers and bringing on board the nephew of late Socialist leader Francois Mitterrand.
  
Seeking to jumpstart his presidency half way through his mandate, Sarkozy made the wider-than-expected changes following a historic address to parliament Monday, in which he set out his roadmap for steering France out of recession.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus has pledged to be the last in the EU to sign the Lisbon Treaty, raising fears about the future of the document which has been several painful years in the making.

The Czech parliament has approved the treaty, but the president's signature is needed to complete the process, a fact that the eurosceptic Mr Vaclav has dangled over the rest of the member states on several occasions.

Vaclav Klaus says he is not the 'last mohican' on the question of the treaty

"I will certainly not rush," Mr Klaus told Czech Radio, reports DPA. "I will certainly wait until after all those things about which I have talked about, which include a constitutional complaint by our senators ... happen."

"The Irish have not voted again. Poland has not signed the Lisbon Treaty, and Germany has not signed the Lisbon Treaty. So I am not the last Mohican who is fighting against all," he said.

EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS - EU regional policy commissioner Danuta Hubner announced she would on Wednesday (24 June) resign from her post, in order to take up her mandate as a member of the European Parliament.

"I have received during the elections a huge support coming from my fellow citizens and that encourages me now to take up the seat in the European Parliament, so I am resigning from the current post as EU commissioner for regional policy," Ms Hubner told journalists in Brussels on Tuesday.

Danuta Hubner has decided to take up her MEP seat, but is still open for future EU commissioner job

The 61-year old economist and policy-maker, who won by an overwhelming majority in the Warsaw constituency was required by Polish electoral law to step down by Wednesday from any other position that would be in conflict of interest with the MEP function.

She is to stay on as commissioner temporarily however giving the Polish government, led by Donald Tusk, a chance to appoint a replacement.

A harsh new Council of Europe report focuses on the Yukos Oil and Hermitage Fund cases as it slams Russian criminal justice system abuses.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has singled out reform of Russia's legal system as the biggest challenge facing the country. Medvedev, a former law professor, has coined the expression "legal nihilism" to describe widespread legal abuses-a problem, he says, that seriously hinders Russia's development.

 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speaks talks to international business leaders and bankers at the 13th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. But a new report, published on June 23, is likely to prove embarrassing reading for the Russian President. It comes from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a Strasbourg-based international organization promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe. Titled Allegations of Politically Motivated Abuses of the Criminal Justice System in Council of Europe Member States, the report examined alleged abuses in four member states: Britain, Germany, France, and Russia. Much of the document focuses on Russia, detailing several recent cases that "give rise to concerns that the fight against 'legal nihilism' launched by President Medvedev is still far from won."

More Bad News for Investors

That is perhaps putting it mildly. Among its observations, the Council of Europe report alleges that Russia's justice system is characterized by "pressure on judges," frequent "intimidation and reprisals" against defense lawyers, "irregularities in the investigative process," and "political interference in the criminal justice process."

In keeping with the institutional reform he himself saw through, the French president was able to give a direct address, on Monday June 22, to both houses of the French parliament at Louis XIV's chateau of Versailles. Such an "historical event", which last occurred all of one hundred and fifty years ago, hasn't escaped the attention of the European press, which has lambasted Sarkozy's "monarchical delirium".

In the palatial setting of Versailles, it should have been a consecration, but as the Libération headline points out it was more of a "Hassle in a Castle." For the inauguration of institutional reforms voted in July 2008, the French President made his first ever address to an assembly which convened both houses of the French parliament -- and failed to live up to the occasion with a "drab" speech in marked contrast to the sumptuous venue. "Even the Right could not hide its disappointment at a speech which only surprised by its utter predictability," reports the left-wing daily.

This sentiment is also re-echoed by the European press led by Der Standard, which ironically reports on "a revolutionary event in the royal palace," only to conclude that the first exercise of the president's right to address parliament was marked by "a total absence of revolutionary content. (...) The only certainty is that Sarkozy does not intend to raise taxes," observes the Viennese daily, which emphasizes the media circus surrounding the assembly and the dash of celebrity glamour provided by the presence of Carla Bruni.

For Dziennik in Warsaw, Nicolas Sarkozy's address was not so much a speech as a show to promote a new political program, which the editor of the daily Andrzej Talaga deplores as "a mix of populism, socialism and nationalism." In seeking to assist key sectors of French industry, the French President is threatening to undermine the foundations of Europe, which are the Single Market and free and fair competition. In conclusion, Talaga takes the view that "Sarkozy has stamped these principles into the mud beneath his elevated shoes." For Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the assembly in Versailles was first and foremost the expression of the French president's "regal delusions." The conservative daily goes on point out that the staging of "the event cost a million euros," which could have been used for a more useful purpose than "pomp and circumstance."

EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS - The EU's planned foreign service should be established gradually and not in a 'Big Bang', if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified after a second Irish referendum, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said on Monday.

With only a few months left to go on the job, Mr Solana held a speech outlining his foreign policy vision for the European Union, including the perspective of creating a common foreign service should the Lisbon Treaty come into force after Ireland holds a second referendum and Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic complete the ratification process.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana says diplomats abroad will represent all 27 member states

"The foreign service is contemplated in the treaty as an effort of the member states to create a global common diplomacy. I like to think that in time we will be one of the most important diplomacies in the world, along with US, China and other big players in the world," he said.

Mr Solana, who has been the Union's first high representative for foreign and security policy for the past ten years, said the bloc's foreign service would consist of national and EU diplomats.

Britain has expelled two Iranian diplomats after Tehran ordered two British diplomats to leave. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that Tehran's decision to expel the British diplomats was unjustified. 

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was expelling the Iranian diplomats from their embassy in London after Tehran on Monday said it was expelling two British envoys. 

Brown said Tehran's decision to throw out the British envoys was based on allegations that "were absolutely without foundation." He did not elaborate what those allegations were.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly accused Western governments, particularly Britain and the United States as well as UN Chief Ban Ki-moon of meddling in its internal affairs. 

A former Kosovo prime minister, Agim Ceku, has been arrested in Bulgaria on an international warrant issued by Serbia for alleged war crimes.

The Bulgarian interior ministry said Mr Ceku was detained as he crossed the border from Macedonia and a court would consider his case in the next few days.

Serbia accuses Mr Ceku of committing war crimes in 1998-99.

At the time he was commander of the ethnic-Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which was fighting Serbia.

Despite the lurid headlines, nothing seems to stick to Italy's PM - as the latest elections demonstrate

Silvio Berlusconi can breathe again. After weeks of revelations about his private life - culminating in a prosecutor's decision to question dozens of young women on suspicion that they were paid to attend his parties - Italy's Prime Minister shrugged off the pressure yesterday, recording a convincing victory for his centre-right coalition in provincial and municipal elections across the country.

Beyond Italy's borders it may seem inconceivable that an elected national leader could comport himself like an ancient Roman emperor without facing grave political consequences. But within Italy, Mr Berlusconi's fallible humanity and the fact that he is not so obsessed with power play that he has no time for the sweeter things in life, are seen by many as points in his favour.

So while the centre-left celebrated their success in hanging on to much of its traditional "red zone" in central Italy, Mr Berlusconi's Freedom People Party managed to seize control of Milan and Venice. "If this is a victory for the opposition, we always want to lose like this," Mr Berlusconi crowed after results were in. "Before this provincial election, the Freedom People governed five million people [in the constituencies which voted]. Now it governs as many as 21 million."

Lawmakers voted 75-0 Thursday to ratify an agreement that should enable the U.S. to continue shipping military hardware and troops through the Manas air base in the Central Asian state. Five deputies abstained.

Approval was expected after officials announced the deal Tuesday.

The decision comes four months after Kyrgyzstan's president stunned the U.S. by announcing that its military would be evicted from the base they have used since 2001. Kyrgyzstan ordered U.S. forces out by mid-August.

The new deal more than triples the rent the U.S. will pay to $60 million a year.

As they say: "money talks, shit walks."

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

I would say this was the most likely result and is not treated as much of a surprise.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

Germany will be forced to take on 310 billion euros ($437 billion) in new debt by 2013, according to the country's finance minister, Peer Steinbrueck. He admitted that it will take Germany years to meet EU budget rules. 

Steinbrueck said Europe's largest economy, battling to emerge form its steepest recession in 60 years, is faced with "mammoth task."

There is no alternative to the higher borrowings, Steinbrueck told the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, ahead of signing off on his draft 2010 budget.

The draft budget forsees new credit totaling 86 billion euros, the biggest ever in German post-war history. This figure could increase to more than 100 billion euros due to additional costs for a plan to bail out troubled banks.

For the current financial year, new credits have been allocated totaling nearly 48 billion euros - also a record. The budget will be the first responsibility of the new administration following September's parliamentary election.

At a meeting in Berlin on Tuesday, the OECD finance ministers agreed to step up the fight against tax evasion, focusing on countries such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. 

The meeting in Berlin on Tuesday brought together 20 finance ministers of the 30-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

It was called by German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck and his French counterpart Eric Woerth, and was aimed at intensifying the struggle against cross-border tax evasion.

After the meeting, Steinbrueck said he was "extraordinarily satisfied" with the results, which constituted "substantial progress."

In a final document, the 20 finance ministers agreed to toughen measures against countries which fail to implement OECD tax standards.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - An annual report on public finances published by the European Commission on Tuesday (23 June) indicates the cost of government stimulus packages could pale into insignificance when compared to the bill for EU bank bail-outs.

The lengthy report says the final cost of bank bail-outs is likely to lie anywhere between 2.75 - 16.5 percent of EU GDP depending on the veracity of underlying assumptions and the ability of governments to recover capital injections and loans.

Bank bail-outs across Europe have added to the stain on public finances

"Experience shows that the costs were lower when the banking crisis resolution strategy was implemented swiftly, was transparent and received broad political support," said a commission statement.

A final bill closer to the report's upper estimate would dwarf the costs of stimulus spending used by EU governments to tackle the economic crisis.

The UK is predicted to sink further into the red than any other major developed country next year, an economic body warned today.

The fiscal deficit is expected to rise to 14 per cent of economic output in 2010, compared to an average of 8.75 per cent in the 30 most developed markets, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The OECD warned that "public finances have deteriorated sharply" since the beginning of the recession and called on the UK to continue to develop "a strong and credible" framework for reducing the ratio of debt to output.

"To improve stability, the government should continue to develop a concrete and comprehensive plan to ensure that debt is on a declining path once recovery takes hold," the OECD said.

Chute d'un tiers des commandes à l'industrie dans la zone euro :

CHUTE DES COMMANDES À L'INDUSTRIE DANS LA ZONE EURO BRUXELLES (Reuters) - Les commandes à l'industrie dans la zone euro ont enregistré une chute sans précédent de plus d'un tiers au mois d'avril en rythme annuel, selon les données publiées jeudi par Eurostat. Les commandes dans les 16 pays qui composaient la zone euro en avril ont reculé de 1,0% par rapport au mois précédent et de 35,5% sur un an. Le recul est notamment imputable à la baisse des commandes de biens intermédiaires et de biens d'investissement, qui ont chuté respectivement de 38,3% et de 39,1% en rythme annuel, ce qui illustre l'ampleur de la récession dans la zone euro.

Holy Shit!

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

One thing that surprised me about the WSJ story, however, was this assertion:

Of course, the current recession is nowhere near severe as the Depression. A great series of charts by the Council on Foreign Relations shows that by almost every measure the Great Depression was more severe by this point in the cycle.

Hmm. By this time I thought everyone paying attention to this stuff was familiar with the Eichengreen-O'Rourke work. EO point out that the original Great Depression was most severe in America, while this one is more severe in a number of other countries. So you want to do a world comparison -- and if you do, we're actually tracking the first year of the GD quite closely.

Up to 60 people have been killed after missiles were fired from a US "drone" at the funeral of a suspected Taliban commander of the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan, Pakistan officials have said.

The attack by the unmanned aircraft was carried out in the village of Najmarai in the Makeen district on Tuesday, Pakistani intelligence officials and witnesses said.

"Three missiles were fired by drones as people were dispersing after offering funeral prayers for [Taliban commander] Niaz Wali," an intelligence official told the Reuters news agency.

"I saw three drones, they dropped bombs," Sohail Mehsud, a resident of Makeen, said.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has given his backing to Israel's plan for a demilitarised Palestinian state as a solution to the decades-old Middle East conflict.

Speaking to reporters following talks in Rome with Israel's hardline leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, on the Israeli prime minister's first trip to Europe since his election, Mr Berlusconi described as "absolutely necessary" for peace a future Palestinian state that would be unable to maintain an army.

The Israeli prime minister made Italy his first stop on his trip to Europe

The Italian premier also supported the requirement that the new country recognise Israel as a Jewish state, a move that implicitly renounces claims to any return of refugees to land lost at the founding of Israel in 1948.

The twin endorsement is in line with Mr Netanyahu's plan for peace outlined some nine days ago, and represents a decidedly warmer embrace of the Israeli leader's perspective than that accorded by the European Union as a bloc or by the United States.

Washington has cancelled a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US Middle East envoy in Paris because of Israel's refusal to halt the growth of settlements in the West Bank, Israeli media says.

AFP - Washington called off a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US Middle East envoy because of Israel's refusal to halt settlement growth, an Israeli newspaper said on Wednesday.

The mass-selling Yediot Aharonot, quoting an unnamed Israeli official, said that Washington issued a "stern" message to Netanyahu to halt all settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land, including so-called "natural growth" within existing settlements.

"Once you've finished the homework we gave you on stopping construction in the settlements, let us know. Until then, there's no point in having (US Middle East envoy George) Mitchell fly to Paris to meet you," the official said.

Following the announcement of victory for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his main opponent Mir Hossein Mousavi in Iran's presidential election on June 12, the country erupted in turmoil as supporters of Mousavi flocked to the streets to protest what they claimed was a fraudulent election, while state security and militia forces cracked down on dissenters, sometimes violently. Iran claimed that the unrest was being fueled by foreign interference, a charge reported but generally dismissed in Western media accounts. But there is ample reason to believe that the U.S. likely had a hand in fomenting the chaos that has since plagued the country many commentators have compared to the 1979 revolution that overthrew the Shah.

The role of the U.S. in overthrowing the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 and installing the brutal regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is by now well known. In his speech in Cairo last month, President Barack Obama even referenced the CIA-backed coup, acknowledging that "In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government."[1]

The U.S. lost their principle ally in the Middle East, however, when the Shah was in turn overthrown as a result of the Islamic revolution that swept the country in 1979, resulting in the clerical regime that continues to this day under Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who took over the title from the leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, has said that Moscow aims to hold a peace conference before the end of 2009 to help resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

After holding talks in Cairo with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, Medvedev said a two-state solution, the issue of settlements and a future capital would be on the agenda at the meeting.

Medvedev said: "We paid special attention to Middle East issues. We highly appreciate efforts by the Egyptian president to create an atmosphere of trust and co-operation in the region.

"[The] Moscow Middle East conference, which we plan to hold before the end of the year, will also contribute to achieving this goal."

Daryl Hannah, the actress, and James Hansen, the NASA scientist, were among 31 people arrested as they protested against mining in West Virginia.

State Police Sgt. Michael Baylous said all were released after being cited for impeding traffic and obstructing an officer after they blocked a road near a Massey Energy Co. subsidiary's coal processing plant.

Another woman, who was among a crowd of mining industry supporters, was charged with misdemeanor battery, Baylous said.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The threat of dirty bombs, biowarfare and nuclear terrorism drew the attention of the European Union's executive on Wednesday (24 June), which proposed a policy package aimed at strengthening chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear security in the bloc.

From theoretical worries that militant groups may one day acquire fissile material to launch an attack on civilians in Europe to the very real examples of the polonium poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, the European Commission outlined an action plan to combat such attacks.

Material from nuclear power plants can easily find its way into the hands of extremists, warn environmentalists

The €100 million plan contains 133 measures that focus on making unauthorised access to CBRN materials as difficult as possible, as well developing the capability of detecting them instantly should the need arise.

The commission also hopes to ensure that the EU and its member states are able to respond to a CBRN attack efficiently and then recover as rapidly as possible.

Arizona is now close to becoming the first state to outlaw climate change legislation.  The state Senate voted Monday, 19-10 to approve a bill banning the Department of Environmental Quality from enacting or enforcing measures with language pertaining to climate change.  The bill is now awaiting House approval.

The bill will likely pass and be signed into law thanks to a switch in power.  Formerly, Janet Napolitano (D) was governor of the state, but she left to join Barack Obama's Cabinet.  Napolitano was replaced by Jan Brewer (R), who has not indicated a strong desire to support AGW theorists.

If Senate Bill 1147 passes it will block rules passed by the DEQ that set harsher emission standards.  The proposed increases were hastily pushed through by the former governor, despite complaints from industry leaders.  It would also end work on "cap and trade" carbon legislation, which has been opposed by the utility industry.  Such a scheme could help to raise power prices for the state's citizens significantly.

A passage could also give the state means to challenge the federal government in court over the proposed Waxman-Markey bill, which would put over $1,600 in yearly costs on American citizens to cut carbon emissions.  The legislation, which has also received criticism for potentially hurting farmers, is currently making its way through a Democrat controlled House and Senate, awaiting Barack Obama's approval.

The slowing economy has slashed demand for energy as factories shut down and fewer people drive to work or take leisure trips by car or plane.

Benchmark crude for August delivery added 62 cents to $69.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent prices rose 71 cents to $69.04 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The value of the dollar again is playing a strong role in the price of crude.

Crude prices have fallen off after peaking above $73 a barrel earlier this month as the dollar strengthened. Most experts agree prices on Nymex, and at the local gas station, hit levels that weren't supported by meager demand for energy. They blame investment money that has flowed into the market, using oil as a hedge against inflation.

Speculators driving up the price of oil? Who would have thought it....

A German court has ruled that pupils can rate their teachers online, rejecting a bid by one instructor to shut down a Web site that gave her a low grade. The judges said that freedom of expression was more important, a sentiment that German commentators largely agree with.

The Internet has long been the first place that holidaymakers turn when looking for a clean and comfortable hotel, or where diners search for a restaurant with tasty food and pleasant service. There are a host of rating sites that can provide them with other consumers' evaluations to help them make their choice.

 A court has ruled in favor of the Internet site spickmich.de which allows pupils to rate their teachers. Now, however, the online judgement game is being applied to education, with German pupils using the anonymity of the Internet to rate their teachers. And some of those educators are far from amused about being graded by their own pupils on competence or coolness.

On Tuesday, though, a German a teacher who objected to the low marks she received lost her battle against one such Web site. The Federal Court of Justice supported a lower court ruling which struck down her bid to have the site, called spickmich.de, shut down.

A new Interior Ministry study has revealed that Muslims in Germany are much more integrated than previously thought: Around half are German citizens and 70 percent of women never wear a headscarf. There are also many more Muslims in the country than was previously estimated.

Poor, uneducated and living in a "parallel society" of headscarf-wearing women and criminal youth: The common stereotype of Muslims in Germany is not an all-too-positive one. But a new study reveals a surprisingly different picture of the reality -- including the fact that many more Muslims live in Germany than was previously believed.

A Berlin mosque: Around a third of Muslims in Germany describe themselves as "very religious." The study, which was commissioned by the Interior Ministry together with Germany's Islam Conference, is the first country-wide study that gives a representative overview of Muslim life in Germany. Researchers from the Nuremberg-based Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) interviewed around 6,000 Muslims from 49 different countries about the role of religion in their everyday life and various aspects of integration. A summary of the study was published Tuesday and the full study will be presented Thursday at the last meeting of the Islam Conference, which Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble initiated in 2006 in a bid to launch a dialogue between the German state and the Muslim community.

Silvio Berlusconi has claimed a call girl who says she was paid to attend one of his parties is being manipulated by shadowy forces intent on damaging his political career.

In his first direct response to claims that he slept with escort Patrizia D'Addario at a party at his Rome mansion in November, the Italian prime minister accused her of being part of a co-ordinated "mission" to compromise his integrity.

"Someone gave a very precise and extremely well paid mission to this Miss D'Addario," Mr Berlusconi said in an interview with magazine, Chi, which is owned by his publishing company, Mondadori.