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Iran: Second "Apology" Aired
Another hostage video released; Iran hints of trial
Iran has defied international condemnation by broadcasting another 'confession' from a British hostage.
This time, a crewman Iran names as Nathan Thomas Summers appears on the television broadcast.
Another France-Africa Mystery
Following French operation, thousands flee Central African Republic town - into Darfur
A three-day operation by French paratroops in support of Central African Republic (CAR) government forces left a town devastated and most of the population fled to refugee camps in Darfur.
Things must have been pretty awful if Darfur - the world centre for state terror and ethnic cleansing - looks like a safe haven.
Know Your Enemy
How helpful of the European Union to come up with a guide advising government spokesmen on how to avoid confusing Islam with terrorism. Where would we be without them?
Hostages: Iran Raises Stakes
Iran's actions have left both itself and Britain in the position where it seems impossible for either to back down without losing face.
After changing its mind over its promise to release the only female hostage, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the authorities have released a second letter from LS Turney, this time criticising Britain and the US for remaining in Iraq. British authorities claim the letter's bizarrely stilted tone would suggest that it was dictated to the hostage.
The letter comes as the UN Security Council released a statement expressing "grave concern" for the sailors well-being. The statement was a watered-down version of the proposal Britain wanted: Russia is reported to have refused to demand the immediate release of the British hostages, and did not agree with a section of the text claiming that the sailors were arrested in Iraqi waters.
Arise, Sir Bono (And Pay Up)
Irish pop star and activist Bono received an honorary knighthood yesterday in a ceremony at the British ambassador's residence in Dublin.
The U2 singer was awarded the gong for his contribution to music and humanitarian aid. Because he isn't a Brit, he can't call himself Sir, but joked that members of the press might wish to consider other titles, like "lord of lords, your demi-godness."
Those who consider his hectoring of governments and industry while arranging his tax affairs to avoid contributing to those governments might be able to think of a couple more names.
Red Ken Baits Japan
It is clear to most reasonable people that London's left-wing Mayor, Ken Livingstone, is an idiot.
A few years ago he likened a persistent Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard. He shares "peace" platforms with ranting extremists. Now he's back to the war imagery again, and he's gunning for the Japanese.
Commenting on the Japanese Embassy's failure to pay the London Congestion Charge, Ken likened the Embassy's stance to Japan's alleged unwillingness to admit to war crimes.
What Would Europe Do?
Iran's kidnap of British sailors offers Europe the opportunity to show real solidarity, writes Timothy Garton Ash in the Guardian.
European diplomats should put pressure on Tehran to assist their fellow Europeans; Europe's nations - who conduct mulit-billion euro trade with Iran - should threaten trade sanctions. Time to "put your money where your mouth is", Garton-Ash demands.
More Pressure On Iran
Brits examine options as Iran parades hostages, promises release of female sailor
Iran has effectively become isolated from the international community following the seizure of 15 Royal Navy personnel.
It is understood that British prime minister Tony Blair would prefer all hostages to be released by channels of diplomacy.
But Mr Blair is also using the means of former American president Teddy Roosevelt (president 1901-9) who said: "Speak softly, but carry a big stick".
Paris Station Riots
Youths and police fought running battles yesterday evening in one of Europe's busiest railway terminals.
Up to 200 youngsters attacked police and looted shops in Paris Gare du Nord station during rush hour, following complaints that a 33 year old man had been manhandled by police for jumping a ticket barrier.
Camp Chaos
Canal Saint Martin, in Paris. Lovely place for a stroll. It used to be a grubby, working class neighbourhood but in the past ten years a rash of new cafés and boutiques has announced the arrival of the Paris bourgeois bohemian, or bobo.
You'd think these left-leaning, anti-establishment arty types would be delighted by the opportunity to show their social solidarity with France's latest good cause: Homelessness.
You might be wrong.
Heart On Your Sleeve
Madrid victim told off for t-shirt
A victim of the 11 March terror attacks in Madrid caused a stir in a courtroom yesterday by wearing a t-shirt decorated with one of the cartoons of Mohammed that have inflamed many Muslims.
The woman wore the t-shirt as the trial of 29 terror suspects accused of being linked to the bombings took place.
UPDATED & CORRECTION: See below.
Damn Lies And Statistics
March has been a good month for EURSOC - one of our best, with daily readership up 30 percent on the previous months.
So, it's worth having a quick look at what's sending all you new folk here. EURSOC's site stats usually give an interesting snapshot of what people want from the news, given that quite a lot of our non-regular readership comes via Google.
There are a few surprises.
Last Orders In Paris And London
Drink up in London - if you can find a pub
There was once a lovely pub in Chelsea in London called 'The Australian'. Today it's gone. It was especially cool in the Sixties when rock stars gathered for a pint or two. Or a Scotch and Coke. It was a favourite of the Rolling Stones. Now, as the Economist reports, it is an interior designer's showroom with two apartments above.
All across Britain, pubs are closing. But the pubs in what the newspaper calls "posh London" are under particular pressure. The key candidates for dismissal are in the smart areas of Chelsea, Kensington and St James's. Not long before the Australian rang last orders for the final time, even George Best's old boozer shut its doors. We cannot report if this was due to the demise of its best customer.
The Big Smoke
Look at most any pack of cigarettes sold in France and there will be a bold notice saying: 'Smoking kills'.
Channel Funnel
Just so you know: British film director Ken Loach has named his man for the French elections: It's Revolutionary Communist League candidate Olivier Besancenot, the 32 year old political postie who is already on his second presidential election.
Loach says that a vote for Besancenot "would avoid the worst excesses". Speaking of his first major celebrity endorsement (he is usually guaranteed the votes of teachers and students) Besancenot said he met Loach at a Social Forum in London.
Iran "Has Days" To Respond
Tony Blair has warned Iran that it must find a solution for the return of fifteen British sailors taken hostage "within days."
The British Foreign Office says it has no idea where the 14 men and one woman are, though it is reported that they have been moved to the Iranian capital Tehran. However, Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has held face-to-face talks with foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, in the first high level attempt to defuse the crisis.
County Life
A forgotten English county is in the news
Winchcombeshire, England's smallest former county, is celebrating its 1,000th birthday on 7 May. While it only lasted ten years as a county, the area has once again been in the public eye.
First, earlier this month, Liz Hurley's wedding to Arun Nayar brought the world's paparazzi to the tiny village of Winchcombe. Then today it was revealed that the Christening gown worn by the future Queen Elizabeth I was discovered in the village's Sudeley Castle.
Iran Holds British Marines
Fifteen Royal Navy Marines have been "seized" by the Iranian Navy while on patrol in the Persian Gulf.
The Navy says that the fifteen were captured at gunpoint during a "routine patrol." It says the men had boarded a merchant ship which they suspected of smuggling, and shortly afterwards they and their ships were surrounded by six Iranian vessels.
It appears that there was some disagreement as to whether the Marines were in Iraqi, Iranian or international waters.
The Iranians "escorted" the marines and their ships into Iranian waters at gunpoint.
Cartoon Trial: Editor Acquitted
Applause broke out in a French courtroom yesterday as judges ruled that the editor of left-wing newspaper Charlie Hebdo had not insulted Muslims by publishing cartoons of Mohammed.
The court's ruling stated that the controversial images were protected by freedom of information laws: They did not attack Muslims or Islam, but fundamentalists.
France Opens X-Files
Fifty years after Charles de Gaulle opened an enquiry into Unidentified Flying Objects over France, the government's Space Research Department has made its files public.
They are available from the National Centre for Space Research site, here. You might want to give it a day or two. Such is the demand for information on OVNIs (UFOs), the site has crashed all morning.
No, Prime Minister
Say what you like about Maggie Thatcher, but at least she had good taste in comedy. The Iron Lady liked nothing better than to settle down with a large whiskey and an episode of the BBC's superlative political satire, Yes Minister.
So it's a sad reflection on the decline of our national life that the current occupant of Number Ten enjoys the humour of a woman dressed as an ill-mannered schoolgirl. No, not Wee Jimmy Krankie (that's Gordon's favourite) but Catherine Tate, who's bovvered character Lauren met Mr Tony Blair in a special episode recorded for charity event Comic Relief.
It's excruciatingly embarrassing. But here it is. Can you imagine Maggie doing this? Or Angela Merkel, or Jacques Chirac?
Child Bombs
Iraqi insurgents reported to use children as bomb shields
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, some in the west still insist that Iraq's "insurgents" are heroic resistance fighters, rather than bloodthirsty sectarian killers.
Perhaps the mess that is Iraq creates a confusing fog of war; perhaps hatred of America is so strong that attacks on mosques and markets are forgiven if the eventual, distant aim is to drive the US out. But even those who see Sunni guerillas as latter-day maquis will be horrified by the lastest reports from Iraq, which claim that extremists are using children to smuggle bombs through checkpoints - and blowing the vehicles up with the children inside.
The Romance Of Violence
The capture of Italian killer Cesare Battisti in Brazil this weekend has divided France's left.
Author and Figaro journalist Guillaume Perrault has written a book about Battisti, who was sentenced in absentia for his part in four murders during Italy's "Years of lead" of the late 1970s-early 1980s.
Here he is on what Battisti means in France:
"The Italian left isn't at all fascinated by violence. It has completely abandoned this vision. That hasn't been the case for a certain element of the French left.... it is easy to mystify things we didn't have to live through. French intellectuals are always searching for revolution by procuration: Cuba was in fashion, Maoist China too. Battisti plays that role too. The fascination for violence remains intact for some people."
Five Outta Fifty Ain't Bad
Following the Independent's "Fifty reasons to love the EU" front cover yesterday, several bloggers have pointed out how some of the Indie's claims are off the mark.
The best list comes from Tim Worstall, who accepts that the EU might be responsible for five of the fifty claims the paper makes for the Union.
99 Red Balloons
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown delivered his 11th and final Budget this afternoon. Brown is expected to succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister before the summer, but has suffered a series of opinion poll blows placing him far behind the opposition Conservative Party. A former civil servant who had worked with Brown also complained of the Chancellor's "Stalinist tendencies."
So, as you might expect, Brown was eager to win friends in the Budget.
The Pampered Godchild
Anyone see the Independent's Fifty reasons to love the EU front cover today? Of course, not, you cry, it's the Independent.
EURSOC considered a fifty point response - there are several howlers in there, as well as more than a few contentious claims - but then we thought Life's Too Short.
Chirac Backs Sarkozy
France's Jacques Chirac, who announced he would not run for President again this month, today declared his support for Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential bid.
He also said that Sarkozy would step down from his position as Interior Minister on March 26.
Chirac's declaration of support comes as no great surprise. He is reported to have agreed to back Sarkozy for some weeks and his previous three prime ministers - Dominique de Villepin, Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Alain Juppé - have also thrown their weight behind the interior minister.
Kissing Continental Cousins
Look around England and you will see that Englishmen are virtually immune to a hand-shake let alone a hug or a kiss.
There is the royal exception that when the Prince of Wales or the Duke of York or the Earl of Wessex meet, they kiss on both cheeks.
The history books tell us that Englishmen of the 15th century were big on kissing.
Film, Football & Free Buns
The EU unveils its plans for official celebrations
The Treaty of Rome, which led to the creation of the European Union, was signed fifty years ago this week. In the absence of spontaneous street parties organised by grateful citizens, the EU has come up with a series of official celebrations, both on a European level and from national governments.
While the Belgians will be treated to a special concert by British pop star-turned-garden designed Kim Wilde, Ireland and the Netherlands turn their attention to higher things: Both countries will be encouraging special "EU Prayers" this Sunday.
Chilling Out For Global Warming
A group of 24 clergymen marching to raise awareness about global warming walked into a snowstorm this weekend.
As reports came in that the 2007 winter was the warmest on record across the globe, ministers in Massachusetts organised a nine-day march from Northampton to Boston's Copley Square.
Happy Hanami
Japan's cherry blossom season has officially begun, according to state weather reporters. Millions of Japanese are now heading for parks and the countryside for "flower viewing" (Hanami), a centuries-old tradition where families and friends gather under the blossoms to enjoy the all-too-brief season.
Surely, this is one of the world's most beautiful traditions.
Predicting the arrival of the cherry and ume blossoms is one of the most important and delicate tasks of the state weather service.
Quote Of The Day
“We would be better off with only six million people, with our own people who support the liberation struggle; we don’t want all these extra people.”
Zimbabwe's Secretary for Administration in charge of food distribution, Didymus Mutasa, quoted by David Aaronovitch in the Times.
France's Pledge To Israel
Report - France would have supported Israeli attack on Syria
From the Jerusalem Post (and via No Pasaran) comes the fascinating report that at the beginning of last summer's Israel-Hezbollah war, President Jacques Chirac made it clear to Israel that if Israel invaded Damascus and toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime, it would have the full support of France.
Fugitive Caught In Brazil
Italian "militant"-turned-crime writer Cesare Battisti, who disappeared from France in 2004, has been captured in Brazil, according to reports from Brazilian police.
Battisti, a convicted murderer, had lived in France under former president Mitterand's amnesty for terrorists fleeing Italy. The centre-right French government reversed Mitterand's "sanctuary" following requests from the Italian government that Battisti be returned to face the music.
Battisti went on the run and had gone off the radar until a joint Italian-French-Brazilian operation tracked him down in Rio de Janiero, close to Copacabana Beach.
Pressing Polls For EU
Another poll, if you can bear it. Rather than life in Iraq, this time it's life in the EU that's come under scrutiny.
To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which led to the creation of the European Union, the pro-EU Financial Times conducted an opinion poll, which found that 44 percent of Europeans believe that life in their countries has become worse since joining the EU.
Well, not all Europeans.
Polls Apart
Two opinion polls conducted in Iraq in recent weeks show wildly differing results.
One, dominating the front page of the BBC website, shows that Iraqis are increasingly pessimistic about their future. Of the 2000 people questioned, only 18 percent had confidence in US & coalition forces. 67 percent felt reconstruction efforts within Iraq had had any effect. This poll was carried out by D3 for the BBC, ABC News, ARD German TV and USA Today.
Another poll, this one making the headlines in the Sunday Times, suggests that a majority of Iraqis believe that life is getting better.
No Sex Please, We're Japanese
Been a long time
The secret of Japan's low birth rate is out of the bedroom door. According to The Times, more than a third of married couples do not have sex.
A government survey says that 34.6 per cent of couples has not made love for more than four weeks.
How the government in Tokyo has such precise statistics is a mystery.
Quotes of The Day
Two vintage columns in the Times and Telegraph today. In the Times, Gerard Baker lays into the BBC's mindset, while in the Telegraph, Jeff Randall lays into "The Grievance Community" for whom "it's always someone else's fault."
Here's Baker:
"London’s political culture has been uprooted from its English heritage. It is run — if you can call it that — by a sort of postmodern communist Mayor, whose political voice — minus the annoying nasal whine — would sound right at home in Paris, Bologna or San Francisco. It hosts a metropolitan elite that loftily gazes three ways: outward, at the supposed superiority of anything not British; inward, at its own ineffable genius; and down its elegantly pampered nose, at the provincial trivialities that consume the dreary lives of the rest of the population... (continued after the cut)
News Round-Up
EU fingerprint files; Russian paw on Europe's fuel supplies; The Right goes wrong; Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims played down
Civil liberties groups have condemned plans to create a database of personal information for citizens of the European Union, the Times reports.
Britain is expected to join the scheme, submitting personal information and fingerprints even of people released without charge. Earlier this week it was revealed that Britain's Home Office plans to extend fingerprinting to people caught speeding or dropping litter.
A Bomb For Europe?
Palestinian territories hope to join Israel in Eurovision Song Contest
Well, Israel isn't strictly part of Europe, and it has won three times, most notably with transvestite artiste Dana International. And now the Palestinians hope to enter the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Age Of Rail
France today inaugurated its fastest rail link to date. Trains on the new TGV-Est (East) line will connect Paris with the eastern city of Strasbourg in just two hours twenty minutes - down from four hours. The super TGV will move at a speed of 320 kilometres per hour or 200 mph.
Fit For A Queen?
From our court correspondent. Over at The Daily Telegraph, Clare Coulson is having a go at Prince William's girlfriend, Kate Middleton, for her lack of fashion sense.
Ms Middleton was spotted with her beau at the Cheltenham Festival, "wearing (it says here) a dreadfully dull chocolate-brown tweed jacket, deeply unflattering calf-length skirt and that Sloane staple, a blue shirt."
Confessions Of A Terrorist
Washington has published the full confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al-Qaeda number three who claims to have been the main planner of the September 11 terror attacks.
As well as the September 11 atrocities, Mohammed says he was behind the Bali bombings, attempted "shoe bombings" of US passenger aircraft, as well as plots to assassinate US presidents, Pope Jean-Paul II and a plan to destroy the Panama Canal.
We reckon if they kept him longer they might have been able to get him to confess to the Kennedy assassination and being the driver of the mysterious white Fiat in the Paris tunnel where Diana died.
He might even have 'fessed up to vandalising the Blue Peter Garden in 1983.
What Would Bond Do?
The world-renowned motor car marque Aston Martin has been sold by the American Ford automobile company to a British-led consortium for £479 million (702 million euros).
Spooked Socialists, Le Pen In
Socialists turn fire on Bayrou, Jean-Marie Le Pen claims his 500 signatures
The surge in support for centrist candidate François Bayrou has rocked France's Socialist Party. Recent polls show Bayrou just behind Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal: One last week even put the two on equal ratings.
Only the top two candidates go through to the second round run-off. With Nicolas Sarkozy retaining a lead of several points ahead of Bayrou and Royal, Socialists are worried that 2007 could be another repeat of 2002, when their candidate failed to reach the final round.
Hollywood Battle Upsets Iran
Holocaust denial is welcomed, but big screen adaptations of ancient battles have provoked complaints from Iran's authorities.
The latest subject of Tehran's ire is 300, a fantasy version of the battle of Thermopylae (480 BC), when a force of 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army. All 300 Spartans died, but they bought enough time to allow Athens time to assemble enough men to defeat the Persians and halt Persia's expansion into Europe.
To Javad Shamqadri, the cultural adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, however, the film is part of a "cultural war against the people of Iran."
Ministry Of Truth
Coming to a school near you?
German schools to show Al Gore's film
The German goverment certainly believes in starting education on green issues young. According to the FT, the latest strategy in its public awareness campaign is to distribute 6,000 free copies of Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth to schools in 27 German cities.
The Naked Civil Servant
The ambassador in conventional outfit
Israel has recalled its ambassador to the Latin American state of El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked in the capital.
According to reports, San Salvador police found Mr Tzuriel Refael two weeks ago in the compound of the Israeli embassy buildings, naked apart from bondage gear. He was unable to identify himself until a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth. Sex toys were reported to be lying beside the bound ambassador (though we have heard no reports of Ferrero Rocher).
Globalisation's Capital
In the Times today, business editor James Harding makes a case for London as the capital of the world.
While most Londoners are quietly proud of their city's status, no-one asked them if they wanted to host the world's billionaire blow-ins: As one New Yorker points out, at least the Big Apple's billionaires pay taxes. In London, property costs are rising faster that the price of Zimbabwean bread, public services are crumbling, violent crime fills the newspapers.
What do EURSOC's readers think?
Hanging On The Telephone
Mobile phone industry defeats plans to abolish "roaming" charges: Prices to come down, though
In what is being described as a climbdown, the European Commission has scrapped plans to ban "roaming" charges for users of mobile phones who travel abroad. Instead, price controls have been introduced - a move industry lobbyists say will ruin competition and free-marketeers warn is a backwards step.
Nuclear Power, No Petrol
Tehran, the capital of Iran, is under increasing pressure from the international community, including Russia, to halt its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
Such a programme costs millions of dollars (or euros, as Iran now does more oil business in the European currency). The only problem is that at the same time, the government has decided to ration petrol and also increase the price of gasoline at stations.
UPDATE: Russia holds up nuclear fuel deliveries, Iran fiercely critical (BBC).
Chirac Won't Run
France's president declares he won't be a candidate in April election: PM Dominique de Villepin endorses Sarkozy
So, this is how Jacques Chirac's long and controversial political career ends. The president, first elected in 1995, declared in a specially-recorded speech broadcast on French TV last night that he would not be a contender in the forthcoming presidential election.
Few expected him to be, but Elysée Palace insiders claim that he harboured hopes of running one last time until Christmas. He was put off by rival Nicolas Sarkozy's ratings, which remained high despite Chirac's hopes of a meltdown.
Most French political figures have praised the "dignified manner" of his retirement speech, with the exception of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who described Chirac as "the worst president in France's history."
However, Chirac has seen his approval ratings rise again in recent months. Probably in part down to the realisation he was not going to run for president again - at one point in 2005 only 1 percent of French voters hoped he would try for a third term.
The Pain In Spain
Yesterday was the third anniversary of Europe's worst terror attack by Islamists. King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero attended a memorial service at Madrid's Atocha station, where the four bombed trains were headed on the morning of March 11 2004.
A memorial was unveiled in the shape of an 11 metre glass tower. The interior of the tower is inscribed with messages of condolences that arrived in the days following the atrocity. 191 people died and nearly 1700 were injured.
Polish Propaganda
Scotland's first Polish-language newspaper has sailed into a storm with its first issue. The paper, launched with £3000 ($6000) of public funds, is accused of being little more than a propaganda sheet for members of Scotland's Labour Party.
Great Train Robbery
Plague of train raids in Italy
The sleeper service between Milan and Southern Italy has been hit by 29 robberies in 2006 - nearly four times as many as 2005.
Gangs of Eastern European robbers are boarding the train in Rome in the early hours of the morning, overpowering guards and removing valuables and luggage from passengers before slipping off in remote stations. So popular has the Italian job become, it is reported that two rival gangs came to blows on one train over who had first dabs on the loot in the carriage.
Baddies and Goodies
One man's rebuff is another man's gain
Differing accounts of this week's Assembly Elections in Northern Ireland.
With around three quarters of votes counted, it is clear that Ian Paisley's DUP and the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein remain the largest parties. How would you describe the DUP and Sinn Fein?
Here's the Telegraph: "Hardline Parties set for Ulster gains." Seems fair enough - Paisley and the DUP have become bywords for negative intransigence, while Sinn Fein were celebrating the murder of their fellow citizens not that long ago.
And here's the Guardian: "Voters rebuff extremists and give hope for Stormont rule."
Candidates Rattled By "Third Man"
Big gains in polls for Bayrou
France's centrist "Third Man" François Bayrou is now only a single point behind Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal, an opinion poll shows.
The poll, carried out for Le Parisien and published in free daily Metro, indicates that in the first round of voting due April 22, Bayrou would come third, with 24 percent of the vote (up 7 points). Centre-right candidate Nicolas Sarkozy would be first with 26 (-4 percent) and Socialist Royal 25 (-3 percent).
Bayrou is predicted to win a run-off between either candidate.
Defected Or Kidnapped?
Speculation and denials surround disappearance of Iranian general
They seek him here, they seek him there. Iran's revolutionary guards general and former deputy defence minister Ali Reza Asgari disappeared in Turkey in February, and, following claims that he had defected to the west, Iranian sources counter that he has been abducted.
Just about every shady group in the region has been accused of being behind Mr Asgari's disappearance.
UK Votes Lords Reform
British MPs have voted for wholesale changes to the way the country is governed, with a large majority of parliamentarians supporting a 100 percent elected upper house.
Jack Straw, the Commons Leader, has said that he can't "put the genie back in the bottle" and will press ahead with change.
The Riviera Job
More tax trouble for Ségolène Royal
Last week, interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy was accused of receiving a whopping discount of over £200,000 when he bought his apartment. It was also reported that a local contractor carried out decoration in his home for a much-reduced fee.
Much more serious, however, is the allegation from the same newspaper that Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal and her partner, Socialist Party secretary François Hollande, conspired to underestimate the value of their three properties in order to pay a lower rate of impôt de solidarité sur la fortune - France's wealth tax.
The C-Word
The Guardian reports on plans by Cambodian and UN-appointed international judges to ensure Khmer Rouge leaders are tried for their part in the slaughter of an estimated 1.7 million people during Pol Pot's regime.
Read the article. Notice anything missing?
Strikes No Solution
Airbus workers take to the streets
Surprise, surprise. French workers from the Airbus aircraft consortium have staged a walkout in protest at a plan to cut over 15,000 jobs throughout Europe. And they are also upset that there is a project to sell factories.
Toulouse, in south-west France, home to Airbus HQ, has been paralysed by a processsion of as many as 17,600 protesters.
Bernard Thibault, head of the powerful Communist-dominated CGT union, has pledged a "climate of protest".
Feel The Love
A brawl broke out during last night's Valencia - Inter Milan game. Officials and players joined in the melée, which marks another distressing chapter for Italian football, only months after the Italy team won sport's ultimate prize. Let's see how UEFA deals with this.
Quote Of The Day
Professor Phyllis Chesler spent two years in Afghanistan: An experience which she claims forged her western feminism. Here she is in the Times today:
"Now is the time for Western intellectuals who claim to be antiracists and committed to human rights to stand with these (Muslim and ex-Muslim) dissidents. To do so requires that we adopt a universal standard of human rights and abandon our loyalty to multicultural relativism, which justifies, even romanticises, indigenous Islamist barbarism, totalitarian terrorism and the persecution of women, religious minorities, homosexuals and intellectuals. Our abject refusal to judge between civilisation and barbarism, and between enlightened rationalism and theocratic fundamentalism, endangers and condemns the victims of Islamic tyranny."
A Corner Of Europe
Jonathan Freedland writes a decent summary of today's Northern Ireland elections. So low-key are these elections - ostensibly to elect 108 new members to the Stormont Assembly - that they don't even figure on the BBC News website's front page (either the UK or international editions). They're not on the main UK page either.
You have to go to the Northern Ireland page within the UK category to find news about these elections - or the front page of the Europe section, where the Ulster elections are given top billing.
So why are elections in one British country kept out of the headlines in the BBC's UK section, but make the top story of the European News pages?
Brussels Knows Best
The European Commission has decided that this is the moment to intervene in the presidential race in France.
Jacques Barrot, France's European commissioner and the EU's transport chief, has told correspondents in Brussels that he wants France to "resume its leadership in Europe".
The FT reports that Barrot chided his countrymen for their "arrogant" isolated position in Europe, and that France had to shake off its "whingeing, pessimistic and defensive" attitude.
Dear Old Europe
The UK's capital rises up the most expensive ratings
Eight of the world's most expensive cities are in Europe, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Oslo headed the list, followed by Paris, Copenhagen and London. The British capital is up from seventh last year - the Guardian reports that the rise in London's place was partly due to soaring public transport costs.
Lawyers Beget Laws
Another excellent article from George Monbiot. That's two in a fortnight. We're either dreaming or this is the end of the world as we know it.
In February, Monbiot had a go at 9/11 conspiracy nutters. Today, he reports on how "a glut of barristers at Westminister has led to a crackdown in dissent."
"When you elect lawyers, you get laws," he writes, "I have met quite a few lawyers - not always voluntarily - and some of them are able to perform a passable impression of human beings. Like teenagers, they are generally quite harmless by themselves. But sensible voters would ensure that they were never let loose in a representative chamber. People of the same trade seldom meet together but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public. Lawyers are no exception." Read it all.
Long Distance Takeaway
Rapper gets a taste of the East (East Cardiff)
When EURSOC was a student, he was horrified (but also mildly impressed) by two neighbours who ordered pizza for delivery from the takeaway across the road. This, surely, was the height of lazy decadence: To call from the sofa and pay an extra pound for the delivery guy to walk four metres from the restaurant and climb to the second floor.
But my old neighbours have been roundly beaten in the decadent dining stakes by pop star Kanye West, who has just ordered a £2000 ($3,900) takeaway to be delivered from Cardiff, Wales' British Raj's dining room to New York City.
France Divided On Immigration
Polls shows near 50-50 split on public views on immigration
An opinion poll released today shows that a small majority of French people believe that immigration has been bad for the country.
According to the Ifop poll carried out for Metro, 49 percent believe that immigration has been a good thing for France; 51 percent support the opposite view.
Who's What?
It appears that Dave Spart is alive and well, in the guise of Bob Holman. Holman - no, he's not the bloke who used to present Blockbusters - gets worked up in today's Guardian about the existence of "Toffs Bible" Who's Who, an annual publication listing supposedly important people in British public life.
Thing is, with Iraq, Iran, Darfur, bird flu, home-grown terrorists, the NHS crisis, the ice caps melting, the government up to its neck in sleaze, the stock market tumbling, well, class warriors and class worriers alike might have forgotten the most pressing crisis facing Britain: The 35,000 of the "great and the good" who appear in the big red book.
Well, Duh
A headline in The Times, reporting on a paper by a think tank that warns an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would be disastrous.
The think tank, the Oxford Research Group, argues that an air attack would probably fail to take out Iran's entire nuclear programme. The Islamist state would respond by doubling its efforts to build a nuclear weapon, which it would then wield in "an environment of incalculably greater hostility."
Polish Spooks Denounced
If there is one rule in the game of espionage, it is to not tell tales concerning your fellow officers. It may very well hurt them and their agents.
Publishing the names of serving spies, or even retired spies, is a big taboo in the secret world of intelligence. This rule applies in every country, east or west. Fans of the hit series 24 will remember Jack Bauer's horror when it transpired that terrorists had hacked the Counter Terrorism Unit's lists of agents working globally: The prospect of a nuclear attack on Los Angeles left him less concerned.
Statistics And Sadistics
Ask any senior official in the EU, USA or Canada, let alone Latin America, and they will tell you that their trust is statistics is below zero.
Many national governments and international organisations issue monthly figures. The IMF, the World Bank and even the highly-respected OECD, often get their numbers wrong.
Le Pen Excluded?
Le Pen rails against electoral skullduggery - his party accused of buying votes
France's far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen is struggling to collect the 500 sponsors required to seal his presidential bid.
The deadline for applications is in two weeks; M Le Pen is still 100 signatures short. A quirk of the French presidential election system is that candidates must persuade 500 elected officials to sponsor their candidacy. As there are 42,000 elected figures in France - many the mayors of small communes and often not affiliated to a major party - finding 500 for a politician of Le Pen's stature shouldn't prove too difficult. Hard to imagine that a politician who can command 12-14 percent of the opinion polls might be excluded from the presidential vote.
However, this year he says that many officials who promised their support have been intimidated into withdrawing.
Overcoming Democracy
EU federalists plot means to avoid a vote on the Constitution
As the BBC reports, European governments are meeting behind closed doors to discuss how best to re-introduce the European Constitution without provoking a referendum in one or more nations.
The treaty was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. Tony Blair promised Britons a vote on the document before Britain ratified it - a vote polls indicated he was all but certain to lose. Ireland's constitution demands a referendum, too, and the Irish have previously rejected the Nice treaty in 2001. The Irish were then asked to vote again and the following year came back with the "correct" reply.
Germany, currently holding the rotating EU presidency and desperate for a Euro-achievement after a run of presidencies which have ranged from disastrous to acrimonious and then to boring, is concentrating its efforts on pushing the treaty through.
How to get round a vote this time? Italy's PM Romano Prodi and Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero are cheering the rejectionists on. In an open letter Zappo and Prodi declared that they were committed to "the greatest level of integration" the text allowed. They added "We are confident we can give a hand to those countries... in order that they can overcome their own difficulties and join the goals and aspirations of the Treaty."
There you have it: Democratic rejection of EU integration is just a "difficulty".
Jobs To Go At Airbus
The struggling Airbus aircraft consortium has announced that it will cut 10,000 jobs over the next four years. France will be the worst hit with 4,300 job losses. Germany will see 3,700 jobs go, while the UK and Spain will have 1,600 and 400 jobs cut, respectively. Airbus claims that there will be no involuntary redundancies.
Major delays in delivery of the flagship superjumbo A380 is the official cause for the current difficulties. But the odd Franco-German management system may also be to blame.
But despite intense talks between German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Jacques Chirac - both of whom were consulted on the job losses - there has been no agreement as to which, if any, factories will be closed.
Times Are Tough
We know that government cutbacks are hurting our troops in Iraq, but this exclusive Ministry of Defence photo of the new tank is pushing things a bit. From military cut-backs on MilBlog Natural Family Blog - thanks to John Rosenthal of Transatlantic Intelligencer for the tip-off.
A Boy Named Jihad
Berlin's Interior Ministry is appealing against a Berlin court's decision to allow a father to name his son Jihad.
Reda Seyam - a self-described Islamist who has praised the September 11 attacks and the 2002 terror bombing in Bali - claims the name is "loved by Muslims" worldwide. However, Berlin's City Police Department argues that naming the boy Jihad goes against the child's interest. The district council originally argued that a name "associated with terrorism" could "endanger the child's well-being."
France's Traditional Election Surprise
Jean-Marie Le Pen's career shows that some people don't know when to give up
Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front (FN) party is making his fifth and probably final bid to be the next president of France. Political observers in Paris say he has little chance of winning.
Mr Le Pen astounded friends and foes alike by coming a surprise second in the 2002 presidential race. But now he is trailing in the opinion polls, with a rating of 12.5 percent.
Le Pen and his supporters counter that polls tend to underestimate support for right-wing candidates. Having the media and rival candidates depict your man as a dangerous hate figure makes FN sympathisers embarrassed or frightened to admit their preferences: Le Pen could still cause another big upset in April.
