The former finance minister told a press conference in The Hague that the Netherlands needs a leader who will unite its citizens, rather than drive them apart. "I have always believed this," Bos said. "But I no longer think I should be the one leading Labour."

Bos' Labour party is currently the second largest in the Dutch parliament. It did not fare well in the March 3 local elections, but opinion polls show it is one of the contenders to become the biggest force in parliament after the June 9 national elections. Bos suggested his leadership should be handed over to Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, a moderate voice in Dutch politics. Cohen (62), who is also a former deputy minister, would challenge current Christian Democratic prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and populist leader Geert Wilders for the position of Dutch prime minister.

Also see Wouter Bos Quits Dutch Politics by Oui.

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

Earlier this week (8 March), Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced his intention to create a programme that would "gradually put as many Roma children as possible into boarding schools and gradually separate them from the life they live in the settlements."

By doing so, this would prevent the next generation of Roma from being unable to "integrate", Mr Fico said, adding that he expected criticism from human rights organisations.

Amnesty International has described the idea as a discriminatory attack on the Roma way of living. "Uprooting them from their surroundings and removing them from their families is an attack on their identity," the organisation said in a statement.

The European Commission has for its part warned against possible racial segregation.

"It would be probably better if the offer was made on an socio-economic basis rather than on racial grounds," the office of education commissioner Androulla Vassiliou told EUobserver.

That's a rather lame and low-key 'caution' for the same policy that became infamous in Australia. Then again, with the recent anti-Gypsy measures in EU-15 members Italy and Greece, maybe I shouldn't expect more...

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

In a landmark ruling, Judge Paul Collins issued an injunction against the far-right group ordering it to comply with equality laws.

He said the party's current membership rules meant it was "likely to commit unlawful acts".

The 17-page judgment, delivered at the Central London County Court, found the BNP's clause that any members must agree to preserve the integrity of an "indigenous British" society was illegal and should be withdrawn.

It ordered the removal of the pledge to oppose immigration into the UK and maintain Britons as the "overwhelming majority" racial group.

As part of the injunction, the BNP will also have to abandon its "intimidatory" policy of sending officials to the homes of prospective new members.

A senior Tory MEP has defected to the Liberal Democrats over David Cameron's stance on Europe.

Edward McMillan-Scott, once leader of the Conservative MEP faction in the European Parliament, rebelled against his leader's decision to break away from the centre-right European People's Party in Europe, arguing that he wanted to forge a more eurosceptic faction in Strasbourg.

After months of wrangling and a disciplinary hearing, Mr McMillan-Scott made the surprise announcement this afternoon that his days as a Tory were over.

A diplomatic row has erupted after Sweden's parliament voted yesterday (11 March) to officially declare the Turkish mass killing of Armenians in World War I as "genocide".

The vote, passed narrowly by just one vote in the Swedish Riksdag, led to immediate and furious reaction in Ankara, with Turkey recalling its ambassador to Stockholm and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelling a planned visit to Sweden.

The condemnation of the 1915 events was mainly driven by Sweden's centre-left opposition, which Erdogan accused of exploiting the issue in order to make political gains ahead of Sweden's general elections in September.

However, centre-left parties were not alone in passing the resolution. They were joined by four MPs from the governing centre-right coalition and these votes proved decisive in securing the result. MPs who supported the vote described it as an important symbolic victory for Swedes of Armenian descent.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Georgia cannot "put itself on hold" until the new EU arrangements created by the Lisbon Treaty start working, but needs to flag up the persisting problems with Russia's strong foothold in the two breakaway enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a senior Georgian official told EUobserver.

"There is a change of administration in Washington and a reset policy towards Russia, a new EU with its new structures which is not yet a mature process - there are some other priorities on the international arena, but still, this conflict didn't disappear. It's still here," Temur Yakobashvili, Georgia's minister for re-integration said while in Brussels earlier this week to promote his government's new strategy of engagement with the rebel regions.

A year and a half ago, Georgia made headlines when Russia engaged in a full-scale military invasion after the Caucasian republic itself invaded South Ossetia. The war ended with a ceasefire brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was then chairing the rotating EU presidency.

...Soon the US search engine company plans to send cars equipped with cameras out onto Germany's roads once again, to photograph every house and every block and create three-dimensional maps for the company's Street View project. Aigner is now insisting that Google should ask permission before violating the privacy of German citizens. Most of all, the minister's attacks reveal just how divided the German government is when it comes to the online world.

Fixing a Broken Relationship

In the power struggle over who has the say over digital issues, the cabinet in Berlin seems to be firing off broadsides somewhat at random. On Tuesday of last week, Germany's Constitutional Court ruled that a law requiring telecommunications companies to retain data from telephone, email and Internet traffic is unconstitutional. The law was introduced by former Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), as implementation of an EU guideline. Ironically, the critics of data retention included her successor, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberg, a member of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP).

Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière had earlier invited Web activists, bloggers and experts to his ministry for a three-hour exchange of views. "The relationship between the government and Internet users is impaired, and I intend to fix it," he promised.

And while Aigner was attacking Street View, the chancellor appeared to give Google Street View her blessing in her weekly video address. Merkel said that citizens who didn't want to be photographed by Google could opt out by simply submitting a form letter, the template for which could be found on the Consumer Protection Ministry's Web site. Some people interpreted this as an attempt to muzzle Aigner, until the government's press office made it clear that Merkel's statement was a "communication glitch."

He's unpopular, he's isolated and he has made enemies within his own party. President Nicolas Sarkozy is having trouble finding any success. Regional elections across the country threaten to turn into a debacle for the French leader's conservative UMP party.

The presidential trips to the far flung corners of his nation are part of the Nicolas Sarkozy's plan: Whether it be industry, arts, culture or science, the French leader likes to find the appropriate backdrop to announce reforms, new programs and plans of action. Last Sunday, he announced new subsidies for farmers inside a stable at an agricultural fair. Employment and job training were themes introduced in the district of Doubs in eastern France.

The presidential appearance at the round table is supposed to symbolize Sarkozy's close connection with the French people. "I am happy to be here," Sarkozy said, praising the region of Franche-Comté (which includes the district of Doubs) as "the most important industrial region of France." But even though the president's visit was carefully staged and took place in front of a well-mannered, welcoming crowd, the lightning visit to the city of Pontarlier, in Doubs, didn't exactly come across as an exercise in statesmanship. Instead of being perceived as victorious, Sarkozy appeared to be both overly sensitive and aggressive.

Eurozone countries agree deal to bail out Greece
Exclusive: Germany plays pivotal role in rescue package, despite resistance at home

In a rare show of cross-party unity, MEPs issued a joint statement urging EU leaders to embrace the need for "incentives and sanctions" in implementing the new economic strategy, dubbed 'Europe 2020'.

The move came as diplomats met in Brussels yesterday (11 March) to prepare for a crucial summit of EU leaders scheduled for the end of the month. Governments will have to agree national targets for boosting growth and jobs but some are reluctant to give Brussels the power to punish failure.

The Europe 2020 plan is the successor to the so-called Lisbon Agenda which is widely seen as having fallen short of its goals due to loose monitoring and enforcement of targets.

Joseph Daul, leader of the European People's Party, Martin Schulz, leader of the social democrats, and liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt want EU leadersto abandon the open method of coordination, which uses peer pressure to ensure governments hit their targets, "in favour of stronger instruments".

"We've had good talks on this and I'm pretty confident that we can get a very satisfactory outcome in our discussions over the next few days," said Mr Brown in a joint press conference with the French leader after their meeting in London.

At the heart of the current debate are so-called 'third country' measures: If the latest Spanish text is agreed by qualified majority on Tuesday, non-EU domiciled funds will need individual member-state permission before they can market their products to investors in that country.

...London is home to roughly 70 percent of the EU's hedge fund and 80 percent of private equity industry. However, a majority of the UK firms are actually domiciled overseas, in particular in the Cayman Islands.

"But what happens if a Cayman fund fails," said one French diplomat on Friday, indicating his country's objections to the passport idea. "Its Cayman rules that apply, and Cayman judges."

Spanish diplomats say the UK has failed to muster a blocking majority for Tuesday's finance minister discussion, and while their "objective is to find the largest consensus possible," they would not rule out the possibility of a sealing a deal against UK wishes.

State-owned Swedish energy group Vattenfall announced on Friday that it would sell its high-voltage power grid to Belgian firm Elia and Australia's Industry Funds Management.

The sale was priced at 810 million euros ($1.1 billion), with 60 percent going to Elia, a power network management company, and the rest going to infrastructure specialist IFM.

"The sale reinforces our position in the perspective of participating in the constitution of a true European energy market," Elia chief Daniel Dobbeni said.

Vattenfall's head of European activities, Tuomo Hatakka, said at a news conference that the grid was strategic because "it links vast offshore wind farms in the Baltic and North Seas with consumer industries in northern Germany."

...Utilities across Europe have sold off lucrative but state-regulated power grids in favor of more profitable energy markets, where limited competition often leads to a market oligopoly. Last month, German's largest power company E.ON sold its grid to Dutch group TenneT for 1.1 billion euros.

"The taxpayer doesn't understand how critical the financial services industry is to them," Anstee, 51, said in an interview at his 252-year-old Mansion House residence opposite the Bank of England. "This absolutely overwhelming tide of negative attitudes has been brought about in taxpayers' minds."

[...]

"The bailout made the invisibles visible in a really disturbing way," said Glasman, 49, walking in front of the City's six century-old Guildhall a few streets  away from Mansion House. "This is the invisible heart of an invisible City that protects invisible earnings."

[...]

"That's what I'm promoting and that's what I'm defending," Anstee said in his Georgian palace, which is decorated with paintings by Dutch masters and plasterwork of cornucopias spilling coins and fruit.

[...]

Guests at the City banquet in Mansion House on Sept. 22 dined on smoked fish and filet of beef and Madeira syrup. They drank Chablis and Chateau Moulin a Vent wines and toasted Britain's financial services industry as well as the queen.

[...]

As head of the City of London Corporation, the area around St. Paul's Cathedral whose boundary is marked by dragon motifs and statues, lord mayors lead a local police force and travel 90 days a year to promote financial services. Anstee has visited the U.S., Dubai and Saudi Arabia and will travel to South Africa, India, China, Russia and other countries.

[...]

The City's focus on money has led to its local population dwindling to 9,000, while about 320,000 workers arrive each weekday. Uniquely in the U.K., companies as well as individuals vote for City representatives.

....

He is tough, towards the end of his piece, on countries that "intentionally breached European economic and monetary law."  But what about banks that aid and abet countries that are trying to break the rules?

Of course, governments can always massage their statistics unassisted.  But when international banks help countries to disguise their true debt levels, through off-balance sheet transactions, what is the difference between that and what Merrill Lynch did for Enron regarding "Nigerian oil barges" (and more)?

Technically, Greece's (and potentially other country's) debt deals may not have broken any laws - because the international space for these transactions is so anarchic.

But Mr Schauble would be well within his rights to call for rogue investment banks - i.e., those that help break European rules in any fashion - to be banned from the highly lucrative market for European government new issues.

Of course, if he is afraid to do this because the banks in question have great market power and a fearsome reputation for sharp elbows and exacting revenge, perhaps Mr. Schauble should consider referring the broader investment banking market (including over-the-counter derivatives) to the relevant anti-monopoly authorities within the European Commission.

Industrial production in the eurozone grew at its fastest rate for more than 20 years in January, amid signs of a far more sustained recovery than had been seen previously.

Factory output rose 1.7 per cent from December, the largest leap since the European Union's statistical arm started compiling the data in January 1990.

The monthly survey also sharply revised the industrial production figure for December, estimating a 0.6 per cent growth instead of a 1.7 per cent fall predicted earlier.

The revision means that industrial output in the 16-country currency bloc is higher than the year-earlier figure for the first time since April 2008, though it remains about 15 percentage points lower than the peak before tje global financial crisis, and even below long-term trends.

Part of the upswing can be put down to rising energy production amid unusually cold winter weather.

Economists had factored in some industrial growth after a trickle of figures from national authorities earlier this week, but were taken aback by the scale of the upswing.

A landmark move to protect the world's poorest countries from debt sharks was blocked yesterday by a single Conservative MP during extraordinary scenes in the House of Commons.

"Vulture fund" investment companies buy up defaulted third world debt and sue for immediate repayment. The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill was designed to curb their activities, ensuring that creditors cannot pursue debt repayment beyond the level assessed as fair and sustainable by the World Bank. Liberia lost a £20m lawsuit against two vulture funds in a London court late last year.

Because of the lack of time before the general election, the Bill's only chance of making it on to the statute book was if there were no protests in the Commons. But to the fury of Labour MPs, one lone voice piped up: "Object!" Three Conservatives were in the chamber - Christopher Chope, Andrew Robathan and Simon Burns - but it was not clear at the time who had intervened.

A parliamentary resolution, adopted on Thursday (11 March) by 509 votes to 30, with 14 abstentions, called on Cuba to immediately release its political prisoners and urged the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, to push the Communist government towards greater democracy.

"We cannot afford another death in Cuba. We call for the immediate release of all political prisoners," Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European assembly, said.

The strong criticism from euro deputies of all political colours follows the death two weeks ago of jailed Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who succumbed after an 83-day hunger strike.

...The European parliamentary resolution is a set-back for the Spanish government, which had hoped to take steps towards normalising relations with Cuba during its six-month tenure of the EU's rotating presidency, due to expire this June.

The European Commission concluded trade negotiations with Lima and Bogota this month, following nine rounds of talks. The agreement, if ratified by the European Parliament, would fully liberalize commerce in some sectors between the bloc and the two Latin American countries.

The possible deal has sparked an outcry in some quarters because of concerns over the South American country's human rights record.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has won plaudits for his hard-line stance against armed groups, such as the Marxist FARC rebels, and his attempts to stem the cocaine trade. But international observers cast doubt on his claim to have eliminated the right-wing paramilitary threat in the country, instead accusing his government of leniency toward them. Meanwhile, many innocents continue to suffer - with impunity.

Extra-judicial killings, collaboration between paramilitaries and the security forces, the inciting of hatred against indigenous peoples and the targeting of human rights exponents are among the series of abuses identified by human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

Colombia is, for example, the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists. Last year alone, 39 labor representatives were murdered there, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). No one has been brought to trial.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution calling on Hamas to immediately release Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured in 2006 by the Palestinian militant group in a cross-border raid.

The chamber by a strong majority said that it was wrong that Mr Shalit, both an Israeli and French citizen, was held incommunicado in Gaza and deprived of basic rights in accordance with the Geneva Convention and demanded that Hamas "be as good as its word and grant Sergeant Shalit rights and privileges in accordance with the Third 1949 Geneva Convention."

The resolution "deplores the continued disregard for Sergeant Shalit's basic human rights and the fact that his family and the Israeli and French authorities have been prevented from obtaining information regarding his well-being."

AFP - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a public apology to the visiting US vice president on Thursday, hoping to defuse a row over settlements that prompted a Palestinian boycott of indirect peace talks.

Vice President Joe Biden welcomed Netanyahu's statement but again criticised Israel's decision to approve construction of 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in Arab east Jerusalem, announced during his visit this week.

Israel's right-wing prime minister, who supports expanding Jewish communities in annexed east Jerusalem, said he had spoken to Biden and "expressed his regret for the unfortunate timing."

CIA drones are killing terrorists -- and civilians -- in Pakistan almost every day. The unmanned aircraft are becoming the weapon of choice in the fight against al-Qaida and its allies. But the political, military and moral consequences are incalculable. SPIEGEL ONLINE has investigated Barack Obama's remote-controlled campaign against terrorism.

What is the cost of rendering a terrorist harmless once and for all by killing him? During the course of 14 months, the CIA used unmanned and heavily armed small aircraft known as drones to stage 15 strikes against the presumed locations of the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. On Aug. 5, 2009, on the 16th try, the drones finally managed to kill Baitullah Mehsud.

...thousands of miles away in the United States, someone pressed a button, and two Hellfire missiles shot from the drone. Mehsud and 11 others were killed.

This incident is so well documented because it was reconstructed for an article in The New Yorker. But the hunt for Mehsud cost the lives of far more than 11 people. According to estimates, between 207 and 321 people died in the course of the 16 attempts to eliminate Mehsud -- and it is certain that not all of them were Taliban fighters.

Tens of thousands of supporters of deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra began to mass Friday in trademark red shirts ahead of weekend protests in Bangkok aimed at toppling the government.

Around 6,500 protesters staged early demonstrations in the capital before dispersing after several hours while thousands more gathered in the rural north before starting their journey to Bangkok for the main rally on Sunday.

Organisers insist the protests will be non-violent, but the government is rolling out a 50,000-strong security force and has enacted a tough security law that allows authorities to impose curfews and limit movements.

A settlement reached on Thursday may grant more than 10,000 people who worked in the toxic ruins of the World Trade Centre following the September 11, 2001 attacks a total of $657 million in compensation for associated health problems.

Entering negotiations with the Palestinians on so-called core issues including statehood borders and the fate of Jerusalem could spark a revolt from Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners and destabilize his government.

The senior administration official termed Netanyahu's political position as "perilous" because of the divisions. Right-wing parties oppose peace moves, including a full settlement freeze, sought by the Palestinians and the United States.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who holds sway in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has likewise been seriously weakened by his rivalry with Hamas Islamists, who control the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt.

The Obama administration believes the proximity talks may be the only way in the foreseeable future to ease Israel back to the negotiating table without triggering a political crisis.

According to a summary published on Thursday, 10 out of the EU's 27 member states are on track to exceed their national targets for renewable energy, with a further 12 set to meet their goals using domestic sources of renewable energy.

However, five member states, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg and Malta, will have to source their renewable energy from outside their countries.

Europe's renewable energy directive sets an overall EU target of 20 percent and individual binding national targets. The bloc defines biofuels, biomass, wind, solar energy as well as hydro power as being renewable.

In 2007, the most recent year for which there is data available, the renewable share was nine percent, with approximately 63 percent of this coming from biomass and biowaste.

When Madrid announced plans to build a centralized nuclear waste repository last year, more than 100 towns surged forward to offer their land. There are now just a few in the running. But what's in it for the winner?

The Spanish government has a long list of demands for the 25-hectare-site.

It needs to be protected, yet remote, not threatened by earthquakes or floods, not in a nature reserve or near an airport, but close to a railway.

The nine communities still being considered are either located close to one of the country's eight operational nuclear power stations, or near one of those which has already been shut down.

One advantage of these areas is that they have already undergone geological and environmental assessments. Another is the willingness of the local mayors...

BP is finally joining the rush for Brazil's deepwater oil reserves with a $7bn (£4.7bn) deal with Devon Energy to buy assets in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the Gulf of Mexico.

Although the deal only gives BP up to 40, 000 barrels per day of actual production, it provides the company its first foothold in the spectacularly promising but technically challenging areas off the Brazilian coast.

Under the terms agreed with Devon, BP will also sell the Oklahoma-based company a 50 per cent stake in its Kirby oil sands project in Canada for $500m.

Supermarket suppliers under fire as one-fifth of workers interviewed for inquiry report being pushed or hit.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it has uncovered significant evidence of abuse among producers supplying Britain's big supermarkets. The inquiry includes reports from meat factory workers who say they have had frozen burgers thrown at them by line managers, and accounts of pregnant women being forced to stand for long periods or perform heavy lifting under threat of the sack.

It also contained reports from women with heavy periods and people with bladder problems on production lines being denied toilet breaks and forced to endure the humiliation of bleeding and urinating on themselves.

One-fifth of workers interviewed, from across England and Wales, reported being pushed, kicked or having things thrown at them, while a third had experienced or witnessed verbal abuse.

A US Federal court designed to provide compensation to children injured from vaccines, has declared that evidence supporting an alleged causal link between autism and a mercury-containing preservative in vaccines is 'scientifically unsupportable'.

Congress set up the special judicial forum, sometimes called the "vaccine court," in 1986 to address claims over vaccine safety, following pressure from parents and anti-vaccine lobbies who insisted there was a link.

Three test cases brought before the court were to pave the way for a class action by thousands of parents of children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but after reviewing the cases it was deemed there was no convincing evidence.

The vaccines and autism theory was popularised by Dr Andrew Wakefield following the publishing of his 1998 Lancet paper, which has subsequently been retracted. Wakefield was the subject of the longest investigation in the history of the UK General Medical Council for misconduct surrounding research for this paper. The GMC found he had been "callous" irresponsible" and "dishonest", was paid by lawyers to prove a link between vaccines and autism, had a patent submitted for his own single measles vaccine and conducted unnecessary and painful invasive procedures on children without the correct ethics approvals.

Two glowing brides in matching white gowns and four other same-sex couples made history in Mexico City as they wed under Latin America's first law that explicitly approves gay marriage.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was a guest of honour at the weddings of Judith Vazquez and Lol Kin Castaneda and the other couples who tied the knot in a city building, despite harsh criticism from the Roman Catholic Church and a campaign against the measure by President Felipe Calderon's conservative National Action Party.

Foreign labourers employed in the meat and poultry industry face physical and racist abuse by British staff, an investigation has found.

Many workers reported being pushed, kicked or having things thrown at them by line managers, said investigators from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The head of the German Bishops' Conference, Robert Zollitsch, met with the pope in the Vatican to inform him of the abuse scandal plaguing the Catholic church in Germany.

"I want to repeat here in Rome the apology that I made two weeks ago," Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg said at a news conference following the meeting.

The pope has not commented himself on the allegation of both sexual and physical abuse that are to have taken place at Catholic schools across Germany in the 1970s and 1980s.

The church has come under heavy criticism after an elite Jesuit school in Berlin admitted to the systematic sexual abuse of its pupils by two Roman Catholic priests. More alleged victims have since come forward, including a former member of the prestigious all-boys choir in Regensburg led from 1964-1994 by the pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger.

Germany's four largest Muslim associations debated a potential boycott of the German-Islam Conference in Cologne on Friday after the Interior Ministry excluded one of the groups from attendance.

The four groups were unable to reach a collective decision after nearly eight hours of discussion. Talks could though resume next Friday.

"It was a very intense discussion - which proves the importance of this matter," spokesman Bekir Alboga told reporters after the meeting. "All options are still on the table."

The four groups were the Council of Islam; the Central Council of Muslims; Ditib, which constructs mosques for the Turkish Religious Affairs Ministry; and the Union of Islamic Cultural Centers.

The groups represent only five of the 30 members of the German-Islam Conference, with the remaining seats reserved for individual Muslims of various backgrounds and federal, state and local community representatives.

Bing, Microsoft's search rival to global giant Google, filters sexually explicit words in versions used across the Arabic world, an online research organisation has found.

The so-called "cursed bread" incident was a mysterious poisoning that struck the small picturesque southern town of Pont-Saint-Esprit. In the summer of 1951, the "curse" resulted in five deaths, 300 illnesses, and 30 severe psychiatric cases leading to the victims being locked up in mental asylums. Nearly 60 years on, a US journalist, Hank Albarelli, claims that the CIA was behind the poisoning. However, US historian Steven Kaplan says Albarelli's theory lacks "solid evidence".

In an investigative book entitled "A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Secret Cold War Experiments" published in 2009, Albarelli claimed that the CIA conducted large-scale chemical tests in Pont-Saint-Esprit without the knowledge of the town's inhabitants. Albarelli's also accused the CIA - in cahoots with the US Army - of poisoning bread with LSD so as to test its effects on the unsuspecting local populace.

An`early day motion¹ (EDM 908) has been tabled in parliament which opposes the conclusions of the science and technology committee report on the evidence for homeopathy. After two weeks it has been signed by an amazing 55 MPs. That is 8.5% of all 646 MPs.  Nothing shows more clearly the scientific illiteracy that prevails in the House of Commons (and, perhaps, the results of the mass mailing of MPs by homeopaths, who are clutching at straws)..

These MPs are all people who have difficulty with the idea that pills which contain nothing can have no effect above placebo.  It isn't rocket science.

Those of us who spend quite a lot of unpaid time trying to communicate the joy of science to the public, rather resent having our efforts undermined by these members of parliament.  But at least we now have a handy list of them.

Almost a year after writing my first column for this site, I would like to welcome you to my final article.

At first I was able to deliver my monthly column on time, but my submissions have become increasingly delayed, and this is my first since November. The problem is that I have spent the past two years being sued for libel, which has taken up huge amounts of time. And now all my remaining spare time is being devoted to campaigning for libel reform.

The crippling and prohibitive financial cost of defending a libel case is often highlighted, but the equally terrible cost in terms of time and stress is rarely mentioned.

One question has tugged at my professional conscience throughout the year-long congressional debate over health-care reform, and it has nothing to do with the public option, portability or medical malpractice. It is this: Why haven't America's old-school news organizations blown the whistle on Roger Ailes, chief of Fox News, for using the network to conduct a propaganda campaign against the Obama administration -- a campaign without precedent in our modern political history?

Through clever use of the Fox News Channel and its cadre of raucous commentators, Ailes has overturned standards of fairness and objectivity that have guided American print and broadcast journalists since World War II. Yet, many members of my profession seem to stand by in silence as Ailes tears up the rulebook that served this country well as we covered the major stories of the past three generations, from the civil rights revolution to Watergate to the Wall Street scandals. This is not a liberal-versus-conservative issue. It is a matter of Fox turning reality on its head with, among other tactics, its endless repetition of its uber-lie: "The American people do not want health-care reform."

Fox repeats this as gospel. But as a matter of historical context, usually in short supply on Fox News, this assertion ranks somewhere between debatable and untrue.

"2,000 bugs taking a ride in every train compartment" said the Daily Mail. "Cockroaches cluster on trains", scuttled the Telegraph. "Commuters share trains with 1,000 cockroaches, 200 bedbugs and 200 fleas" said the Evening Standard. The figures were all very specific and very frightening.

"Rentokil say they also discovered that a bus was home to 500 cockroaches, along with dozens of fleas and bedbugs," explained the Standard. Those disgusting trains are even worse. "Research by pest controllers Rentokil shows that, on average, a single train compartment houses a staggering 1,000 cockroaches, 200 bed bugs, 200 fleas, 500 dust mites and 100 carpet beetles," said the Mail.

These figures are very specific, and they do all sound a little bit on the high side. Where did they come from? "Staff at Rentokil sprayed insecticide throughout the carriages of a train and a bus and then counted the bodies of insects." said the Standard. Savvas Othon of Rentokil explained in the article: "The bus we studied was within the M25″.

We've read about the troubles of Eurostar, Toyota et al. So how do large companies deal with crises? Mostly they go for spin by calling in their PR company.

The public has become increasingly sceptical of company spokespeople and there is now greater scrutiny of those at the top. Many celebrities, including recently dropped England football captain John Terry, have found themselves punished for trying to silence the media through legal routes. The internet has allowed everyone to speak out about a story, and can make an issue globally accessible in an instant.

Making sure your crisis plans will work in today's society is crucial to dealing with a crisis successfully. Here are five ways to ensure your crisis plan is still relevant.

* 1. IGNORE THE INTERNET AT YOUR PERIL
'Digital has changed everything,' says Alex Woolfall, head of issues and crisis management, Bell Pottinger. 'Our starting point for clients is now finding out where an issue is going to break online.'

* 2. ALL STORIES ARE NOW GLOBAL
'There's no such thing as a little local difficulty if you're an internationally known brand,' says Regester Larkin director Eddie Bensilum.

* 3. THE DEATH OF THE SUPER-INJUNCTION
Bell Pottinger's Woolfall adds: 'Every time someone attempts to suppress information, it has the effect of increasing speculation online. What bigger signal could you sent to the media that there's a story than if you get an injunction? In the long term, online will make the legal route untenable for clients.'

* 4. MAKE FRIENDS WITH THIRD PARTIES
'Do not overlook online communities. Regester Larkin's Bensilum says firms should understand how these communities operate and how they can make contact with you.

* 5. GET YOUR OWN HOUSE IN ORDER
'Take your internal communications seriously. Avoid getting caught out when a staff member interviewed by the media does not know the story. 'It's one of the cheapest ways of doing the story. Don't let staff in one market find out about a problem in another through the media,' advises Woolfall.

(selected quotes used above)

Knowing these potential actions makes it easier to resist them...

You can't be me, I'm taken

Here's a not-in-the-least-bit-biased headline from the Mail website:

Impersonating a police officer is already a crime in many countries but it looks as if France may have to legislate against wannabe bus drivers. The Paris region has seen several thefts of buses by aspiring public transport officials this year.

A 32-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday, accused of stealing and driving a bus along routes in the Paris suburbs on four different occasions last November. Although he had no licence, he appears to have convinced passengers he was a real driver.

The man is a repeat offender, having faced similar charges in 2003.

And a 26-year-old will appear in court on 18 March after repeatedly attempting to drive Paris buses, dressed in a bus driver's uniform.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Parliament seems to have found no buyers for its six unused body scanners, which have been lying around in its basement since 2005.

The final step in the public tender for the six scanners should have taken place on Friday morning (12 March), when, according to the EU official journal, offers were supposed to be "opened in public."