Kein Triumph für David Cameron: Bewährungsprobe und Besonnenheit
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Mit seinem Pyrrhussieg erreichte der Spitzenkandidat der britischen Konservativen den vorläufigen Höhepunkt einer Karriereleiter, die er rasch und entschlossen erklommen hatte. Ihm steht nun der schwierigste Schritt aber noch bevor.

David Cameron hat mehr errungen als einen Pyrrhussieg, doch ein Triumph ist es nicht geworden. Die Konservativen hätten unter seiner Führung einen höheren Zugewinn an Sitzen erlangt, als er einst der konservativen Heldin Margaret Thatcher bei ihrem ersten Wahlsieg gelungen sei, beeilten sich Camerons Helfer und Anhänger am Freitag zu versichern. Aber über die wichtigste Zielmarke, die absolute Mehrheit, hat ihn die Welle der Wechselwähler dann doch nicht getragen.

Damit wartet auf Cameron augenblicklich die größte Bewährungsprobe - bevor er noch die Hand auf den Preis seines Erfolges, das Amt des Premierministers, legen kann. Es kommt auf seine Argumentationskraft und Besonnenheit an, um die britische Öffentlichkeit - die über den von ihr verursachten Wahlausgang nun selber verunsichert zu sein scheint - an seiner Seite zu halten. Das Ringen mit der Labour-Partei um das Recht der Regierungsbildung wird mit moralischen und machttaktischen Griffen entschieden werden.

Das bedingt eine Handlungsfreiheit für den konservativen Parteichef, die sich Cameron, seit er vor fünf Jahren im Handstreich die Führung der Tories übernahm, zäh und geduldig in der eigenen Partei erworben hat. Er hat die Konservativen mit grünen Überzeugungen und einem sozialen Gewissen ausgestattet und ein paar im eigenen Lager umstrittene Wahlaussagen durchgesetzt - etwa den Verzicht auf eine neue Start- und Landebahn für den Londoner Flughafen Heathrow -, um diesen Wandel glaubwürdig zu illustrieren. Obwohl konservativ ein Erbe Blairs >>> Von Johannes Leithäuser, London | Freitag, 07. Mai 2010

Lawyers in Egypt Call for Arabian Nights to Be Banned
THE TELEGRAPH: A group of Islamist lawyers in Egypt has called for the book Arabian Nights to be banned because they believe it is obscene.

Chinese tenor Xin Wang performs during a rehearsal of the opera Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, written by Nino Rota, at a theatre in Colmar, France. Photo: The Telegraph
The literary classic, which features characters such as Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, was described by the group as a call to "vice and sin".

Known in the original Arabic as One Thousand And One Nights, the collection of folk tales and short stories was first published in medieval times.

But a recent republication triggered controversy and calls to ban the new version on the basis of depiction of sexuality and use of offensive language, according to Al Arabiya.

"I was shocked at the offensive phrases it contains," said Ayman Abdul-Hakim, member of Lawyers without Shackles, the non-governmental group that filed a complaint with Egypt's Prosecutor General calling for the withdrawal of the new edition from the market and for banning the book altogether.

Mr Abdul-Hakim said the book was "a waste of public money" and that several references to sex in the book and were "calls to sin". >>> | Friday, May 07, 2010

Greece: A Nation at War with Itself
THE TELEGRAPH: The attack on an Athens bank that left three dead stirred memories of the blood-spattered years of Greek civil war in the 1940s. Former correspondent Harry de Quetteville reports that many fear the violence has yet to run its course.

When 44-year-old Marie-Therese Iatrou, who lives in a comfortable suburb outside Athens, spoke this week to her mother, Renna Nezos, she detected a note of panic in the 78-year-old's voice.

"I want to come and live with you outside the city," said Mrs Nezos, whose childhood home was occupied by the Nazis and who has vivid memories of the bloodshed of the civil war that followed. "I've seen this before."

On the streets outside Mrs Nezos's window in the centre of Athens, tens of thousands of demonstrators were preparing to march against the extraordinary package of austerity measures imposed alongside the joint EU-IMF bailout that has saved the country from immediate bankruptcy.

To most observers of Greek street politics, there is nothing new, or particularly threatening, about the prospect of mass protest in this hot-blooded Mediterranean country, politically charged and potentially violent though such protest can be.

As a correspondent based for several years in Athens, I became used to the sight of demonstrators parading through the city. Stones are routinely hurled; the police routinely respond with tear gas. The British and American embassies, regular targets of demonstrators' ire, are not built like fortresses for nothing. Protests make for good television reports, before everyone forgets about them the 
next day.

Indeed, the very idea of protestors demanding rights and brandishing hammer-and-sickle flags (such as those draped from the Acropolis this Tuesday) can seem laughably anachronistic. Tame, almost. For years, many of Greece's wealthiest people – those in the northern suburbs of Athens with the swimming pools that they are now hiding from the taxman; those with the boltholes on Mykonos, built beautifully, but illegally, too close to the shoreline – may have regarded the man on the street with disdain, not fear. But on Wednesday that changed. >>> Harry de Quetteville | Friday, May 07, 2010

Jeremy Warner: Merkel Goes to War in Battle She Cannot Win
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has declared war – no, not on the Greeks or Poles, but on the markets.

Speculators are exaggerating the tensions in the eurozone, she has declared, and must be brought to heel. “To some degree this is a battle between the politicians and the markets,” she said in a speech in Berlin. “But I am firmly resolved – and I think all of my colleagues are too – to win this battle.”

Does not the German Chancellor think that economic fundamentals might have the teeniest, tiniest little bit to do with the sovereign debt meltdown, as in Greece has become about as credit worthy as an unemployed lorry driver?

Apparently not. Ms Merkel has placed herself firmly at the forefront of calls to set up a special EU credit rating agency, presumably with the intention of awarding a triple A rating to anyone the politicians deem appropriate.

When economics and politics collide, there is only ever one outcome. Despite what Ms Merkel says, the economics will always win through. European policymakers are determined to tame markets and bend them to their will. I wish them luck, but they won’t succeed. Read on and comment >>> Jeremy Warner | Friday, May 07, 2010

Eurozone Talks Battle to Stem Global Crisis Over Greek Rescue Plan
THE GUARDIAN: Turmoil in international markets hangs over emergency summit of European leaders

European leaders are battling a crisis of confidence in the euro single currency tonight, desperately seeking a formula to reassure the markets as the emergency triggered by Greece's huge debt levels and Europe's response threatened to go global.

An emergency summit of the 16 leaders of the countries using the single currency was held in Brussels, with chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and president Nicolas Sarkozy of France demanding tougher and quicker regulation of the financial markets in what looked like a doomed attempt to contain contagion from the Greek drama.

With the pace of developments outstripping the ability of political leaders to respond, what was initially called as a summit to bless a €110bn (£95bn) rescue package for Greece turned into a frantic exercise in global crisis management.

Alarm bells were ringing in major capitals across the world where leaders voiced their exasperation with European attempts to contain the fallout from Greece. In what may have been Alistair Darling's last part in trying to manage international financial turbulence, the chancellor took part in a phone conference of G-7 finance ministers discussing the implications for the international bond markets of the Greek debt debacle.

Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was scathing about the EU package for Greece over three years agreed last weekend by 15 eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund: "Markets have judged those arrangements to be inadequate," he [said]. >>> Ian Traynor, Brussels | Friday, May 07, 2010

U.K. Hung Parliament Explained

Royaume-Uni : Incertitude sur le futur gouvernement
LE TEMPS: C’est désormais officiel, les conservateurs gagnent les élections mais n’ont pas la majorité absolue au parlement, selon les résultats définitifs publiés dans 615 des 650 circonscriptions. Les tories emportent 36,2% des voix, les libéraux-démocrates 22,9%, soit beaucoup moins qu’attendu, et les travaillistes 29,1%, le pire score du Labour en termes de suffrages depuis 1983. Les chiffres officiels complets seront connus en fin d’après-midi. Des semaines de tractations politiques devraient suivre, Gordon Brown n’ayant pas l’intention de raccrocher. La Livre est en baisse ce matin, victime de la perspective d’un parlement sans majorité absolue, une première depuis 1974 >>> AFP | Vendredi 07 Mai 2010

Gordon Brown: Willing to Talk with Clegg

Nick Clegg: The Electoral System Is Broken

General Election 2010: Hung Parliament Is a Certainty as Final Results Trickle In
THE TELEGRAPH: A hung parliament is now a certainty as the final votes across the country are counted up.



It could be days before the final make-up of government is decided. Nick Clegg has offered few hints as to whether he would participate in a Labour or Conservative alliance. David Cameron is "happy to talk" with other parties, including the Liberal Democrat leader, according to Michael Gove the shadow education secretary.

He said: "It is certainly the case that David Cameron is happy to talk to people in other parties in order to ensure that we can have a strong, stable, Conservative-led government to provide the country with the change it needs."

He added: "I stress it is for David Cameron to decide with whom we should work. We do not yet know the basis on which the new Parliament will be constructed entirely, we don't know the precise arithmetic."

Meanwhile senior Labour ministers have begun making overtures to Gordon Brown themselves.

Asked if Labour would do a deal to stay in power, Lord Mandelson said: “The constitutional conventions are very clear. The rules are that if it’s a hung parliament, it’s not the party with the largest number of seats that has first go - it’s the sitting government.”

Pressed again on whether he would do a deal with the Lib Dems to hold on to power, he said: “I have no problem in principle in trying to supply this country with a strong and stable government.”

David Cameron called on Gordon Brown to stand aside today after the Tories made significant gains across England and Wales in the closest general election for a generation. >>> Andrew Porter and Robert Winnett | Friday, May 07, 2010

Britain Wakes Up to a Hung Parliament
Gordon Brown arrives back at Downing Street. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Gordon Brown was back in Downing Street today as Britain woke to the uncertainties of its first hung Parliament for 36 years.

As counting wrapped up in the few dozen seats yet to declare, David Cameron's Tories were on course to become the largest party in the Commons but about 20 seats short of the 326 needed for a majority.

Mr Brown made clear that he had no intention of giving up power easily – his passage through Britain's most famous front door at 7am was a symbolic reminder that he remains Prime Minister and has the constitutional right to form a government.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, admitted that his party had had a disappointing night, losing seats to both the Tories and Labour despite the excitement it had generated during the campaign.

He may yet emerge as a kingmaker, however, from a wildly unpredictable night in which the biggest dramas were in seats held against the odds rather than trophy scalps. >>> Philippe Naughton and Roland Watson | Friday, May 07, 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Victoire sans majorité pour les conservateurs de David Cameron : Les conservateurs sont bien arrivés en tête, mais sans majorité absolue selon des résultats provisoires, rien n’indique que ce sera leur leader David Cameron qui occupera le 10 Downing street. >>> AP | Vendredi 07 Mai 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Die Briten haben gewählt – aber nicht entschieden: Cameron in Führung ohne absolute Mehrheit – Brown will bleiben >>> spi. | Freitag, 07. Mai 2010

UK Politics Married with Russian Blood

RUSSIA TODAY: UK politics married with Russian blood: People in the UK have begun voting in one of the most tightly contested general election in decades. And as the election unfolds, it turns out there is Russian blood in British politics. >>> | Thursday, May 06, 2010

Russian Politician Claims He Met Aliens on Moscow Balcony
THE TELEGRAPH: A senior Russian politician claims to have met aliens on the balcony of his Moscow apartment, prompting critics to question his suitability to head up the World Chess Federation and run an internal Russian republic.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the President of the republic of Kalmykia, made the extraordinary comments on Russian state TV last week, claiming he spent several hours in the company of aliens in 1997.

He said he was relaxing at his Moscow apartment when he heard his balcony door being opened and someone calling him. "I went there and looked. There was a semi-transparent pipe. I went into this pipe and saw people in yellow spacesuits."

He claims to have communicated with the aliens/humanoids through brain waves. "I was shown around their spaceship," he said with no apparent sign of irony, adding that the aliens explained that they were collecting samples. "I would probably have not believed this if there had not been three witnesses – these were my driver, a minister and my assistant." >>> Andrew Osborn in Moscow | Thursday, May 06, 2010

Euro-Krise: Experte empfiehlt "Kern-Euro" als Ausweg
DIE PRESSE: Der Euro ist am Donnerstag mit einem Kurs von 1,2738 Dollar auf den tiefsten Stand seit März 2009 gefallen. Ein Experte empfiehlt einen radikalen Schritt. Er schlägt einen "nordischen Euro" der stabilen Länder vor.

Der Euro ist angesichts der Griechenland-Krise schwer unter Druck geraten. Am Donnerstag fiel die europäische Gemeinschaftswährung auf bis zu 1,2738 Dollar und damit den tiefsten Stand seit März 2009. Ein Kurs von 1,20 Dollar ist in naher Zukunft durchaus realistisch. "Bis zum Jahresende könnte ich mir eine Parität zum Dollar vorstellen, da die Märkte ja bekanntlich gern übertreiben", beschreibt der Präsident des deutschen Exportverbands, Anton Börner, den schlimmsten Fall. Ein Euro wäre dann nur noch einen Dollar wert, berichtet "Spiegel Online".

Das eigentliche Drama des Kursverfalls liegt laut dem Online-Portal aber woanders: "Die Finanzmärkte trauen den Europäern schlicht nicht mehr zu, dass sie die Schuldenkrise in den Griff bekommen", sagt Manfred Jäger, Finanzmarktexperte beim Kölner Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft.

Experten sehen die Glaubwürdigkeit der Europäischen Zentralbank zunehmend gefährdet, wie DiePresse.com am Dienstag berichtete. Denn die Notenbank verzichtet für Griechenland auf ihre eigenen strengen Bonitätsregeln und akzeptiert griechische Ramschanleihen. "Die EZB hat eines ihrer hehren Prinzipien über Bord geworfen. Das zeigt, dass die Lage sehr, sehr ernst ist", sagte dazu Thorsten Polleit, Chefvolkswirt von Barclays Capital. >>> Ag./Red. | Donnerstag, 06. Mai 2010

In Britain, It Feels Like Election Day 1974

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: With 40 per cent of voters undecided and the resurgent third-place Liberals likely to keep either the Conservatives or Labour from a majority, PM Gordon Brown faces a frighteningly familiar situation

The British Prime Minister, devastated by an economic meltdown that has left his country swimming in debt, scarred by rising fuel prices and a series of strikes, has found his re-election hopes sideswiped by a young, charismatic Liberal whose third-place party has suddenly risen to big-party popularity levels. The Prime Minister, desperate to hold onto power, prepares to form a coalition government with the Liberals even if his party comes in second.

That was Britain in 1974 – an amazingly familiar scenario that terrifies British voters as they go to the polls Thursday.

With almost 40 per cent of voters undecided on election eve and a resurgent third-place Liberal Democratic Party likely to prevent either the Conservatives or Labour from winning a majority, there is a good chance that Friday morning will be a jarring repeat of 1974.

And voters know how that story goes. The Liberal Leader, in exchange for backing the minority government, demands a referendum to switch to a proportional-representation voting system, which would prevent the big parties from ever having majorities again. The pact collapses after days, there’s another election, followed by five years of disarray and misery.

Back then, it was Tory Prime Minster Edward Heath who tried to turn his second-place finish into a coalition government, failed, and punted the country into the long grass. Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe turned his centrist party into coalition kingmakers – or spoilers, depending on your perspective – for the rest of the 1970s, an era that saw Britain spiral into near-total economic shutdown, unmanageable debt, and a Greek-style bailout from the International Monetary fund. >>> Doug Saunders | Published Wednesday, May 05, 2010; Updated Thursday, May 06, 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: A jealous love triangle waits to erupt in the U.K. >>> Doug Saunders | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick: Sarah Palin Fuels Anti-British Sentiment
THE TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin has fuelled growing anti-British sentiment over the Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster by saying "foreign" oil companies like BP were not be trusted.

The former Alaska governor and potential 2012 presidential candidate attacked the British oil giant over the recent Deepwater Horizon spill and a previous one in her state in 2006.

Her comments came despite the fact her husband Todd Palin worked for BP for 18 years, as a production supervisor, and only left the company last year to spend more time with his family.

Mrs Palin urged those in the Gulf of Mexico to "learn from Alaska's lesson with foreign oil companies." She added: "Don't naively trust – verify." As an oil slick the size of Luxembourg loomed off the US coast her intervention added to growing anger at BP among environmentalists and those who face losing their livelihoods. >>> Nick Allen in Louisiana | Thursday, May 06, 2010

Greek Crisis: Tourists Told to 'Exercise Extreme Caution'
THE TELEGRAPH: Tourists visiting Greece have been warned to exercise "extreme caution" as the country's parliament prepares to vote on austerity cuts to tackle the financial crisis.



The Foreign Office advice came a day after three bank workers died in a petrol bomb attack as demonstrations against the hefty cuts turned violent.

President Karolos Papoulias warned that Greece was on the "brink of the abyss" hours before the parliament was due to vote on the austerity measures.

Bank workers went on strike on Thursday to protest the fatal attack that left three dead in the worst clashes Athens has seen since the country disclosed that it had covered up a black hole of £272 billion in debt.

Mr Papoulias's government has promised to carry out strict spending cuts - a condition of a 110 billion euro (£95 billion) bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which is aimed at preventing the spread of the debt crisis throughout Europe.

The Greek parliament will vote on Thursday night on proposed wage freezes, pension cuts and tax rises. >>> | Thursday, May 06, 2010

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Leading Conservative Claims Muslim Politicians Lack 'Principles'
THE TELEGRAPH: Baroness Warsi under fire for comments made at dinner in honour of the visiting president of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir

A leading member of the Conservative shadow cabinet has argued against more Muslims going into Parliament because they lack "principles", a video obtained by The Independent reveals.

Baroness Warsi, the party's spokeswoman for community cohesion, was recorded saying that she did not want to see more Muslim MPs or Muslim Lords because "Muslims that go to Parliament don't have 'asool'". Asool is Urdu for "morals" or "principles".

A Conservative spokesperson said her remarks were take out of context. They said the word "asool" should have been translated as "Muslim principles" and wasn’t intended to imply that Muslim parliamentarians were immoral.

They also acknowledged that "this may not have been the best way of making her point" but insisted that she had been taken out of context.

"She was saying you shouldn't vote for a Muslim MP on the basis of their Muslim principle, you should vote for an MP based on their ability to represent the community regardless of their ethnic tick box." >>> Billy Kenber | Thursday, May 06, 2010

Comment Merkel et Sarkozy veulent sauver l'euro
LE FIGARO: Dans une lettre commune adressée aux présidents de la Commission européenne et de l'Union européenne, la chancelière allemande et le chef de l'Etat souhaitent «renforcer la surveillance budgétaire».

Angela Merkel et Nicolas Sarkozy reprennent l'initiative à la veille du Conseil européen des chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement. La chancelière allemande et le chef de l'Etat français ont appelé jeudi dans une lettre commune à «aller plus loin» et à «tirer les leçons de la crise» grecque afin «d'éviter qu'une crise de cette nature ne se reproduise».

Dans ce texte adressé à Herman Van Rompuy, président de l'Union européenne, et à Jose Manuel Barroso, président de la Commission européenne, ils détaillent comment «renforcer la gouvernance économique». L'enjeu ? «Préserver les acquis de la création de l'euro».

Les deux dirigeants réclament une véritable remise à plat du fonctionnement de la zone euro. D'abord sur la réforme du pacte de stabilité et de croissance qui a fait la preuve de son inefficacité : «Renforcement de la surveillance budgétaire», «élargissement» des critères de Maastricht «aux questions structurelles et de compétitivité» mais aussi «un cadre robuste pour la résolution des crises». >>> Par Guillaume Guichard | Jeudi 06 Mai 2010

Griechenland Desaster: Merkel und Sarkozy wollen die Eurozone retten
WELT ONLINE: In einem gemeinsam Brief an EU-Kommissionschef Barroso, der WELT ONLINE vorliegt, drängen Kanzlerin Merkel und Frankreichs Präsident Sarkozy auf radikale Maßnahmen zum Schutz der Eurozone. Helfen soll dabei der von Frankreich lange geforderte Ausbau einer europäischen Wirtschaftsregierung.

Unmittelbar vor dem EU-Gipfel am Freitag in Brüssel haben Kanzlerin Angela Merkel und Frankreichs Staatspräsident Nicolas Sarkozy die Initiative an sich gerissen: Nach dem Griechenland-Desaster wollen sie die Eurozone stabiler und krisenfester machen. >>> Von Christoph B. Schilz | Donnerstag, 06. Mai 2010

Greece Fuels Fears of Contagion in U.S. : Crisis Would Likely Spread in Europe Before Crossing Atlantic, Economists Say; Wary Investors Monitor Credit Markets
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Investors and policymakers are starting to worry that the economic crisis in Greece could cross the Atlantic and undermine the U.S. economic recovery, in the same way that U.S. housing woes in 2008 battered Europe.

"What we have seen is that contagion"—economist-speak for a spreading crisis—"has gone global," says Harvard University economist Jeffrey Frankel.

Early credit-market indicators of contagion to the U.S. aren't yet flashing red, but investors are keeping a wary eye on them. "This is like we've agitated a colony of prairie dogs, and everybody is looking out of their hole to see what's going on," said Howard Simons, bond strategist at Bianco Research in Chicago. "But it's no crisis, yet." >>> Bob Davis and Mark Gongloff | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Nigerian President Dead at 58

Faisal Shahzad Met Taliban

UK Electoral System 101

From New York to Al-Qaeda

Merkel Plea to Save Europe as Contagion Hits Iberia
THE TELEGRAPH: Europe's debt markets are flashing danger signals after spreads on Iberian debt reached the highest level since the launch of the euro and investors rushed for safety into German notes, prompting warnings from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the European Project itself is at risk.

"Contagion pressures continue to rage unabated," said Marco Annunziata, Europe economist at UniCredit. "The flames have rushed through the firewall of the IMF/EU programme for Greece and now threaten other peripheral countries."

"While the sell-off on sovereign bond markets so far remains discriminating, the risk that it might suddenly mutate into irrational panic can no longer be ignored. Eurozone policymakers need to take further steps quickly," he said.

Mrs Merkel made a moving plea to the Bundestag to support the €110bn (£93bn) rescue for Greece. "Nothing less than the future of Europe is at stake. The happy tale of German history since World War Two and our emergence as a free, united, and strong country cannot be separated from the European Union. We owe decades of peace and prosperity to the understanding of our neighbours," she said.

"Europe today is looking to Germany. As the strongest economy in Europe, Germany has a special responsibility and it takes this responsibility to heart.

"Immediate help is needed to ensure the financial stability of the eurozone. This must be done to avoid a chain-reaction to the European and international financial system, and contagion to other eurozone states. There is no alternative."

Belated support from Berlin has failed to stop the crisis escalating. Spreads on Portuguese 10-year bonds soared to a post-EMU record of 290 basis points above Bunds; Spanish spreads rose to 131. Bank shares in Madrid slid again, with falls of 4.9pc for Banco Popular, 3.6pc for BBVA, and 2.5pc for Santander[.]

Bundesbank chief Axel Weber said there was a "grave threat of contagion", echoing the formula now being used by German officials to justify the rescue. Berlin hopes the wording will head off a legal challenge at the constititional court. >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Nigel Farage. Photo: Google Images
Ukip's Nigel Farage Injured in Plane Crash
THE TELEGRAPH: Nigel Farage, who is contesting Speaker John Bercow’s seat in Buckingham, has been injured in a light plane crash.

Mr Farage was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries following the crash at Hinton-in-the-Hedges airfield, near Brackley in Northamptonshire.

The light aircraft was pulling a Ukip banner and it is believed it may have been caught up in the engine. The banner reportedly carried the slogan "Vote for your country - Vote Ukip".

The plane went down just after 8am, also injuring the pilot, who reportedly had to be cut out the cockpit and was taken to Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry.

Mr Farage was taken to Horton General Hospital in Banbury. A Ukip spokesman said: "We've had unconfirmed reports that either the banner got snagged up or there were cross-winds and it was unfamiliar airfield to the pilot, who had to be cut out of the plane. >>> Ben Leach | Thursday, May 06, 2010

Mumbai Attack Gunman Sentenced to Death
THE TELEGRAPH: The only gunman to survive the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai has been sentenced to death by an Indian court.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, a 22-year-old Pakistani citizen, was found guilty on Monday of 86 charges, including waging war against India, murder and terrorism offences for his role in the attack on India's financial capital that left 166 dead.

Judge M.L. Tahaliyani said the man described by prosecutors as a "killing machine" should be hanged.

"I don't find any case for a lesser punishment than death in the case of waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts," the judge said. >>> | Thursday, May 06, 2010

Accordion Players and Ice Skaters Get EU Farm Subsidies
THE TELEGRAPH: European Union farm subsidies were paid out last year to Swedish accordion musicians, Danish snooker players, Dutch ice skaters and an Estonian society for old school classmates, official figures show.

Unusual payments included almost £600,000 paid to the daughter of the Bulgarian minister responsible for administering EU farm subsidies.

As well as the £51,000 paid to a Swedish accordion club was £27,000 handed out to Danish billiard players, payments were made of £139,000 to ice skaters and £303,000 to footballers in the Netherlands.

In what may involve cases of people who died after qualifying for aid, payments were made to two 100-year-old Swedes who are now deceased.

"It does look odd," admitted a European Commission official. >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Dark Ages: The Disgusting Degeneration of the West
THE GUARDIAN: Russian court convicts men of killing and eating schoolgirl: Two men drowned 16-year-old in bath and cooked parts of her body

A Russian court has convicted two men of murdering and eating a 16-year-old schoolgirl in January. >>> Associated Press | Thursday, May 06, 2010

STUFF.co.nz: 'Vampire' attack on Wellington's Mt Victoria: 3 charged with wounding after alleged bloodsucking assault >>> The Dominion Post | Thursday, May 06, 2010

‘Very Much Opposed to What We Stand For’


NEWSMAX: Franklin Graham: Obama 'Giving Islam a Pass,' Warns of Persecution: Evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham issued his toughest remarks yet Monday on the administration's role in revoking his invitation to speak at the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer event, charging that President Obama is "giving Islam a pass" rather than speaking openly about the "horrific" treatment women and minorities receive in many Muslim countries. >>> David A. Patten | Monday, May 03, 2010

Grèce: les syndicats appellent à de nouveaux rassemblements
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Les principaux syndicats grecs ont appelé à de nouveaux rassemblements ce jeudi à 18h (17h suisses) à Athènes, notamment devant le Parlement où sera examiné le plan d'austérité contesté.

Dans un communiqué, la centrale syndicale du secteur privé (GSEE) a condamné les violences de mercredi, les attribuant à des "incendiaires de la violence aveugle et du vandalisme qui en réalité sapent les luttes des travailleurs".

"Nous nous déclarons déterminés à poursuivre et à étendre notre lutte pour satisfaire nos justes revendications", a-t-elle toutefois ajouté. >>> ATS | Jeudi 06 Mai 2010

Arnold Schwarzenegger vole au secours des fumeurs
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le gouverneur Schwarzenegger a mis son veto à une loi qui visait à interdire la cigarette sur les plages et parcs naturels de l'Etat, estimant qu'elle constituerait une "intrusion du gouvernement dans la vie des citoyens".

Le gouverneur républicain Arnold Schwarzenegger qui avait notamment signé par le passé une loi interdisant de fumer dans une voiture en présence d'un enfant, estime cette fois "qu'il y a quelque chose de fondamentalement gênant dans l'idée que l'Etat puisse empiéter de façon tellement énorme sur (la vie privée) des gens".

Il préfère laisser de telles initiatives à la discrétion des autorités locales qui, pour certaines d'entre elles, interdisent déjà la cigarette. >>> AFP | Jeudi 06 Mai 2010

Greece on Brink of Abyss as Three Bank Workers Killed in Riots
A riot policeman falls after being hit by a molotov cocktail near the Greek parliament in Athens. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: The President of Greece warned last night that his country stood on the brink of the abyss after three people were killed when an anti-government mob set fire to the Athens bank where they worked.

“I have difficulty in finding the words to express my distress and outrage,” President Papoulias said. “The big challenge we face is to maintain social cohesion and peace. Our country came to the brink of the abyss. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that we don’t step over the edge.”

Violence flared as tens of thousands of striking workers and civil servants took to the streets of the capital and the northern city of Salonika to protest against the Government’s austerity measures.

The demonstrators gathered as George Papandreou, the Prime Minister, was trying to push through parliament tough budget cuts demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in exchange for a ¤110 billion aid package.

“We are all deeply shocked by the unjust death of three workers, three of our fellow citizens, who were victims of murderous attacks,” he told MPs. >>> Philip Pangalos in Athens | Thursday, May 06, 2010

BNP Man Punches Asian on Campaign Trail as Online Chief Denounces Griffin
TIMES ONLINE: British National Party's election campaign descends into violence as a top official is filmed attacking an Asian man

The British National Party’s election campaign descended into violence yesterday when one of its top officials was filmed attacking an Asian man. Robert Bailey, the far-right party’s group leader at Barking and Dagenham Council, was shown punching the man and trying to kick him in the head. Mr Bailey had retaliated after he was spat on during canvassing.

Earlier The Times revealed that the head of the party’s online operation had resigned, taking its website down with him. Simon Bennett directed BNP traffic to his personal site, which contained a diatribe against Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, and other senior figures. A day before the election, Mr Bennett, 41, depicted an amateur operation and an organisation that, he claimed, wasted membership fees and donations. He accused Mr Griffin and James Dowson, the BNP election fundraiser, of being “pathetic, desperate and incompetent”.

It is understood that Mr Bennett took the website down briefly on Tuesday afternoon. It was reactivated quickly, but his comments had already gone viral on a number of websites. >>> Fiona Hamilton, London Correspondent | Thursday, May 06, 2010

José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission, Photo: Google Images
Barroso Pledges to Take on Speculators as Euro Hits 14-month Low
TIMES ONLINE: The President of the European Commission lashed out at speculators and threatened more regulation yesterday after the euro plunged to its lowest level for 14 months and stock markets suffered another battering.

Investors dumped stocks and bonds in a mass flight from risk as demonstrators in Athens clashed with police. Three people died after buildings were set alight in protests against cuts to pay and pensions in Greece.

A threat by Moody’s rating agency that it might downgrade Portugal fuelled the market mayhem. In London, leading shares joined the rout and the FTSE 100 index shed 70 points, its second day of decline. Madrid suffered worse pain, with the Ibex index of leading shares down 2.25 per cent as money fled to havens, such as the dollar and US Treasury bills.

José Manuel Barroso, the Commission President, said that it would act swiftly with further market regulation and accused credit rating agencies of pandering to the market mood. “The Commission will do whatever is necessary to ensure that financial markets are not a playground for speculation,” he said.

Michel Barnier, the Internal Market Commissioner, has already threatened regulation of rating agencies, and Mr Barroso joined the attack. He called the agencies’ working methods deficient and said that they were “too cyclical, too reliant on the general market mood rather than on fundamentals — regardless of whether market mood is too optimistic or too pessimistic”.

Investors raced to the exit, ignoring pleas from politicians to support the €110 billion rescue package for Greece. Instead they scoured the market for indications that Greece’s insolvency virus might spread to other Mediterranean eurozone states burdened with high debt, excessive spending and low growth. >>> Carl Mortished, Ian King | Thursday, May 06, 2010

The Outsider Says He’s Ready for One Hell of a Job
Illustration: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Nick Clegg tells The Times that, despite his opposition to a like-for-like replacement for Trident, he still wants Britain to punch above its weight. And he wishes he’d taken a bet on shortened odds on his occupying No 10

Nick Clegg does not appear to be a betting man. If he were, he might have taken a punt on the rank outsider that no one saw coming. What appeared a reckless bet a couple of weeks ago now looks interesting; what would have been an absurd question is now just a straight-forward one. Is he worried about becoming Prime Minister? The odds on such an outcome from May 6 are down from 100-1 to 10-1.

“Really?” He looks surprised. “I should have put a bet on.”

Instantly, the brow furrows as he calculates how off- message he has just veered. “Joking aside, joking aside . . .” Equally quickly, he relaxes. “More to the point, why didn’t I put any money on earlier?”

With one fence to go, the self-styled outsider is, remarkably, in with a shout. If this debate-dominated campaign is a three-act play, the first saw Mr Clegg storm the stage; in the second he showed he was there to stay. The third, tomorrow in Birmingham, will help to dictate the shape of the next government in which it is anything but fanciful to expect him to be playing a part.

The scale of his insurgency, or Cleggmania to give it its official title, is such that there is more than one scenario that would see him addressing the nation from in front of the door to Number 10.

Is he ready for it, the immensity of it? “I honestly wouldn’t have put myself forward and put my family, with everything it implies to have a politician as a husband and a father, if I didn’t genuninely feel that what I believe or what I represent are big changes that would genuinely make a big difference.” But it’s a hell of a job >>> Roland Watson and James Harding | Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Tories Scent Victory as Poll Lead Widens
David Cameron at his final camapign rally in Bristol. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: David Cameron has the keys to No 10 almost within his grasp, with the final poll of the campaign for The Times indicating that the Conservatives will make sweeping gains from Labour.

But the Conservatives cannot yet be sure of winning an overall Commons majority unless they perform even better in key Labour marginals to compensate for the likelihood of a strong Liberal Democrat showing.

The Populus poll of 2,250 voters puts the Tories on 37 per cent, up one point on a week ago. Labour is up one point at 28 per cent and the Lib Dems down one point at 27 per cent.

This would represent a swing since the 2005 election of just over 6 per cent — the biggest to the Tories since 1945 and second only to Labour’s advance in 1997. The findings point to an additional 91 Tory MPs, 25 seats short of an overall majority.

A key obstacle to the Conservatives’ ambitions may be the success of the Liberal Democrats, who are on course, despite a small last-minute squeeze, to turn in the best performance for a third party since the 1920s. >>> Peter Riddell, Jill Sherman and Roland Watson | Thursday, May 06, 2010

Christian Preacher Arrested for Saying Homosexuality Is a Sin
THE TELEGRAPH: A Christian street preacher was arrested and locked in a cell for telling a passer-by that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God.

Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships.

The 42-year-old Baptist, who has preached Christianity in Workington, Cumbria for years, said he did not mention homosexuality while delivering a sermon from the top of a stepladder, but admitted telling a passing shopper that he believed it went against the word of God. >>> Heidi Blake | Sunday, May 02, 2010

Barack Obama Wants to Overhaul US Immigration System
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama wants to begin working this year on legislation overhauling the US immigration system following the controversial law passed in Arizona.

Mr Obama's comments at a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the White House reaffirmed his long-held support for immigration reform. He went a step further than he has in the past by calling for the work to begin this year.

Latino groups have been urging Mr Obama to deliver on his campaign promise of making immigration reform a top priority, with some activists and lawmakers in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus complaining he was not doing enough.

Mr Obama acknowledged immigration reform would be difficult to achieve and would require bipartisan support, which is lacking in the Senate right now. And he made no commitment to finishing the process this year. >>> | Rgursday, May 06, 2010

Faisal Shahzad: Accused Times Square Bomber 'Gave Up American Dream for Jihad'
THE TELEGRAPH: Faisal Shahzad seemed like a perfect embodiment of the American Dream but, US prosecutors allege, gave it up for jihad.

The quiet, privately-educated son of an retired air force officer had enjoyed almost textbook success since moving to America in 1998 on a student visa.

He earned a degree in computer applications and, after working at Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics maker, he found a well-paid job for a financial services company.

Having secured his future in the US by finding an American wife, Huma Mian, the couple and their two young children appeared destined for a life of stable, suburban life in Connecticut. >>> Tom Leonard in New York and Ashfaq Yusufzai in Muhib Banda | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

LE TEMPS: La crainte d’un «nouveau modèle» terroriste : Si on ignore encore si l’auteur de l’attentat manqué à Times Square a agi seul ou en lien avec les talibans pakistanais, les actions de ce type sont de plus en plus difficiles à repérer >>> Luis Lema | Jeudi 06 Mai 2010

Crisis in Greece Leaves EU Future in Balance, Warns Angela Merkel
THE GUARDIAN: German leaders issue stark warnings and insist on punitive new regime for euro countries if monetary union is to survive

Europe was threatened with its gravest modern crisis tonight as Germany warned that the EU's future was on the line in the Greek emergency.

The spiralling tension over Greece's ballooning debts and Europe's first ever bailout of a country in the single currency has exposed fundamental questions about the EU and Germany's pivotal role as the union's biggest power.

In Berlin, where Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a groundswell of hostility to sending the Greeks a €22bn lifeline next week, leaders issued stark warnings about the prospects for the EU and insisted on a punitive new regime for the 16 euro countries if the monetary union is to survive.

The leaders of the eurozone's 16 nations are to assemble for an emergency summit on the Greek crisis in Brussels on Friday evening, with the mood bleak and the stakes high.

"Europe is at a crossroads," Merkel declared to the German parliament in Berlin today. "This is about no more and no less than the future of Europe and about Germany's future in Europe."

Her sombre tone was echoed by the opposition leader and former foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who said the Greek crisis presented the EU with its biggest challenge since the union was created in the 1950s. >>> Ian Traynor in Brussels | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Vorzeitiger Abgesang auf Gordon Brown: Der Premierminister wird nun auch in den eigenen Reihen verschmäht
NZZ ONLINE: Rastlos reisen die britischen Parteichefs noch durch die Lande, um letzte Wählerstimmen zu gewinnen. Gordon Brown erscheint immer mehr auf verlorenem Posten. Ein Kandidat der eigenen Partei nennt ihn gar den «schlechtesten Premier» aller Zeiten.

Gordon Browns Chancen auf einen Sieg sind gesunken. Bild: NZZ Online
Am letzten Tag vor den britischen Parlamentswahlen legen die Parteiführer noch den üblichen Endspurt hin und hasten von Rede zu Rede, schütteln unzählige Hände und beantworten Bürgerfragen. Der Vorsitzende der Konservativen, David Cameron, soll die Nacht durchgemacht haben, Labour-Parteichef Gordon Brown und der Liberaldemokrat Nick Clegg waren schon im Morgengrauen auf den Beinen. >>> Ruth Spitzenpfeil | Mittwoch, 05. Mai 2010

Anti-dhimmitude! Burqa, niqab, hidjab, quelles différences?
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVES: DÉFINITIONS | La réflexion est lancée en Suisse: faut-il interdire la burqa? Quelques définitions utiles.

Le parlement argovien a adopté hier mardi une motion demandant une interdiction de la burqa dans l'espace public en Suisse. Le débat qui est né en France il y a neuf mois s'est rapidement étendu au reste de l'Europe. Les députés belges ont ainsi approuvé la semaine dernière à une très large majorité le principe de l'interdiction de cette tenue.

Le voile, dont de nombreuses musulmanes à travers le monde se couvrent la tête, comporte de nombreuses versions et se retrouve dans de nombreuses traditions. Avant d'entamer la réflexion sur le sujet, voici des éléments de définitions utiles. >>> AEC | Mercredi 05 Mai 2010

Canton d'Argovie / Kanton Aargau / Canton Aargau >>>

Nein zur Burka, Ja zur Frau – Gegen Vermummung im öffentlichen Raum: Die heutige Debatte des Grossen Rates begann sehr emotional.
Das Thema Burkaverbot stand auf der Traktandenliste. Das aargauische Parlament will, dass eine Standesinitiative zu Handen des Bundes ausgearbeitet wird mit dem Ziel, gesamtschweizerisch ein Verbot der Burka im öffentlichen Raum zu erreichen. >>>

Greece Anti-austerity Protests Escalate

General Election 2010: New Government Must Tackle Rising Debt, Says EU
THE TELEGRAPH: The new Government must tackle the country's rising debt level as a top priority, the European Commission has warned, as figures show public borrowing is the highest in the EU.

Europe's economic and monetary affairs Commissioner, Olli Rehn, was speaking after unveiling EU economic forecasts which show the stirrings of an economic recovery across Europe.

Latest forecasts show Britain's debt at 88% of GDP in 2011/12, well above the eurozone permitted maximum of 60%.

Britain's annual deficit is also running at more than four times the eurozone permitted ceiling of 3% of GDP. >>> | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Greek Crisis: Clashes Turn Deadly as Thousands Protest Against Cuts
THE TELEGRAPH: Greek protests turned deadly on Wednesday as three died in an Athens bank set alight while tens of thousands demonstrated against harsh new spending cuts aimed at saving Greece from bankruptcy.



Protesters set a bank in the Greek capital on fire as scores of demonstrators tried to storm parliament, throwing chunks of marble at police, who responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades. The fire brigade said at least three people had died in the fire.

The clashes took place during a march against austerity measures, the largest since the country was gripped by a debt crisis in October last year.

Violence also broke out in the northern city of Thessaloniki, with youths smashing windows of stores and fast food restaurants.

The demonstrations came as Greece ground to a halt on Wednesday, paralysed by a nationwide general strike in the first major test of the socialist government's resolve to push through unprecedented austerity cuts needed to avert a fiscal meltdown. >>> | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Greece: Bail-out Money Is 'Reparation' for Second World War
THE TELEGRAPH: While high-finance will – or maybe not – save Greece, it is the low-ground that people both there and in Germany are scrabbling over to play the blame game.

Greece is already into a boycott of German goods and services, ranging from Miele fridges to VW cars to pharmaceutical products.

But it is the war, and the brutal German occupation of Greece, that really gets up the noses of Teutons whose leader pledged 22 billion euros this week to save them from themselves.

An altered picture from the 'Eleftheros Typos' newspaper showing the statue of Victoria in Berlin holding a swastika was the forerunner for Greeks to mention the war.

The mayor of Athens, Nikitas Kaklamanis, led the call for Germany to pay reparations for the conquest and occupation, saying; "You owe us 70 billion euros for the ruins you left behind."

Greece's deputy prime minister, Theodoros Pangalos, also dragged up the war, stating; "The Nazis took away the Greek gold that was in the Bank of Greece, they took away the Greek money and they never gave it back."

A Greek magazine also last month carried a 10-page article detailing for its readers Germany's Nazi past. >>> | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Pop Star Claims Bible Written by Drunks
THE TELEGRAPH: One of Poland's most famous and controversial pop stars faces two years in gaol after suggesting that the Bible was written by drunks and people with a fondness for "herbal cigarettes".

Dorota Rabczewska, famed for an unabashed attitude when it comes to flaunting her flesh, and a string of hits, has been charged by Warsaw prosecutors with insulting religious feeling for comments she made in a television interview a year ago. >>> Matthew Day in Warsaw | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

The Independent Endorses Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems
THE INDEPENDENT: For five years this paper has fought for electoral reform. Britain now has a historic chance to end our unfair and discredited voting system for ever

This election campaign has felt almost like a liberation. The prison walls – the stultifying, spirit-crushing assumptions of the long era of two-party politics – have crumbled. The surge in support for the Liberal Democrats has unlocked something precious: a feeling among the public that, for the first time in a generation, a radical overhaul of our political settlement could be possible.

That feeling – combined with the enduring uncertainty over the result of the election – is a tonic for our democracy. The public sense that their vote matters. When one considers that this campaign began against a backdrop of rampant cynicism and apathy, stirred up by MPs' abuse of their expenses, this transformation looks all the more remarkable. And welcome. Leading article: This historic opportunity must not be missed >>> Editorial | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

North Korea Masses 50,000 Troops on Border
THE TELEGRAPH: North Korea has completed deployment of about 50,000 special forces along the border with South Korea, amid high tensions over the sinking of a Seoul warship.

The deployment began two or three years ago and seven 7,000-strong divisions are now in place, an unidentified senior government official told Yonhap news agency.

"The threat that North Korea may infiltrate special forces for limited warfare has become real," the agency quoted a separate senior defence ministry official as saying.

The defence ministry refused to confirm the Yonhap report, but President Lee Myung-Bak discussed the North's special warfare capabilities at an unprecedented meeting Tuesday with 150 top officers from all armed services. >>> | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: New Sanctions 'Will Mean Iran US Relations Will Never Be Improved'
THE TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that more UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme would not stop them but could permanently wreck its ties with the United States.

The United States and five other major powers are negotiating a fourth set of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. They expect the resolution to go through within the next few weeks. >>> | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

‘We’re in the Final Days of White Life in South Africa’
TIMES ONLINE: The gunman leant forward and pushed the pistol hard into Manie Potgieter’s neck. “Listen, you white bastard,” he whispered, his breath heavy with alcohol. “I have Aids. We are now going to rape your wife and give her Aids too. Then, we kill you, got it?”

From his position on the floor, hands tied behind his back, he could hear his assailant’s three accomplices pulling the tracksuit bottoms off his wife, Helena, 28.

“I was sure they were going to shoot me, but I just prayed she would be OK. She was telling me in Afrikaans not to worry. I just prayed,” Mr Potgieter, 30, a blond giant of a man, told The Times.

Suddenly, a clang of metal echoed through the early morning air — and the attackers took fright. They had been in the remote farmhouse for an hour and dawn was fast approaching. “Let’s go, someone is coming,” one of them shouted in panic. Without firing a shot they were suddenly gone.

The Potgieters’ nightmare was over — but it was one of the very few happy endings to a spate of attacks on South Africa’s white Afrikaner farming communities in which an estimated 3,000 people have been killed since 1994. >>> Jonathan Clayton in Vredefort | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Angela Merkel: EU Future at Stake in Greek Crisis
THE TELEGRAPH: Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has warned that the future of the Europe Union is at stake as the crisis over the Greek bailout pushed the euro to a 13-month low against the dollar.

Ms Merkel on Wednesday defended her decision to back the unpopular measure and called on fellow politicians to give their support.

"The future of Europe and the future of Germany within Europe is at stake," Ms Merkel told the parliament, which will vote on Friday on a package that would see Germany lend 22.4 billion euros (£19 billion) in taxpayers' money to Greece.

As Ms Merkel attempted to calm fears in Germany, the euro fell on Wednesday to $1.2937 - the lowest level for more than a year.

The slide was the latest sign of continued loss of investor confidence in European economies. >>> | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Merkel Links Europe's Future to Greek Aid Plan
THE INDEPENDENT: An international rescue plan for debt-stricken Greece must succeed or other European countries may suffer the same fate, threatening the bloc's future, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today.

In an impassioned speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament, Merkel said Germany was now convinced of the need to bail out Greece and confident the Greek government would carry out the swingeing cuts it had pledged to tackle its deficit.

"We're at a fork in the road," Merkel told the assembled lawmakers. "This is about nothing less than the future of Europe - and with it the future of Germany in Europe."

"There is no alternative to the aid to be agreed for Greece if we want to secure the financial stability of the euro area."

"It must come to avoid a chain reaction in the European and international financial system and the risk of contagion of other euro member states," she added.

At the weekend, officials from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed details of a 110-billion euro ($147 billion), three year aid package conditional on strict austerity measures that have led to mass protests in Greece.

"Europe today is looking to Germany. Without us, or against us, there cannot or will not be a decision that is economically sustainable," she said to a Bundestag session in which she was regularly interrupted by shouts from opposition lawmakers. >>> Reuters | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Pakistanis React to NYC Bomb Plot

Who Is Nick Clegg?

Nouriel Roubini: Forget Sub-prime Mortgages. It's the Sub-prime Financial System We Need to Fix
THE TELEGRAPH: Here's an exclusive extract from Nouriel Roubini's new book.

For the past half century, academic economists, Wall Street traders, and everyone in between have been led astray by fairy tales about the wonders of unregulated markets and the limitless benefits of financial innovation. The crisis dealt a body blow to that belief system, but nothing has replaced it.

That’s all too evident in the timid reform proposals currently being considered in the United States and other advanced economies. Even though they have suffered the worst financial crisis in generations, many countries have shown a remarkable reluctance to inaugurate the sort of wholesale reform necessary to bring the financial system to heel. Instead, people talk of tinkering with the financial system, as if what just happened was caused by a few bad mortgages.

Throughout most of 2009, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein repeatedly tried to quash calls for sweeping regulation of the financial system. In speeches and in testimony before Congress, he begged his listeners to keep financial innovation alive and “resist a response that is solely designed to protect us against the 100-year storm”.

That’s ridiculous. What we’ve experienced wasn’t some crazy once-in-a-century event. Since its founding, the United States has suffered from brutal banking crises and other financial disasters on a regular basis. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, crippling panics and depressions hit the nation again and again. The crisis was less a function of sub-prime mortgages than of a sub-prime financial system. Thanks to everything from warped compensation structures to corrupt ratings agencies, the global financial system rotted from the inside out. The financial crisis merely ripped the sleek and shiny skin off what had become, over the years, a gangrenous mess. The road to recovery will be a long one. >>> | Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Global Shares Tumble on Greece Debt Fears
THE TELEGRAPH: Global stock markets tumbled on growing fears that a rescue package for Greece might not be enough to prevent a debt crisis from spreading in Europe.

Stock markets in Europe and the US fell heavily on Tuesday, hit by continued jitters over Greek debt. Photograph: The Telegraph
Asian markets mirrored heavy falls in the United States and Europe, extending the biggest fall in global shares in three months.

It came at Greece was paralysed by a nationwide general strike on Wednesday - the first major test of the socialist government's resolve to push through unprecedented austerity cuts needed to avert a fiscal meltdown.

The euro continued to weaken against the dollar in Asian trading, hitting $1.2958, as investors doubted whether €110bn (£95bn) of loans from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund could stop contagion to other vulnerable countries such as Spain and Portugal.

Investors are worried that these countries may need even larger debt bailouts. >>> | Wednesday, May 05, 2010