Current Events
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Date Entered |
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German |
Spanish |
Russian |
| April 28th, 2004 |
France's EU grief The enlargement of the European Union, now welcoming 10 new member states, has unsettled France, which sees a threat to the established balance of power. France, one of the founders and most active member states of the European Union, is struggling to adapt to the arrival of a much-bigger bloc which it fears will water down its influence and challenge its leadership on EU foreign policy. France has dragged its heels over enlargement, making new EU members
unhappy. Expatica, April 28th |
German Institutes Lower Growth Forecast Germany's six leading economic institutes lowered their forecast for growth this year as companies shed jobs and consumer confidence stalls. Europe's largest economy will grow 1.5 percent in 2004, the institutes said, paring an October forecast of 1.7 percent. The pace of expansion will hold at 1.5 percent next year, the state- funded institutes said in a twice-yearly report, presented in Berlin, that forms the basis of the government's own forecasts. Bloomberg.com, April 27th |
Colombian head threatens to annihilate paramilitaries BOGOTA, Colombia - President Alvaro Uribe, alleging Tuesday that some paramilitary forces want to kill him, warned that the government would annihilate the outlawed militias unless they abide by a cease-fire and stop trafficking in drugs. Uribe's comments came as power within the right-wing paramilitary groups appears to be shifting to members heavily involved in drug trafficking, and after paramilitary co-founder Carlos Castano disappeared on April 16 during a reported attack by rivals. AzCentral.com, April 28th |
Russia can increase transit of Kazakhstan oil Russia can transport through its territory 40-50 millions of Kazakhstan’s oil a year, Deputy Foreign Minister, the Russian president’s Caspian envoy Viktor Kalyuzhny said at an international conference on the Caspian Sea on Wednesday. He said Kazakhstan is a stable and promising state in terms of energy resources. Russia can handle the volume of transit of Kazakhstan’s oil extacted in the Caspian region, Kalyuzhny stressed. “The sole problem is the tariff policy,” he added. However, Russia will attend to the problem, he said. ITAR-TASS, April 28th |
| April 21st, 2004 |
Light shines on action behind foodborne disease Listeria Delving into the mechanism behind the potentially fatal foodborne disease Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), French scientists report their findings this week on how two mammalian proteins are ‘hijacked’ by the disease. Comprehension of how Listeria monocytogenes invades mammalian cells during infection is vital to understand how this foodborne disease can change from inducing gastroenteritis to serious complications like meningitis, septicaemia, abortion and even death. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur in Paris describe how two mammalian proteins, myosin VIIa and vezatin, are hijacked by L. monocytogenes and used in the propagation of the infection within the host. Food Production Daily, April 21st |
Pilots die as fighter jets collide BERLIN, Germany-- Two German Air Force pilots have been killed in a mid-air collision between two fighter jets over northern Germany, according to a military spokesman. The Tornados were flying over the state of Schleswig-Holstein on Wednesday when the crash took place at about 10:30 a.m. local time near Sankt Peter Ording, German Air Force spokesman Thomas Scheiber told CNN. Two crew members parachuted to safety. There was no immediate word on damage on the ground. CNN, April 21st |
4 Cuban exiles convicted in plot to murder Castro A former CIA operative and three other men are sentenced to prison for endangering public safety after being found guilty in a plot to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro A Panamanian judge Tuesday convicted four Cuban exiles in a plot to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro and sentenced the oldest -- 76-year-old Luis Posada Carrilles -- to the maximum sentence of eight years. Caught in Panama City with a fake passport and 33 pounds of explosives, Posada and the three others were found guilty of endangering public safety after 3 ½ years in jail. Codefendants Pedro Remón and Guillermo Novo, both of Miami, were sentenced to seven years, Remón told The Herald by telephone from prison. Posada and Gaspar Jiménez, also of Miami, received an extra year each for using false passports to enter Panama in November 2000, just before Castro was to visit the Ibero-American summit. The Miami Herald, April 21st |
Russian spacecraft docks with space station KOROLYOV, Russia - A Russian spacecraft delivered a Russian-American-Dutch crew docked to the international space station on Wednesday, as U.S. and Russian space officials on the ground squabbled over the conditions for future missions. The Soyuz TMA-4, working on autopilot, docked with the ISS three minutes ahead of schedule at 9:01 local time, approximately two days after blasting off on a rocket from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Carrying three astronauts, it was the third Russian spacecraft to fill in for the U.S. space shuttle, which has been suspended since the Columbia disaster. Macon Telegraph, April 21st |
| April 6th, 2004 |
Queen to view Louvre artwork The Queen is due to visit the Louvre in Paris on the second day of her state visit to France. She is being given a preview of paintings to be displayed next year in a new British gallery at the world famous museum. The monarch's three-day stay in the country marks 100 years of the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale agreement. She is also due to deliver a speech at a joint parliamentary reception at the Senate and enjoy lunch with French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Ic.essex.co.uk, April 6th |
German World Cup victory: was it a fix? For the past 50 years they have been revered as Germany's answer to Bobby Charlton, Gordon Banks and Geoff Hurst. But yesterday the German football team that won the 1954 World Cup - defeating Hungary in the final against all odds - was under a cloud of suspicion. According to a new documentary, the German side was given performance-enhancing injections before running on the pitch. In the report to be shown in Germany next month, the former groundsman of the Swiss stadium where the final was played admits that after the game, which West Germany won 3-2, he discovered several syringes in the German dressing room. Walter Brönnimann said he had kept quiet about his discovery for 50 years after the company for which he worked swore him to silence. The Guardian International, April 1st |
Spain Makes New Arrest in Madrid Bombings MADRID, Spain - Authorities announced another arrest in the Madrid terror bombings Monday and sent police to patrol subway and bus stations, as a newspaper said a group linked to al-Qaida threatened to turn Spain into "an inferno." Court officials said the arrest came Saturday in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast. No details were given on the man's identity or possible role in the March 11 train attacks, which killed 191 people. Another suspect whose weekend arrest was also announced Monday has been released after questioning, officials said. The arrest raises to 16 the number of people in custody, including six charged with mass murder. Corvallis Gazette Times, April 6th |
Lawsuits tell story of secret nuclear wasteland KARABOLKA, Russia - One of the world's ghastliest nuclear accidents happened just upwind of here, in a secret atomic city that didn't have a name and never appeared on any maps. An explosion of radioactive sludge sent up a toxic plume that contaminated a quarter-million people. This was the Soviet Union, 1957, but only now are the voices of the victims being heard. Communist authorities responded to the accident with a global cover-up and a scorched-earth cleanup. Even as they evacuated entire Russian communities, they were sending 1,500 ethnic Tatar farmers into the hot zones to do the dirty work. Children were pressed into service, too, from fourth-graders on up. Many of the "young liquidators," as the children came to be known, died from radiation-related diseases soon after the explosion, which few people know about even today. They came down with afflictions they couldn't have imagined, illnesses they couldn't even pronounce. Kansas.com, April 6th |
| March
28th, 2004 |
French Government. Braced for Heavy Defeat, Reshuffle PARIS- France's ruling conservatives were bracing for a regional election drubbing Sunday that commentators expected to trigger a cabinet shake-up. Buoyed by popular discontent with economic reforms, the resurgent left was hoping to capitalize on its 40 percent first-round score to capture up to 17 of France's 26 regions in Sunday's run-off and reassert itself as a political force. The right mustered just 34 percent last week in what has turned into a mid-term test of Jacques Chirac's presidency. It stands to lose half its 14 regional councils -- and was hoping that the first-round losses would rally its supporters, especially in the Paris region where government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope hopes to wrest control from the Socialists. Reuters, 28th March |
German Government To Lobby for Permanent UN Seat With German troops safeguarding international security from the horn of Africa to Afghanistan, Germany thinks the time is ripe to get what it has long lobbied for: a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Speaking before the German Parliament during his annual policy address, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said that Germany was "ready for the responsibility" of a permanent seat on the powerful council. So far, only Russia, China, France, the United States and Great Britain have permanent seats on the council. Germany, which contributes €340 million to the United Nations each year, has held a rotating seat since January 2003. The temporary seat allows Germany to take part in the discussions of the 15-seat council, but doesn't give it the right to veto decisions made by the U.N., a right reserved for permanent members. Deutsch Welle,28th March |
"Misunderstanding" over Mexico cavers LONDON (Reuters) - The chief of the British Army says the detention of a British military group in Mexico was due to a "grave misunderstanding" and the men had been there only to explore underground caves. The six cavers, four of them members of the British military, were rescued from a cavern late on Thursday after spending 11 days trapped underground by floodwaters. But a diplomatic row broke out between London and Mexico on Friday when Mexican President Vicente Fox refused to accept Britain's explanation of what they were doing in the caves. Mexico's attorney general's office said it was investigating media reports that the cavers were scouting for deposits of potentially radioactive materials. The men have been detained and questioned by immigration officers. Reuters, 28th March |
Ukraine to investigate disappearance of hundreds of missiles KIEV, March 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The Ukrainian military will launch an in-depth investigation into the disappearance of hundreds of missiles, Defense Minister Yevgeni Kirillovich Marchuk has promised. In a recent review of the military's arsenal, the armed forces found that hundreds of missiles had been lost, Interfax-Ukraine News Agency quoted the minister as saying late Friday. Marchuk said the missing missiles were all air defense ones inherited from the now-defunct Soviet Union. Ukraine declared independence in 1991. The missiles were decommissioned in the 1980s, and can no longer be used in actual combat, he added. When he took over as defense chief in June 2003, Marchuk said, he found an absence of a unified inventory and registration systemfor military hardware. He then ordered a comprehensive check, only to find a gap of some 1 trillion hryvna (189 billion US dollars). China View, 28th March |
| March
23rd, 2004 |
Haitian Rebels Outnumber, Outgun Police Belly down with assault rifles at the ready, rebels hunker down in the hotel lobby, weapons trained on a parking lot where a shot rang out overnight. Guerrillas outnumber and outgun police in Haiti's second-largest city, a strategic port where humanitarian agencies are relying on French troops and a shaky truce to do their work. Inforum, March 23rd |
Malaise could affect the next two elections BERLIN Countries experience malaise, as Jimmy Carter once said of the United States (to his political disadvantage), and Germany is quite clearly in that state now. No less a figure than Helmut Schmidt, the former chancellor, said in an interview with the weekly Die Zeit last week, "There is almost no area where Germany stands out with its achievements." International Herald Tribune, March 24th |
Zapatero may add troops in Afghanistan MADRID In a move that might help muffle criticism of a Socialist pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, Spain's incoming prime minister is considering increasing the number of Spanish soldiers guarding the fragile peace in Afghanistan, sources in his party said Tuesday. International Herald Tribune, March 24th |
McCartney in Russia Paul McCartney plans to spend his 62nd birthday (June 18) in Russia, where he is scheduled to play a concert on June 20 in Palace Square in St. Petersburg. Seats will be available for 10,000, along with standing room for 50,000, according to Agence France-Presse, citing a report yesterday from the Interfax news agency. The New York Times, March 24th |
| March
14th, 2004 |
Bomb threat in France PARIS: Security on the French railways has been raised after a shadowy group threatening to blow up parts of the French railway unless cash demands are met has repeated its threats to authorities. A source close to investigations said yesterday that the previously unknown group, which calls itself AZF, wrote to President Jacques Chirac's office this week demanding a payment in excess of an original demand of some $5 million (BD1.8m) The group repeated a threat to start detonating 10 bombs which it says are placed at various points along the tracks, the source said, adding that authorities take the threat seriously Gulf Daily News, 14th of March |
Germany concerned over al-Qaeda
link to Madrid BERLIN - German officials warned Friday that if al-Qaeda turned out to be responsible for the Madrid bombings Germany could be facing heightened security threats. "This would be a new situation," said German Interior Minister Otto Schily in an ARD TV interview. "If it's al-Qaeda then we have an additional problem in Germany," said Dieter Wiefelspuetz, domestic policy spokesman of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party in parliament. Deutsch Welle,12 March 2004 |
11-M |
Arab militant vows attacks
on Russia DUBAI: Arab television channel Al Jazeera broadcast a videotape on Saturday of the man it said was the leader of Arab fighters in Chechnya, vowing to stage a new wave of attacks inside Russia. Abu al-Waleed, said by the Kremlin of being among those behind last
month’s bombing on the Moscow underground, added that his campaign
might depend on the outcome of Russia’s coming presidential polls.
Hi Pakistan, March 14th |
| February 28th, 2004 |
Strike of Air France
flight attendants The strike of some Air France flight attendants from Friday to Saturday night has caused the cancellation of a few flights out of Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly this Saturday morning. The flight attendants are protesting against Air France's plan to reduce cabin crews on short to medium haul flights. SN Brussels Airlines, January28th |
The Long Wait for Deportation
Every year, German authorities evict some 50,000 foreigners who were denied the right to stay in Germany. Before deportation, refugees caught without valid documents are put in remand. Many of them are women. African women who want to leave these things behind often fall prey to so-called "facilitators” who lure them to Europe under false pretences. They take their passports and organize their crossing to the European continent. Once they are there they often find it hard to free themselves from the hands of these criminals who often don’t stop short of selling the women into prostitution.
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Spain to build world's second largest supercomputer MADRID (AFP) - The Spanish government agreed to spend 70 million euros (87 million dollars) building the world's second most powerful supercomputer. The decision to construct the supercomputer, which will be the most powerful in Europe, is the result of a deal between the government and the Spanish branch of computer giant IBM.
AFP Worldwide News, February 27th |
Britain, Russia sweat
as secret operations exposed In the twilight world of secret services there are few hard-and-fast rules, but the main one is: don't get found out. In two very different cases, Britain and Russia both broke that rule on Thursday. The British government was rocked by allegations by a former cabinet minister that it spied on United Nations chief Kofi Annan in the run-up to the Iraq war last year. Russia, for its part, was angrily demanding the return of secret agents arrested in Qatar and charged over the assassination of a former Chechen rebel president. Gazeta RU, February 27th |
| February 22nd, 2004 |
Dearly departed may still become dearly beloved in France Yes, it is possible to marry the dearly departed in France, thanks to a law that turns the vow "till death do us part" on its head. The law dates to December 1959, when the Malpasset Dam in southern France burst, inundating the town of Frejus and killing hundreds of people When President Charles de Gaulle visited the town a week later, a young woman named Irene Jodard pleaded with him to allow her to follow through on her marriage plans even though her fiance had drowned. "I promise, Mademoiselle, to think of you," De Gaulle was reported to have replied. Later that month, the National Assembly drafted a law to permit Jodard to marry her deceased fiance, Andre Capra. Hundreds of would-be widows and widowers have applied for postmortem matrimony since then. Star Tribune, February 22nd |
EU's 'Big Three' Meet as Partners Fret BERLIN (Reuters) - The leaders of Germany, France and Britain meet Wednesday to push economic reforms in the EU but the summit agenda has been overshadowed by complaints from partners that the "Big Three" want to dominate the bloc. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will discuss ways of improving competitiveness in Europe, with an agenda covering labor markets, social policy and innovation. But the symbolism of the meeting, which brings the European Union's three most powerful leaders together for the third time in six months, has created unease elsewhere in the EU and sparked loud objections from Italy in particular. Financial Times, February 18th |
Thousands in Spain Rally Over Iraq MADRID, Spain - Thousands of protesters demanding an end to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq took to the streets in downtown Madrid and other Spanish cities Sunday, holding banners reading, "We are with the Iraqi people, Invaders, out of Iraq." At Madrid's Plaza Espana square, police said about 10,000 people rallied, while organizers put the number at 100,000. Some young marchers chanted, "Where are the weapons? They are in the U.S.!" and "The Popular Party, a criminal party!" in reference to the party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, one of President Bush's staunchest allies on Iraq and other issues. Associated Press, February 15th
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Russian air defense in deplorable state MOSCOW - Russia’s air defense is in a deplorable state, Anatoly Kornukov, the former commander of the Russian air force, said at a round table meeting on Wednesday. “Russian air defense is in deplorable condition, but it is not hopeless,” he said. According to Kornukov, the country’s air defense weapons “remained the same as several decades ago” due to the lack of funds and the absence of modernization. As an example, he referred to the S-50 air defense system. The combat effectiveness of the system is halved, according to the former air force commander. The Russia Journal Daily, Feb. 18th |
| February 4th, 2004 |
Ruling sought on French ban BRUSSELS: A British member of the European Parliament yesterday called on the European Union to examine whether a proposed French law banning religious clothing from schools complies with EU law. Gulf Daily News, Feb 4th |
German Literature Online Want to delve into some good contemporary German literature, but don't know where to start? A new Web site called Litrix.de can help.
Litrix editor Heike Friesel knows that there are other resources on the Internet to help fans of German literature abroad choose what new books to read. But Litrix, she says, is different.
"The big advantage that we offer is that we put comprehensive trial reads of translations online," Friesel said. About 20 pages of each recommended title are translated, "so that interested people in other countries can really get a sense of the text." Deutche Welle, Feb 4th |
Wall Street Journal to Publish Spanish-Language Section for 'Hoy' Dow Jones & Co. and Tribune Co. announced Wednesday they would collaborate on a new weekly section for the the New York, Chicago and Los Angeles editions of Spanish-language Hoy on Thursdays. The section, to make its debut in March, will be written and produced The Wall Street Journal. It will consist of eight tabloid-size pages of editorial and advertising and be titled "The Wall Street Journal." Hoy is owned by Chicago-based Tribune Co. Topics covered will include personal finance and technology, careers,
small business and other areas of interest to Hispanic readers. The
stories will be selected and translated by Journal editors. |
Livermore Scientists Team With Russia To Discover Elements 113 And 115 LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Scientists from the Glenn T. Seaborg Institute and the Chemical Biology and Nuclear Science Division at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia (JINR), have discovered the two newest super heavy elements, element 113 and element 115. Science Daily, Feb 4th |
| January 21st,
2004 |
Outcry in France over
proposed school beard ban France’s plan to bar religious symbols from state schools took a further confusing turn by Wednesday after the education minister said a proposed ban on Muslim veils could also outlaw beards and bandannas if they were judged to be a sign of faith. MSNBC, Jan 21st |
The German wallet stays open Stuttgart, Germany - German tourists spent more money in 2003 than those from any other country, pipping the United States owing to the weak dollar, according to a Dresdner Bank tourism report released this week. The annual report said Germans spent a total of €52.5bn on their vactions last year and that their favourite holiday spot was Spain, followed by Italy and Austria. Finance 24, Jan 21st
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Nobel Peace
Prize winner will become a top Guatemalan official
GUATEMALA CITY -- Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú said Saturday she will become one of new President Oscar Berger's top officials in charge of monitoring Guatemala's adherence to the U.N.-brokered peace accords that ended 36 years of civil war.
While Menchú's official role with the Berger administration has yet to be defined, sources close to the new president say she will become ``goodwill ambassador to the peace accords.''
The peace accords ended the fighting in December 1996. They offered recommendations on how to reduce the role of the military in government and on how to promote social and economic equality.
Miami Herald, Jan 18th
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Russia to lose half
of its planes by 2010 and over 80 percent by 2015 Russian civil aviation faces a bleak feature. It is expected to lose almost half of its resources by 2010 and, by 2015, lose over 80 percent of its fleet, according to data released by the Ministry of Transportation. According to a report presented at press conference, there are about 1,500 national and regional planes, most of which are obsolete compared to those of more developed countries. At present, annual replacement rate stands at only 0.3 percent, about twenty times less than necessary. The Russia Journal Daily, Jan 21st |
| Holiday Break |
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| December
8th, 2003 |
French Historians End 200 Years of Debate on the Heart Pickled in a Doctor's Library After years of painstaking research, French historians say they have solved one of the country's most enduring mysteries. They claim a pickled and shrunken heart that has roamed Europe for more than two centuries belonged to Louis XVII, the Boy King, son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The Guardian, December 8th |
Cannibal Sought New Victim A GERMAN cannibal on trial for murder said Monday that he had been searching the Internet for another person to eat when he was arrested for consuming his first allegedly willing victim. Months after killing, dissecting and eating a man he met via the Internet, Armin Meiwes wrote in an e-mail to a friend: "I hope I will soon find another victim, the flesh has almost all gone." News Interactive, December 8th |
Canadian-backed Dam Could be Delayed A dam in Belize backed by a Canadian company is fundamental to the country's economic development, Belize's attorney general said Wednesday as he warned of dire consequences if the project is delayed by Britain's Privy Council. As a poor country, Belize relies on foreign investment to build public projects, but Godfrey Smith fears that money would evaporate if the Privy Council orders the dam to undergo a second environmental assessment, possibly postponing its construction for years or even causing it to be abandoned. Canadian News, December 3rd |
DEATH TOLL RISES IN RUSSIAN TRAIN BOMBING Moscow, Russia, Dec. 8 - The death toll in the suicide attack that took place on Friday against a passenger train traveling through the Russian region of Stavropol near the Chechen border has risen to 44, according to local medical workers. The sources say the most recent victims were a 50 year old woman and a 19 year old man who died overnight from complications. The number of wounded is currently at 220, 170 of which have been admitted to the hospital. AGI, December 8th |
| December
2nd, 2003 |
French Base in Abidjan Besieged by Protesters ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast Hundreds of young protesters, some with machetes
and knives, besieged the French military base in Ivory Coast’s
main city of Abidjan on Monday, a day after soldiers called on the French
to leave the front line in the war-riven country. Reuters, December 2nd |
German Flick Tops Shortlist for European Film Awards Runaway German hit movie Good Bye Lenin! tops the shortlist of nominations for this year's European Film Awards being presented Saturday in Berlin. Wolfgang Becker's bitter-sweet nostalgia film about a young man trying to shield his mother in post-communist Berlin has been shortlisted for best European film, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenwriter. ABC News, December 2nd |
Latin America Gets New Bioinformatics Network A second network has been launched in Latin America to boost regional collaboration in bioinformatics — the use of information technology to store and analyse biological information, particularly in genomics The Iberoamerican Network for Bioinformatics, launched last month, aims to improve training, increase research coordination and encourage student exchanges in the region. It links more than 20 research groups from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as Spain. "Bioinformatics is now widely recognised as a crucial field for research and development in agricultural, veterinary and human health sciences, as well as in biotechnology", says the coordinator of the network, Wim Degrave of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil. SciDevNet.com , November 28th |
Russia Will Block Current Kyoto Pact A top Kremlin aide says Russia will block the Kyoto environmental pact, because in its current form, it threatens Russia's economic growth. The comment has been made by Andrei Illarionov, who advises President Vladimir Putin on economic issues. Russia needs to ratify Kyoto for it to come into force. The treaty aims to cut emissions of gases responsible for global warming, but requires approval from countries responsible for 55 per cent of emissions. This leaves Russia with the casting vote, as the world's top polluter, the United States, has already pulled out. ABC News, December 2nd |
| November
30th, 2003 |
France Raising Security Alert Level France is raising its security alert level by a notch starting Monday due to end of the year festivities and "the international environment," authorities said. The alert level, based on the U.S. color-coded system, is moving from yellow to orange, putting extra security patrols in train stations, Metros and on fast-train routes, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's office said over the weekend. "While no precise threat has been identified today against the national territory, the international environment and the necessary precautions ahead of the end of the year festivities impose increased vigilance and protection," said a statement. ASSOCIATED PRESS |
Germany, Russia Probe the Fate of WWII Prisoners An estimated 3.3 million Soviet prisoners of war (POWs) were executed, worked to death or died of hunger and disease during World War Two. Across the eastern front, the Soviet Union, which had suffered a loss of 27 million people, kept hundreds of thousands of German POWs as forced labourers for years after the fighting stopped. Millions went missing on both sides. Yet 1.4 million German soldiers and civilians who disappeared in Soviet-occupied territory are still officially missing, says Mittermaier, who has traced graves for 22 years. By Katie Allen, Reuters |
Spanish PM Vows to Keep Troops in Iraq In a country where protests last spring against the Iraq war drew hundreds of thousands of people, the slaying of seven Spanish intelligence agents south of Baghdad provoked deep anger Sunday along with calls for Spain to withdraw its 1,300 troops. In conversations and newspapers, Spaniards said the ambush, followed by televised images of youths apparently celebrating the deaths, only reinforced their opposition to Spain's role as one of the staunches allies of the U.S.-effort to oust Saddam Hussein. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a conservative who is one of President Bush's strongest supporters among European leaders, said in a speech to the nation Sunday that Spanish troops will remain in Iraq. ASSOCIATED PRESS |
Opec-Russia Crisis Looms as Ministers Set to Meet With Russia now exporting more oil than Saudi Arabia, the scene is set for a cold war between Moscow and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), industry experts say. The Russians are refusing to go along with Opec demands for a concerted drop in production, posing looming problems for the organisation as Opec oil ministers prepare to meet here on Thursday. Russia does not belong to the organisation but has become a prime mover on world petroleum markets, and there is not much Opec can do about it. The Voice of Bahrain |
| November
22nd, 2003 |
France forced to think again about égalité For decades France told its immigrants that if they became French, they would be treated like every other French citizen. It was a nice idea, but it foundered on prejudice. Philip Delves Broughton reports from Paris M Sarkozy is 48 and the most ambitious man in French politics. Compared to the bored, exhausted President Jacques Chirac, M Sarkozy is fizzing with ideas and hopes for France.
Positive discrimination would create inspiring role models for non-white French. "Zinedine Zidane and football is great, but not enough," he said, referring to the Real Madrid midfield genius. "French Muslims are also capable of being senior civil servants, researchers, doctors, teachers." It is a measure of France's failure at integrating its ethnic minorities that M Sarkozy's proposal, practised in Britain and America for years, sounded new. But he has ripped the cover off a vast problem and challenged the very core of the French revolutionaries' motto, the principle inscribed on every municipal lintel: égalité. Telegraph News UK, November 22nd |
Parliament approves EU stem cell research The European Parliament on Wednesday backed controversial plans to lift a ban on European Union funding for research using human embryos.
EU ministers will meet on December 3 to decide whether to follow the Parliament's line and lift the moratorium on stem cell research, adopted in September 2002. The debate has so far been deadlocked, with Germany, Austria, Italy and Portugal opposed to such research. Luxembourg, Spain and Ireland have been ambivalent, despite the strength of their Catholic lobby. European biotechnology companies welcomed Wednesday's parliamentary vote and said it should send a signal to ministers to grant funding for one of the most promising areas of biotech research. By Raphael Minder in Strasbourg, Financial Times, November 19th |
Wolf Is Back in Spain, But Hostilities Linger GAMONAL, Spain (Reuters) - On a hill outside Gamonal in central Spain, a cross marks the spot where a young boy was believed to be eaten by wolves about 90 years ago. Folklore or not, hatred of the wolf and its status as vermin caused Spain's Iberian wolf population to plunge to about 400 by the late 1960s.
Chris Brown, Yahoo.news, November 22 |
Russian Orthodox Church Cuts Ties with US Episcopals The Russian Orthodox Church has cut ties with the Episcopal Church
in the United States over its ordination of an openly gay bishop. The U.S. Episcopal Church consecrated Gene Robinson as bishop two weeks ago. Bishop Robinson is openly gay. The Russian Orthodox Church has been taking part in ecumenical meetings with other Christian Churches for several decades. The Russian Orthodox Church has cut ties with the Episcopal Church in the United States over its ordination of an openly gay bishop. The U.S. Episcopal Church consecrated Gene Robinson as bishop two weeks ago. Bishop Robinson is openly gay. The Russian Orthodox Church has been taking part in ecumenical meetings with other Christian Churches for several decades. Voice of America, November 17th |
| November
6th, 2003 |
French to work a day for elderly PARIS, France-- France said on Thursday it will ask people to work an extra day each year to finance improved health care for the elderly and handicapped. The move follows the deaths of thousands of old people this summer in a heatwave. "Last summer was a murderous summer. It showed that we have a duty to take action to help elderly people," Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told a news conference. Raffarin said companies and unions will be asked to choose which public holiday or other non-work day they will give up. The extra day is likely to be worked from 2005. Reuters, November 6th |
Europe Must Play A Leading Role In Space, EISC Stresses With the successful manned space flight by China and active space programmes in India and Russia, space has received its fair share of publicity of late. In Europe, however, the subject has a deeper political significance, stemming from the realisation that space can open up new political, economic and strategic dimensions for Europe. The EISC is a forum for co-operation between the European national parliaments. It aims to establish a permanent dialogue on space policy issues and support the national governments and European institutions in their efforts to achieve a common European space policy for the maximum benefit of Europe's citizens. For the fifth edition of the EISC, parliamentarians met in Berlin from 30 September to 2 October 2003 to discuss ways of further boosting European space activities. SpaceDaily.com, November 5th |
Mexican president seeks support for migration agreement during U-S meetings Phoenix-AP -- In a grim coincidence, the latest round of violence involving illegal migrants may help Mexican President Vicente Fox make an important point. As Fox was meeting with Arizona state officials yesterday to push for immigration agreements he says will make the U-S-Mexican border safer, four people were killed in a migrant-smuggling-related shooting on an Arizona highway. Passage from Mexico to Arizona has become an increasingly violent illegal entry point into the U-S. Fox says, "it worries us, pains us, the people who lose their lives in Arizona despite campaigns for prevention." He is pushing for expanded trade relations and more opportunities for Mexican workers. Fox is also visiting New Mexico and Texas. Associated Press, November 6th |
Is Russia slowly descending toward dictatorship under President Vladimir Putin? International experts gathered in Washington yesterday believe it looks that way following the recent arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovskii, Russia's richest man and, until his resignation this week, chief executive of one of its most lucrative oil companies, Yukos. "I think that this is by far the deepest political crisis President Putin has faced in his presidency. I think that it is a defining crisis. We have only seen the beginning of it. It will have to go much further," said Anders Aslund, a Swedish economist and onetime adviser to the governments of Russia and Ukraine. Aslund was joined at the forum by Radek Sikorski, a former senior Polish official as well as Leon Aron, a Russian emigre scholar with the American Enterprise public policy institute. None of them minced words in assessing the arrest of Khodorkovskii, who was seized off his private jet in Siberia on 25 October. Subsequently, prosecutors froze more than 50 percent of Yukos shares, a move that caused the Moscow bourse to nosedive briefly. Khodorkovskii, meanwhile, sits in a Moscow prison. He faces up to 10 years if convicted of committing fraud and tax evasion. Radio Free Europe, November 5th |
| November
3rd, 2003 |
Iran, france: Renault signs production joint venture with Idro The French carmaker Renault has said it has signed an agreement with
Iran’s state car holding company Idro for the joint production
and marketing of Renault’s new X90 low-end model, aimed at emerging
markets. MondayMorning.com, November 3rd |
Germany and France accused over EU rules Germany and France were on Monday accused of trying to "kill" Europe's fiscal rules, as EU finance ministers met amid mounting political tension in the 12-country eurozone.
Financial Times, November 3rd |
Many Mexicans Seek Burial in Own Homeland MEXICO CITY - Thousands of Mexicans who die in the United States are flown home for burial every year in their native land, where relatives gather at cemeteries on the Day of the Dead with flowers, candles, a favorite meal and nip of alcohol for the spirits of loved ones. In a nation where ancestors are honored and death is regarded as a constant presence, the Nov. 2 tradition underscores Mexican immigrants' resistance to being buried abroad, migration experts and funeral homes say. More than 300 bodies arrive each month at the Mexico City International Airport, just one port in a booming cross-border funeral trade. AP Latin America, October 31st. |
Politicians discuss resignation of Putin’s aide MOSCOW - Reports came on Thursday evening that Russian President Vladimir Putin relieved his chief of staff Alexander Voloshin of his duties. According to the Presidential Press Service, Mr. Putin appointed Dmitry Medvedev, who was Mr. Voloshin’s assistant, as his chief of staff. Dmitry Kozak was appointed Senior Deputy Chief of Staff, and Igor Shuvalov was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff. The news was not a surprise. Rumors about reshuffles in the Kremlin began a week ago. Russian politicians are commenting on the issue. Lyubov Sliska, Deputy Chairperson of the State Duma, believes that the President has a right to replace his chief of staff. “We were ready for changes in the Kremlin administration and expected them,” Ms. Sliska said. The Russian Journal Daily, October 31st, 2003 |
| October 21st,
2003 |
Fuming French tobacconists strike against rising cigarette prices: $7 a pack PARIS (AP) - Tobacco vendors across France greeted a steep new increase in cigarette prices Monday by shutting their shops in an unprecedented nationwide strike against the government's war on smoking. Notices plastered on shuttered tobacco shops across the country asked smokers for their understanding: "Your tobacconist is fighting for survival." Monday's 20 per cent price rise pushed the average price per pack to 4.60 euros ($7.10 Cdn). It is the second increase of the year, with another looming in early 2004 that would raise prices to about 5.40 euros ($8.30 Cdn) per pack - roughly a 50 per cent increase in the span of a year. www.canada.com, October 20th
|
German Bar Opens First Kindergarten for Men Women in Hamburg who want to shop without dragging along grumbling male partners can leave them at the nation's first kindergarten for men. This adult daycare center has plenty of amenities to keep the big boys occupied. The living room-sized space at one end of the Nox bar in central Hamburg looks like it's been perfectly equipped as a children's daycare center. There are comic books spread out on tables, comfortable couches, a remote-controlled car, plastic toys and even a playpen of sorts with a construction set. It's only when you catch a glance at the copies of Penthouse and Playboy scattered about that you realize this is not your average kids' area. In fact, children aren't allowed here; women aren't either. The Nox bar has set aside this room for men only. More precisely, for men who have no desire to tag along with their wives or girlfriends while they look for skirts, scarves and handbags in the designer boutiques in Hamburg's premier shopping district. Deutsche Welle, October 21 |
Spain to provide 300 million dollars in aid for Iraq
The announcement following a cabinet meeting confirmed media reports that Spain would put up more than 250 million euros (293 million dollars) in aid to Iraq at the donors' conference which convenes in Madrid on Thursday and Friday. |
Russia begins production of new missile MOSCOW - The Triumf anti-aircraft missile system has been approved for service use and serial production, Igor Ashurbeili, General Director of the Almaz research and production group, told reporters on Thursday. According to him, a government commission tested the missile system last summer, and the tests were successful. Mr. Ashurbeili said that so far, old missiles would be used in Triumf systems, and new missiles would be supplied as old stockpiles ran out. At the same time, he did not specify the date when the new missile system would be deployed, saying that this was classified information. The Triumf system has a range of 400km. It can be used both against high-flying strategic and ballistic missiles and against cruise missiles like the Tomahawk, which fly low and are effective against targets in woodland and rugged terrain. The new system is capable of detecting and destroying early-warning aircraft and tactical and strategic aircraft. It can also intercept warheads flying at a speed of 4,800 km per hour. Russia Times, October 17, 2003 |
| |
Revolting French farmers French farmers may be the
main beneficiaries European CAP subsidies – but some of them want
a system fairer to farmers in the developing world. Marc Burleigh reports.
As a cereal farmer in That's apparent on his property,
on which a handsome mansion dating back 370 years sits behind a stone
wall, across the road from a shed that boasts some of the most modern
tractors and equipment available from the It's also apparent in the
presence of a small room in which he proudly sells bio fruit and vegetables
to passing motorists who park in front to the 150 hectares (370 acres)
of wheat and rapeseed that exclusively make up the business side of
his farm, situated some 35 kilometers south of And it's especially apparent
in his words, when he expounds at length on the social ills he believes
globalisation has wrought not only to Expatica,
October 2003 |
German steelworkers
strike Thousands of steelworkers
in Employers last week offered
a 1.8 percent pay rise for 85,000 steel and metalworkers in the northwestern
region, which includes The union said more than 10,000
workers at 29 sites took part in Tuesday's action. The dispute is the
first since IG Metall chose new leadership this summer. International Herald Tribune |
PUNTA GORDA, Long-confined to wakes and
funerals in villages along the Discovered by a local record
company after years in oblivion, Paul Nabor, one of paranda's last surviving
masters, is saving it from extinction and inspiring a new generation
to keep it alive. The white-haired 75-year-old
with sparkling eyes and a flyweight boxer's frame lives in Punta Gorda,
a ramshackle town on the south coast of this tiny country of just 250,000
inhabitants wedged between For more than a decade, Nabor
as Punta Gorda's Garifuna spirit guide has dished out advice and blessings
from a wooden temple in a mixture of Catholicism and African rituals. Reuters,
October 2nd |
Cash-strapped MSNBC, |
| |
For its intellectuals,
A growing sense of The International Herald Tribune,
|
A group of European Parliament members has urged the European Union
to step up pressure on the The horror of Deutsche
Welle, |
With Mars in the sights
Nación, |
New Book Links Putin to Underworld How involved was President Vladimir Putin in the activities of a decade-old
German company now at the center of a pan-European probe into The question has intrigued investigators and journalists since a German
foreign intelligence report was leaked to the press during Putin's rise
to power. The report alleged that SPAG, a company set up ostensibly
to invest in The French daily Le Monde was first out of the gate with the story,
raising some uncomfortable questions about Putin's tenure on SPAG's
supervisory board, which lasted from when he was deputy mayor of The Moscow Times,
|
| |
Unable to move, speak or see, Vincent Humbert programmed his death with his mother's help, even mounting a media campaign to publicize the plan beforehand. Only the date was not revealed. Humbert, 22, died Friday morning, two days after Marie Humbert allegedly
injected her son with barbiturates during a hospital visit. His death
revived a debate in The death of Vincent Humbert puts the political establishment face-to-face with the question of whether to legalize euthanasia. CBS News, |
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- CNN, |
A new cycle of conflict has developed in Ben Dangl, The Andean Information, |
Former Soviet agent gets five years for genocide A former Soviet agent Nikolai Larionov has been jailed for five years
in The 82-year-old maintained his innocence throughout the trial in Jelgava,
near the capital, Prosecutors said Larionov was an integral part of the Soviet Latvian Ministry of Security - set up after the Red Army occupied the Baltic state in 1944. They said he was responsible for exiling as many as 500 people, often whole families. Associated Press, |
| |
French want longer working week Socialists' 35-hour week introduced five years ago has kept wages stagnant
and failed to create more jobs as expected The nation's 35-hour working week, the flagship policy of a previous left-wing government, is increasingly unpopular among employees, according to a survey published on Tuesday. Advertisement The Straits Times, September 25th |
Daimler Invests $600
Mln in
The plant, which currently builds the M-Class sports utility vehicle, will in future produce the more luxurious Grand Sports Tourer -- which starts production in early 2005 -- as well as the M-Class successor. "In Reuters, September 25th |
Remittances are Money sent from Mexican workers in the Remittances "are our biggest source of foreign income, bigger than oil, tourism or foreign investment," Fox told reporters after a meeting with Mexican-American businessmen. "The 20 million Mexicans in the LUIS ALONSO |
Russian, German and French leaders meet in New York The Carnegie Hall of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, in At their Wednesday meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's
session, the three leaders discussed United Nations development and
reform, specifically ways to raise the organization's effectiveness
and efficiency in global issues, a source in the Russian delegation
has said. They also touched upon "key international topics,"
including Iraqi developments and the prospective UN resolution on Gazeta.Ru, September 25 |
| |
Chirac Calls for Transfer
of Sovereignty to Iraqi People In an hourlong interview at the Élysée Palace, Mr. Chirac laid out for the first time a two-stage plan for Iraqi self-rule, the first stage being a symbolic transfer of sovereignty from American hands to the existing 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, with that followed by the gradual ceding of real power over the next six to nine months. New York Times, September 22 |
THE BOSS LIKES ’EM YOUNG For the numerous out-of-work Germans aged 50 and older, the prospect
of finding a steady job is especially elusive. In July, for example,
while nationwide un-employment among the under-25 age group was 12.9
percent, it was 24.5 percent, for the 50-or-older group, according to
the Landesarbeitsamt Berlin-Brandenburg. For In Expatica, |
Head of spy agency resigns
amid scandal ''The government has decided to accept [retired] Adm. Alfonso Panizo's resignation,'' Prime Minister Beatriz Merino said at a news conference in which she announced Panizo's replacement, retired army Gen. Daniel Mora. Merino said that the government is not trying to clamp down on journalists
and that the spy agency would undergo a reorganization under Mora. |
Single economic space agreement signed MOSCOW - An agreement on the creation of the single economic space linking Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, has been signed at a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) leaders in Yalta. The document was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Ukrainian leader Leonid Kuchma. The |
| Septmember 17, 2003 |
(AP) Facing a threatened French veto, the U.N. Security Council delayed
a vote on lifting sanctions against U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said the United States was "very disappointed" that the vote didn't take place Tuesday — especially for families of the 270 people killed in the 1988 Pan Am bombing in Lockerbie, Scotland. CBS News, September 9th |
Infineon to invest in
China CNN, September 17th |
Colombian President leaves activists in fear Bogota — Human rights defenders, accused by President Alvaro Uribe of being allied with terrorists for criticizing his crackdown on leftist rebels, denounced his comments Tuesday, saying they have endangered their lives. Associated Press, September 10th |
Blast hits security
building in southern Russia The |
| |
PARIS, Sept 12 (AFP) - France on Friday prescribed an early transfer of power from the US-led occupation, general elections early next year and an international conference on reconstruction as conditions for supporting a new United Nations resolution on Iraq. Expatica, Sept 12 |
Former member of Nazi
SS to stand trial in MSNBC, Sept 12 |
Drugs and The Cato institute argues that as long as drugs are demanded, the only
effect of making them illegal is to drive up their price, providing
an unbeatable economic incentive for their production. It is time for
the The Economist, Sept 12 |
The move adds a new twist to international talks on Financial Times, Sept 12 |
| |
PARIS - Relatives of the 170 victims of a 1989 French airliner bombing
said Thursday they had signed a new compensation deal with The deal, announced in The new deal for the 1989 bombing of the UTA airliner over Associated Press, Sept 11 |
Berlin okays sending
of troops outside Kabul Dawn.com Sept 3rd |
Spain's ruling party
approves Rajoy as successor to PM Azna AFP, Sept 2nd |
Russian Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov said that terrorist acts at
the Tushino airfield and in |