Bavaria's ruling CSU party is struggling to contain damage caused by spokesman Michael Schrepp. He resigned over accusations he'd tried to prevent a public broadcaster from reporting on an opposition party conference.

The public broadcaster ZDF claimed that Michael Strepp, a spokesman for Bavaria's Christian Social Union Party, CSU, had called its news department on Sunday evening to stop them from airing a report on the main opposition party, SPD.

The SPD had held a regional party conference on Sunday, where it chose its top candidate, Munich mayor Christian Ude, as the challenger to CSU Premier Horst Seehofer for next year's regional election.

EU interior ministers are debating how to curb the increasing number of asylum seekers from Eastern Europe. The German interior minister is making concrete suggestions how to discourage people from even trying.

So far in 2012, over 14,000 people from Serbia and Macedonia have requested asylum within the Schengen zone, which comprises most EU countries as well as non-members, such as Switzerland and Norway.

More than 6,000 of the asylum seekers from Eastern Europe have come to Germany, outnumbering Afghans, Iraqis or Syrians.

Concern has grown over the alleged abduction of a Russian opposition activist in Ukraine. The United States has called for an investigation into the matter.

Ukraine's main opposition party alleged on Thursday that Russian agents had kidnapped and tortured the rights activist with permission from the government in Kiev.

The party, led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, said that President Viktor Yanukovych, authorized the kidnapping to gain support from the Kremlin ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili has been confirmed as prime minster of Georgia, more than three weeks after his coalition party triumphed in elections. He has said he wants Georgia to join NATO and ultimately the EU.

Georgia's parliament ratified Ivanishvili on Thursday with 88 votes to 54, completing the country's tradition of power.

Parliamentary elections on October 1 saw Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition party triumph over the United National Movement party of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The election ended Saakashvili's nine-year dominance in parliament, although he will stay on in the presidency for another year.

Scotland will cast its independence vote in 2014 and, for the first time, 16-year-olds will head to the polls. Though they're unlikely to swing the vote, Europe will be listening closely to what they have to say.

To some young people in the United Kingdom, the harrumphing going on around them is almost unbearable. Parents, professors, grandparents, and politicians across the generations are voicing their concern: The sky may fall when 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland are allowed to cast a ballot in the 2014 Scottish independence vote.

Some politicians, including the European justice commissioner, are calling for more women to enter the top floors of European companies. But others counter that gender is not important and only skills count.

It was the women of the European Commission who spoke out against a possible quota for women in the top levels of European corporations. Among them were European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Dutch Vice President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes, Swedish EU Commissioner for Interior Affairs Cecilia Malmström and the Danish Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard who rejected the idea of a quota.

BRUSSELS - When EU leaders meet in Brussels in November for what is expected to be long round of hard negotiations on the bloc's new seven-year budget, culture will not be on everyone's mind.

BRUSSELS - The EU executive published its legislative plans for the final 18 months of the current legislative term on Tuesday (23 October) but MEPs gave only qualified support for the paper.

BRUSSELS - MEPs are planning to call for access to the report of the European anti-fraud office (Olaf) on the Dalli affair after a damp squib hearing with the Olaf chief.

German Liberal deputy Michael Theurer, the chairman of the budgetary control committee, told EUobserver on Thursday (25 October) that a behind-closed-doors meeting with Olaf chief Giovanni Kessler failed to clear up whether ex-health commissioner John Dalli did anything wrong or why a top Olaf official suddenly resigned.

Six out of ten French people believe the influence of Islam in France is "too big" and 43 percent see the religion as a "threat" to national identity, according to the results of an opinion poll published on Thursday. The sensitive poll, which will likely cause ripples in a country home to Europe's largest Muslim population, was carried out by Ifop polling institute for right-wing daily Le Figaro, which published the results under the headline "The image of Islam worsens in France".   Only 17 percent of respondents believed Islam "enriched" France's culture and 40 percent said it was neither a threat to the country's national identity nor of benefit to its culture.

(Reuters) - British police investigating alleged sexual abuse by one of the BBC's most celebrated TV stars said on Thursday some 300 victims had come forward and they were preparing to make arrests in a scandal that has thrown the broadcaster into disarray.

Detectives said they had been staggered by the number of people who had come forward since the late Jimmy Savile's crimes were first revealed just over three weeks ago.

(Reuters) - Decades of animosity between Hungarians and ethnic Roma in this small town in western Hungary had attracted little attention until the far-right Jobbik party saw an opportunity to score a few political points.

A protest rally organised by the party, a little after a brawl between a Roma family and some local people, turned into a running street battle that has left the town thoroughly shaken but which Jobbik was able to exploit for its own ends.

Future candidate for Czech president in 2013.

Nikolić stressed Serbia was prepared to continue its reforms and meet the EU's requirements for the sake of joining the EU and its own interest, while Hague confirmed that London was still strongly in favor of enlargement.
...Serbia is willing to accept all solutions that improve the life of the people in Kosovo and are in line with Serbia's Constitution, Nikolić noted, the president's press service has released.
...He (Hague)said his country was "a strong advocate of the EU's enlargement" and that it wanted all of the region's countries to join the EU, so it was willing "to help build the best possible relations between Balkan countries".  

During his visit to Priština, the British minister said that "Europe is definite" and that "there can be no adjustments in the borders".  

The British minister is visiting Belgrade as a part of his visit to the region and to "encourage Serbian leaders to work on normalization of relations with Kosovo and fulfill criteria for the EU accession", reports said earlier.
 

"I want to Serbia to once again be a country that helps others, that sends its soldiers and police officers to peace missions on other continents, and for no one to have to help us anymore," Dačić said at the celebration, adding that Serbia was already one of the strongest pillars of peace and stability in the region.  

BRUSSELS -- EU Interior ministers met today to discuss establishment of a mechanism for suspension of the visa liberalization with Serbia and Macedonia.  ...Billstrom noted that asylum was mostly requested by members of minorities, so a way should be found to improve their situation in their countries of origin.
That was the use of the suspension mechanism could be avoided, he said, adding that it would be his message to the council of ministers on Thursday.

to improve their situation in their countries of origin

BRUSSELS -- Catalan European Parliament members caused a storm in Spain Wednesday when they sought EU's intervention over what they said was a military threat from Madrid.
...Four MEPs stated in a letter to Brussels that the country's authorities threatened the northeastern region where demands are growing for independence.

"We are writing to you to convey our deep concern over a series of threats of the use of military force against the Catalan population," they wrote to European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding.

The MPs recalled that hundreds of thousands of people had taken to the streets of Barcelona on September 11 this year, the Catalan national day, calling for independence.

The popular protest helped to convince the powerful region's president, Artur Mas, to call snap elections on November 25 with the aim of organizing a referendum on "self-determination".
...But the MPs said many people including senior members of the military had since said that Spanish armed forces had a constitutional duty to guarantee the territorial integrity of Spain.

Hah...Serbian armed forces had the same constitutional duty with Kosovo...but Serbia was bombarded. Are we going to see Madrid bombarded?

Piedmont is up for sale. The banks are at the gates.

"Paolo Monferino the cabinet member in the Piedmont cabinet responsible for health services, has declared that the Region of Piedmont has technically gone bust because of the consolidated debt that's close to 10 billion euro. That's more than 2000 euro a head for every person in Piedmont. A big furore has broken out among the parties and the president, Cota has had to try and patch things up by saying that the accounts are under control because there are going to be cuts, rationalisation and the selling off of regional property.
Land belonging to the region will be sold off, the thermal spa at Acqui Terme, unused buildings like the one in piazza Castello in Turin, in the hope of getting together 220 million euro. We are very sceptical. And that's not all. They are going to set up a real estate fund using the property that is not available. Not even the "spending review" dared to do so much. This relates to all those buildings that are currently in use by officers of the Region of Piedmont, or used by the health services and in the same buildings as the hospitals! These would be handed over to private owners, to "ethical" banking foundations. Like the "Fondazione San Paolo", whose president is the former mayor of Turin, Chiamparino. We fear that this is the first step towards the privatisation of all the health services in Piedmont. The detailed application of directives from the Monti government and from Brussels is making the crisis worse. Austerity policies at a time of crisis do nothing but make the crisis worse. The enormous debt of 10 billion that started to build up with the cabinets led by Ghigo, Bresso and Cota has to be restructured with a programmed intervention lasting 15 to 20 years, not one lasting two or three." Davide Bono, regional councillor MoVimento 5 Stelle Piemonte {5 Star MoVement Piedmont}

MEPs vote 325-300 against Yves Mersch, but Angela Merkel says the European Council should ignore this and nominate him anyway; Socialists are calling for Mersch's withdrawal;  ECB sources says they also expect Mersch to be nominated; a preliminary IMF report shows that Greek debt-to-GDP cannot reach the target of 120% of GDP, even under the most positive of scenarios; despite accepting a two-year increase in the Greek timetable, Germany refuses any external funding of the budget shortfall of €16bn-€30bn, insisting that the Greeks should find the money somewhere in Greece; the Greek government now plans to bundle austerity and reform into a single package to prevent lawmakers from picking and choosing; the Democratic Left continues to oppose the labour reforms. while several Socialist lawmakers say they oppose fast-track privatisation; Ireland is planning to leave the bailout programme next year even if there is no deal on bank debt; the IMF says a debt deal would greatly enhance Ireland's chances of exiting the programme; the troika is getting more gloomy about Portugal; S&P cuts the rating of Paribas as the French economy weakens; the latest data show that the liquidity situation of eurozone banks has improved as a result of the LTRO; but the credit crunch is nevertheless getting worse, with a negative trend for M3 and credit; Spain's tax agency reports improved collection rates from tax evaders; a Spanish official is quoted as saying that Spain's regions are facing another massive budget shortfall next year, and need more central funding next year;Il Foglio says it is time for another term for Monti; Gillian Tett, meanwhile, ponders the implications of a parallel currency for Finland.

ITALY'S BERLUSCONI SENTENCED TO 4 YEARS IN JAIL IN MEDIASET TV RIGHTS CASE

The EU parliament has narrowly voted against the controversial appointment of a top male nominee to the European Central Bank's advisory board. The vote, however, can still be overridden be EU finance ministers.

A divided European parliament gathered in Strasbourg, France on Thursday rejected ECB nominee Yves Mersch's possible ascension to the bank's six-member board.

Mersch lost the vote by a narrow margin. While 300 members of parliament voted for the Luxembourg lawmerker, 325 rejected his appointment. There were 49 abstentions.

German top of the line auto maker Daimler has revised its 2012 and 2013 profit targets on the back of lower gains in the third quarter of this year. The company is particularly worried about its European business.

German carmaker Daimler confirmed disappointing net profits in its third-quarter report on Thursday, which was inadvertently published a day too early. The Stuttgart-based firm announced an 11 percent drop in gains between July and September to 1.21 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

Greece is struggling to combat tax evasion and corruption. Last summer, the tax debts reached a record level of 45 billion euros. But so far, the state has recovered just 19 million euros of this debt.

A lot has happened over the past few years: The Greek tax system was upgraded, and from 2010 to 2012 fines of over 12 billion euros ($15.6 billion) were imposed. Dozens of public figures and even a former cabinet minister have been arrested for tax fraud or corruption, and jailed accordingly. Just a few years ago, all this would have all been inconceivable.

Much of Germany's gold reserves are stored abroad, in vaults in the US, Britain and France. No one has actually seen the gold bars for a long time - which has prompted German federal auditors to call for a look.

In times of crisis, gold is considered to be a safe haven. But as the financial crisis has engulfed the European single currency zone, that very haven has shifted into the focus of politicians and Germany's National Audit Office. Questions are being raised as to whether the German Central Bank has in the past actually checked whether its gold stored in the US, France and the UK actually has the weight it is supposed to have. Only about 30 percent of the country's gold reserves are stored within Germany itself.

Britain's economy emerged from its nine-month recession in the July to September quarter, when spending on the Olympics helped it grow by a bigger-than-expected 1 percent, according to official figures released Thursday. The number published by the Office for National Statistics beat the market consensus forecast of 0.6 percent growth and will make the Bank of England less likely to approve a further round of economic stimulus in November, analysts say.   The ONS said the result was the strongest quarterly growth in five years, bringing economic output back to the same level of a year ago. It is a first estimate and is subject to revision.

(Reuters) - Ford motor Co unleashed a second volley of European job cuts and plant closures on Thursday in a bid to halt regional losses that the automaker now expects to surpass $3 billion over two years.

Ford told British unions Thursday it would scrap its Southampton van factory and an associated stamping facility in Dagenham in mid-2013, slashing 1,400 jobs and ending vehicle manufacturing by Ford in Britain.

WASHINGTON, DC - The Chinese economy hemorrhaged US$3.79 trillion in illicit financial outflows from 2000 through 2011, according to a new report [PDF] released today by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization.   Amidst increased domestic concern over inequality and corruption, GFI's study raises serious questions about the stability of the Chinese economy merely two weeks before the once-in-a-decade leadership transition.

"I've studied the proceeds of crime, corruption, and tax evasion for decades, and the magnitude of illicit money flowing out of China is astonishing," said GFI Director Raymond Baker.  "There's no other developing or emerging economy that even comes close to suffering as much in illicit financial outflows."

We were discussing China's dollar situation the other day. If there is an illicit outflow I guess the current account will not reflect the true situation.

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!

Courtesy of Matt Yglesias, from the Financial Services Forum:
(pdf)

   "We write today to urge you to work together to reach a bipartisan agreement to avoid the approaching `fiscal cliff,' and take concrete steps to restore the United States' long-term fiscal footing."

And later:

   "But merely avoiding the fiscal cliff is not enough. We further urge you and your colleagues to enact legislation that truly restores the nation's long-term fiscal soundness."

It's too obvious to waste more than a sentence spelling out what's wrong here, so here it is: "Going over" the "fiscal cliff" is the single best thing we could do to "restore the United States' long-term fiscal footing." The CEOs of every big bank (who signed the letter) must know that. Right?

There are valid arguments against going over the fiscal cliff, but the national debt is not one of them. Going over the cliff would do more to address the long-term debt than anything any politician has proposed. And, as Yglesias points out, "If you care about inequality, jumping off the cliff offers by far the best chance for addressing it," since it is the only plausible way to significantly increase taxes on the wealthy.

Sectarian Violence has broken out in western Myanmar, leaving dozens dead. The United Nations has called for calm amid the ongoing clashes which have destroyed thousands of homes over five days.

Nearly sixty people have died as a result of ongoing violence between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar, which persisted Thursday for a fifth day. The western state of Rakhine has suffered the brunt of the conflict.

The Syrian army and rebel forces have agreed to suspend military operations from Friday to mark the four-day Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha. Although both have reserved the right to retaliate in the face of attack.

Syria's army command confirmed on Thursday it had agreed to honor an internationally-backed ceasefire proposal brokered by UN-Arab peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. In a statement broadcast on Syrian state television the army said the truce would take effect Friday morning and continue until Monday, October 29.

A trip to the Gaza Strip by the emir of Qatar can be viewed as part of broader changes to the political landscape in the Middle East. It is an indication of what things might look like in the future.

It is a matter of perspective what you might consider a large sum of money or what are just peanuts. Some $250 million (193 million euros) is what Qatari Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani brought with him on his visit to the Gaza Strip. Part of Gaza is still in ruins following the Israeli raids of 2009. The plan now is to rebuild Gaza City with the emir's money and found a new town, "Hamad City", named after the Qatari leader.

The Shiites and Bahais are often overlooked in discussions about Egypt's religious minorities. But activists say they face daily persecution. The rise of Islamist movements offers little hope of change.

Speak of religious minorities in Egypt and the first group that comes to mind are the Coptic Christians. But there are other marginalized and forgotten religious minorities that rarely make it into the news. They often shy away from public or political activism for fear of being the target of attacks by Sunni fundamentalists or even the state.

After the deadly attack on Lebanese security chief al-Hassan it was mostly Sunni Muslims who took to the streets in Beirut. What is behind the tensions? Why is the country repeatedly rocked by violence?

A change of face in the White House would have an impact on transatlantic relations. The EU is therefore closely watching the US presidential campaign, but politicians are reluctant to take sides.

If the US public were as keen on their president as the Europeans, Barack Obama would sleep soundly ahead of the forthcoming US elections on November 6. In a survey conducted this summer by the German Marshall Fund, 75 percent of Europeans said they would back Obama, with just eight percent supporting Mitt Romney.

Nearly 300 sailors from the Argentinian navy ship Libertad returned home on Thursday, expressing mixed emotions after leaving their frigate moored on the West African coast. But the weeks-old row over the sailing vessel appear far from resolved.

Libertad, the flagship of the Argentinian navy that is used for training and humanitarian missions, was not allowed to sail out of Ghana's eastern port of Tema on October 2, after a judge in the capital of Accra accepted an injunction filed by an investment fund that claims Argentina owes it more than 280 million euros.

MOSCOW -- Russian NGOs have warned that the regime could use the new Law on State Secrets and the expanded definition of high treason as a tool for repression.
The Russian Duma has adopted the law which envisages stiffer penalties for those who reveal state secrets.

Analysts believe that this is a continuation of Moscow's fight against dissidents.
According to the bill, "any kind of support of those who want to harm Russia's security, constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial integrity" is classified as high treason.
 

Global News, NASSAU, Bahamas - A weakened Hurricane Sandy lashed the central Bahamas late Thursday with violent winds and torrential rains, after raging through the Caribbean where it caused at least 21 deaths and forced postponement of a hearing at the Guantanamo naval base on Cuba. (...) By late Thursday, Sandy had slowed to a category 1 hurricane, but forecasters warned that it will likely blend with a winter storm to cause a super storm in the eastern U.S. next week whose effects will be felt along the entire Atlantic Coast and inland to Ohio.

Colombia Reports: Canadian resource exploitation companies who have been moving into Colombia are contributing to what Amnesty International has called "a stunning human rights crisis" for the Latin American country's vulnerable indigenous population.

LAHT, HAVANA - The Cuban government will ease restrictions on visits to the island by people who emigrated without authorization, including doctors and athletes who defected while on excursions abroad, a senior official said.

Company went public a year later and stocks sold for ten times the prices. Duh. That's what happens when you go public.
And "shrill feminist lawyer" is involved, should be an entertaining few days.

Will it make a difference? Probably not - women who vote GOP are either obedient or rich enough not to change their mind.


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sapere aude

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made it clear this week he does not want international elections observers anywhere near the polls in his state.

In a letter dated Tuesday to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Abbott threatened to prosecute any of its monitors who step within 100 feet of a Texas polling place on Election Day. The threat came even though U.S. State Department officials earlier this year had invited the monitors to observe the election.

Don't ever change, Texas!

As they say in the Capitol Steps song "The enemy has landed, the U.N. it at our shore."


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sapere aude

Instead of ruining farmers' livelihoods by eradicating their coca plots, Bolivia is applying "social control." It's led to a drop in the plant's cultivation in a country the US blames for being a source of illegal drugs.

Instead of ruining farmers' livelihoods by eradicating their coca plots, Bolivia is applying "social control." It's led to a drop in the plant's cultivation in a country the US blames for being a source of illegal drugs.

The broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough says scientists and environmentalists have been cautious of overstating the dangers of global warming, but recent evidence of melting polar caps shows the situation is worse than had been thought. He also discusses population growth and disappearing habitats

Oil companies operating in the North Sea have been fined for oil spills on just seven occasions since 2000, even though 4,123 separate spills were recorded over the same period, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has confirmed.

The disclosure came as Decc said on Thursday that the government had offered a "record-breaking" 167 new licences to oil and gas companies seeking to drill in the North Sea. A further 61 "blocks", or licences, are under environmental assessment.

Islamic groups are imposing sharia law in northern Mali. Secular music is banned along with performances by griots, the traditional African singers and storytellers, who in earlier times, used to act as mediators.

A wedding without a griot? That would be almost unthinkable in Mali. At births, circumcisions or funerals, a singer is always present. The sound of the djembe and kora, West Africa's well-known drums and harps, is always heard at these ceremonies.

US President Barack Obama has criticised a Republican Senate candidate for his comments about women and rape, insisting that "rape is rape" and that distinctions offered by the Republican candidate, in Obama's words, "don't make any sense to me". The Republican in Indiana's Senate race, Richard Mourdock, said during a debate Tuesday night that when pregnancy results from rape, it is "something God intended", despite the "horrible situation" from which they derived. He said he would only allow abortions in circumstances in which the mother's life was in danger.

During puberty, thousands of Cameroonian girls fall victim to a painful practice: the women in their families, sometimes even their own mothers, try to make their growing breasts disappear by crushing them. They believe this "protects" the girls from experiencing their sexuality too soon.   According to a 2005 investigation by two doctors, almost a quarter of Cameroonian women have been victims of this practice. This "ironing" or "massaging" of the breasts, as it is sometimes euphemistically called, has also been reported in Togo and Guinea.

Penguin and Random House in merger talks | Books | The Guardian

The owners of Penguin and Random House are in talks about merging their publishing arms to create the world's biggest books publisher.

Pearson, which owns Penguin and the Financial Times, confirmed on Thursday that it has entered into merger discussions with Bertelsmann, the privately owned German company that owns Random House.

A merger would bring together two of the world's "big six" publishers to create a new powerhouse that would publish 25% of all books sold in the UK. The combined company's authors would include TV chef Jamie Oliver, Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James and diver Tom Daley.

The setup: While he was alive, nobody, I suspect, had a higher opinion of Bill Hicks than he did. And certainly no other comedian inspires the same devotion among his fans that he still does today. (People actually sit down and transcribe his shows.)

One thing needs knocking on the head immediately. Early death does wonders for an artist's reputation, it is true, but Hicks was a major talent, and the world would still be saying so if the cancer hadn't got him in 1994, when he was just 32.

From beyond the grave Elizabeth Taylor has overtaken her close friend Michael Jackson to become the top earning dead celebrity. The estate of the actor, who died last year, earned $210m (£130m) in the past 12 months largely due to Christie's record-setting auction of her jewellery and art collection, according to Forbes' annual poll of the richest dead celebrities.