Page last updated at 23:32
GMT, Thursday, 17 June 2010 00:32 UK
By Mark Kinver Science and environment
reporter, BBC News
Two primate species were among the seizures of bushmeat by customs
About 270 tonnes of
illegal bushmeat could be passing through one of Europe's busiest
airports each year, the first study of its kind estimates.
A team of researchers says the illicit trade could pose a risk
to human or animal health and increase the demand for meat from
threatened species.
The figure is based on seizures from searches carried out over
17 days at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
The findings appear in the journal Conservation Letters.
A team of researchers from France, Cambodia and the UK said it
was the "first systematic study of the scale and nature of this
international trade".
"We estimate that about five tonnes of bushmeat per week is
smuggled in personal baggage through Paris Roissy-Charles de Gaulle
airport," they wrote.
During the 17-day study, a total of 134 passengers arriving on
29 flights from 14 African nations were searched.
Nine people were found to be carrying bushmeat, which had a
combined mass of 188kg.
In total, 11 species were found - including two types of
primates, two kinds of crocodiles and three rodent species - four of
which were listed as protected species.
'Lucrative trade'
Co-author Marcus Rowcliffe from the Zoological Society of
London (ZSL) explained why the international team of researchers decided
to carry out the research.
"As no study like this had been carried out before, we really
had no idea as to the volume of bushmeat coming into airports," he told
BBC News.
"It was a surprise when we saw how much was arriving."
The products were not only imported for personal consumption,
but were part of a lucrative organised trade with high prices indicating
luxury status, Dr Rowcliffe added.
"A 4kg monkey will cost around 100 euros (£84), compared with
just five euros in Cameroon," he said.
Based on the data gathered from the 29 flights covered by the
study, the researchers then calculated the weekly and annual inward flow
of bushmeat.
"Assuming that (the study's) rates are representative of the
average weekly rate over the year, this equates to... 273 tonnes of
bushmeat," they calculated.
The team suggested that there were likely to be a number of
factors behind the large volume of bushmeat being imported.
"First, detecting and seizing these products is not a
priority," they explained.
"Second, penalties for importing illegal meat or fish are low
and rarely imposed. Third, the rewards for transporting bushmeat are
potentially high."
The researchers acknowledged that the study had a short time
scale and limited geographical coverage, and said that a longer and
large scale survey was now required to build on the findings.
However, they added that their study did allow them to consider
ways to control the trade.
They suggest offering incentives to customs officers,
increasing the penalties for illegally importing the products and
raising awareness among passengers that bringing such products into the
EU was prohibited.
The team concluded: "The large scale of current imports makes
it important to consider all options for reducing the flow of illegal
meat and fish, and of bushmeat in particular."
Dutch election: Liberals take one-seat lead as far-right party grows in influence
The Liberals have won a narrow one-seat lead in the Dutch election, putting them in pole position to form a coalition.
Published: 6:30AM BST 10 Jun 2010
Right-wing Dutch MP Geert WildersPhoto: PA
With 88 per cent of the votes counted, published partial results showed the Liberals with 31 and Labour on 30.
But the real victory went to Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV), which demands an end to immigration from Muslim countries and a ban on new mosques. The PVV took its number of seats from nine in the last parliament to 24, and could hope to enter a coalition government.
The far-right leader with his distinctive shock of fair hair called the result "magnificent".
"The impossible has happened," he told a televised party gathering. "We are the biggest winner today. The Netherlands chose more security, less crime, less immigration and less Islam."
The election ousted Christian Democrat Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende from eight years in office.
The Liberals' narrow lead gives leader Mark Rutte a mandate to form a coalition and become prime minister, but sticking to his austerity policies could prove tough because he needs at least three other parties to secure a parliamentary majority.
Earlier, exit polls had showed the Liberals and Labour running neck-and-neck in an election dominated by debate on fiscal austerity after the euro zone's stability was threatened by sovereign debt woes plaguing Greece.
Mr Balkenende conceded defeat for his Christian Democrats when voters turned against the party, nearly halving its seats from 41 to 21. He resigned as party leader.
The election was triggered when his Christian Democrat-Labour coalition government collapsed in a row over extending the deployment of Dutch troops in Afghanistan.
Mr Wilders and his Freedom Party - a possible coalition contender - gained 10 seats to come third behind the Liberals and Labour with 21, reflecting concern in the country about immigration and foreign policy.
"More security, less crime, less immigration, less Islam - that is what the Netherlands has chosen," Mr Wilders said.
France selling 1,700 buildings to help cut debt
Jun 9, 8:44 AM (ET)
PARIS (AP) - The French government says it's selling off 1,700 properties including chateaux, barracks and Parisian mansions, in part to cut the country's heavy debt.
The announcement Wednesday was the first time the government laid out such ambitious sell-off plans.
Budget Minister Francois Baroin said he wants to ensure the sales are transparent. He says France has a disproportionately high amount of state property and has been trying to shed "useless and unadapted" buildings.
He says reducing some of the country's euro1.49 trillion ($1.79 trillion) debt is part of the reason for the sales, although less than 20 percent of proceeds will go directly to debt payments. The rest goes to new government investments.
State property sales in the past four years brought in euro3 billion ($3.6 billion).
Erotic magazine for women hits German newsstands
Published: 21 May 10 14:30 CET Online:
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100521-27347.html
A new erotic magazine for women called “Alley Cat” hit German
newsstands this week, with publishers targeting young women who have
“grown up with sex,” according to the editor.
The 26-year-old Ina Küper has produced the 10,000-circulation magazine
from her home beginning in 2008, but publisher Burda recently made her
their youngest editor-in-chief ever.
On Thursday 150,000 copies of the first edition – featuring a cover of a
woman in a cat mask – went on sale. Topics include environmentally
friendly sex toys, erotic fantasies, “Hot Boys,” and “Skin-tight looks
for hot days.”
“Alley Cat is aimed at a generation that very obviously grew up with the
theme of sex,” Küper said.
The glossy magazine, aimed at 18 to 35-year-olds, doesn’t shy away from
showing naked buttocks or genitalia, and the language is at times
explicit. But there is “nothing sleazy,” about the content, and there
will never be nudity on the cover, Küper said.
She said some of her inspiration came from the US series "Sex and the
City."
“I think without this series we wouldn’t be where we are now,” she said.
If the first edition is successful, Burda plans to publish the magazine
monthly, and also has high hopes that of gaining a “fair number of men”
as readers too.
“We said right away that this magazine had potential,” Burda head Ulrike
Zeitlinger said, saying the publisher had been particularly impressed
by Küper’s “unbelievable passion.”
Published: 10 May 10 14:56 CET Online:
http://www.thelocal.de/opinion/20100510-27099.html
The state election debacle in North Rhine-Westphalia for the
Christian Democrats has finally robbed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
centre-right coalition of its reformist illusions, writes The Local’s Marc
Young.
We can finally put the Maggie Thatcher comparisons to rest.
Angela Merkel might be regularly ranked the world’s most powerful woman,
but as of Sunday evening she’s never going to become the Iron Lady
Chancellor.
Not only did her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) lose power in
Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the
defeat has also cost her alliance with the pro-business Free Democrats
(FDP) its majority in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat.
With Merkel’s government no longer able to ram major legislation through
the upper house, which represents Germany’s 16 federal states, her
centre-right coalition can now kiss an ambitious legislative agenda
goodbye.
But to be fair, it’s not the voters of NRW that have robbed Merkel’s
administration of the ability to pursue major reforms – the CDU-FDP
coalition did that all on its own from the first day it took office last
autumn.
The conservatives and the FDP came to power in October supposedly with a
mandate for changes beyond the grasp of Merkel’s last clunky coalition
with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). But the new government
quickly lurched from a shambolic start to political infighting and
paralysis.
From the beginning, the conservatives seemed more intent on defending
the status quo than tackling the country’s creaky tax, health and
educational systems. And instead of giving the Christian Democrats the
backbone to push through difficult changes, the Free Democrats appeared
focused on rewarding special interests close to their own party after 11
long years in the opposition.
Even while holding a majority in the Bundesrat, Merkel’s government
nearly failed to pass its only major piece of legislation last December
due to vehement opposition from several CDU-FDP led state governments.
The much derided package of tax cuts and stimulus measures is now likely
to remain the coalition’s biggest achievement.
The conservatives were already fighting to bury the big tax cuts wanted
by FDP boss Guido Westerwelle. And the two parties could hardly be
further apart on healthcare reform. Perhaps worst of all, Merkel and
Westerwelle seemed to dither over the EU bailout for bankrupt Greece,
putting the euro unnecessarily at risk.
In fact, the now so lamented loss of the upper house does little to
change Germany’s political reality – it simply dispels the reformist
illusion surrounding Merkel’s centre-right coalition once and for all.
Of course, consensus-loving Germans never wanted her to pursue a radical
Thatcher-like agenda anyway. But at least now they know they have an
administrator sitting in the Chancellery rather than wannabe visionary.
Thousands of goths brighten up Leipzig at festival
Published: 23 May 10 11:52 CETl Online:
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100523-27375.html
Around 20,000 goths and dark wave adherents are in Leipzig
this weekend, at the 19th Wave-Goth festival – the biggest in the world.
Visitors decked out in traditional black, but also increasingly
elaborate and historical costumes, have come to Leipzig from around the
globe, including the US, South America, South Africa, Japan and Israel.
Nearly 200 international artists are also booked to play during the
weekend, at suitable venues such as the crypt of the enormous monument
to the battle of nations and the Leipzig Opera House.
There is an array of events from classical music performances and
medieval fairs to dark electronic and rock band shows, and even a
Victorian picnic.
Gothic fashion has expanded to include those Victorian-era and
Japanese-inspired Visual Kei and Harajuku styles, which are often
brightly coloured and comic-inspired creations.
Porsche driver abducts child after dandelion attack
Published: 18 May 10 13:57 CET Online:
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100518-27269.html
A 47-year-old man is under investigation for abducting a
young boy and hauling him to a police station for throwing dandelions at
his Porsche, Lower Saxony police reported on Tuesday.
Around 8:10 am on Monday, a local bus driver called emergency services
after witnessing a man force a boy into his car in the town of Hittfeld,
just south of Hamburg.
But as officers were beginning to start a manhunt for kidnapping, the
Porsche driver arrived at the station with a “totally terrified”
eight-year-old boy, police spokesman Jan Krüger said in a statement.
The man had reportedly been driving down the street when the boy and
another eight-year-old friend threw dandelions at his fancy car.
“Out of rage over this ‘dangerous joke’ the man quickly stopped and
dragged one of the boys in his car to bring him to the police,” Krüger
said. “He only realised later just how badly he scared both
eight-year-olds.”
Both children were “somewhat” comforted by their parents at the station,
he added.
Now police have instigated criminal proceedings against the testy
Porsche owner for false imprisonment.
Krüger also commended the 50-year-old bus driver for her quick reaction
to the incident, saying it would have been vital in the case of real
kidnapping.
By IAN MacDOUGALL, Associated Press Writer Ian Macdougall, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 22, 4:21 pm ET
OSLO – It's the moment nosy Norwegian neighbors have been waiting for — the release of official records showing the annual income and overall wealth of nearly every taxpayer in the Scandinavian country.
In a move that would be unthinkable elsewhere, tax authorities in Norway have issued the "skatteliste," or "tax list," for 2008 to the media under a law designed to uphold the country's tradition of transparency.
It's Norwegians' way of keeping up with the Johansens — from fishermen on the western fjords and Sami reindeer herders in the north to members of the committee that awarded President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize.
To non-Scandinavians, it would seem to be a gross violation of privacy.
The tax list stirs up a media frenzy, with splashy headlines revealing oil-rich Norway's wealthiest man, woman and celebrity couple.
The data shows that former cross-country skiing great Bjoern Daehlie, who has eight Olympic gold medals, also has plenty of cash — 29.3 million kroner ($5.4 million).
Actress and director Liv Ullmann, for instance, earned $17,300 in Norway, and has a wealth of $2.5 million. Income earned or kept abroad, or otherwise in some sort of tax shelter, is not included.
Pioneering women's long-distance runner Grete Waitz, a nine-time New York City Marathon champion, earned $13,500 in Norway, and has a wealth of $90,000.
Many media outlets use the tax records to produce their own searchable online databases. In the database of national broadcaster NRK, you can type a subject's name, hit search and within moments get information on what that person made last year, what was paid in taxes and total wealth. It also compares those figures with Norway's national averages for men and women, and that person's city of residence.
Defenders of the system say it enhances transparency, deemed essential for an open democracy.
"Isn't this how a social democracy ought to work, with openness, transparency and social equality as ideals?" columnist Jan Omdahl wrote in the tabloid Dagbladet. He acknowledged, however, that many treat the list like "tax porno" — furtively checking the income of neighbors or co-workers.
Critics say the list is actually a threat to society.
"What each Norwegian earns and what you have in wealth is a private matter between the taxpayer and the government," said Jon Stordrange, director of the Norwegian Taxpayer's Association.
Besides providing criminals with a useful tool to find prime targets, he said the list generates playground taunts of my-dad-is-richer-than-your-dad.
"The children of people with low wages are being teased about it in the schools," Stordrange said Thursday. "People with low salaries are being met with comments at the grocery store, 'How can you live on these low wages?'"
The information had been available to media until 2004, when a more conservative government banned the publication of tax records. Three years later, a new, more liberal government reversed the legislation and also made it possible for media to obtain tax information digitally and disseminate it online.
Norway's 2007 law emphasized that "first and foremost, it's the press that can contribute to a critical debate" on wealth and the elaborate tax scheme that, along with the country's oil wealth, keeps Norway's extensive — and expensive — welfare system afloat.
The country of 4.8 million people had the third-highest income tax among industrialized countries in 2007, behind Denmark and New Zealand, according to the latest statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Since the latest tax data was released Wednesday, national media have scrambled to analyze it, building top-10 lists and graphic breakdowns of income differentials between sexes, age groups and residences.
So who's Norway's richest man? Tobacco mogul Johan Henrik Andresen, worth $2 billion, has surpassed last year's No. 1, industrialist Kjell Inge Roekke, according to Dagbladet. Andresen now owns the Ferd investment group, whose assets include the Elopak packaging company and ski wax maker Swix Sport. Roekke is chairman of Aker ASA, a holding company in the fishing, construction and industrial sectors.
Norway's richest woman is stock market investor Tone Bjoerseth-Andersen, whose wealth of $107 million placed her behind 24 men, the paper said.
Members of the royal family are not on the list because they don't pay taxes. Also excluded are the homeless and people whose details are kept secret for security reasons.
NRK's online edition compared the income of Norwegian celebrity couples — called "super-duels" — while newspaper Aftenposten's Web site ranked common Norwegian first names by wealth under the headline "How rich is your name?"
It found that men named Terje tend to do very well, while among women, Marit is a winner.
Most other Europeans, including residents of Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, have very different attitudes toward transparency and privacy and would be horrified at such a setup. Last week, the Spanish government for the first time released information on how much each Cabinet member is worth, but data on ordinary citizens is still private.
In neighboring Sweden, anyone can order a printed edition of the Taxation Calendar, which lists the earnings of people in mid- to upper-income brackets. The information is also available online, although Swedes whose financial information has been searched are notified by mail of who checked their details.
Christine Ingebritsen, a professor at the University of Washington, said the Norwegian tax list exemplifies a time-tested, distinctly Scandinavian custom of egalitarianism.
"This is how you make sure that you're being legitimate in the eyes of the community — you show that the wealth of a CEO isn't off the charts," she said, adding that unlike the U.S., Norway "places the wealth and health of all as a priority above the individual success stories."
Still, there are plenty of opponents of the list in Norway. A 2007 survey by research group Synovate revealed that only 32 percent of the Norwegian public wanted the tax list published, and 46 percent were against it.
Georg Apnes, director of Norway's Data Inspectorate and a member of the Conservative Party, called publishing and combing through the tax list "repulsive" and "disgusting."
"It reflects very poorly on our culture and on our society," he said on an NRK morning news program.
1,250 Nazi Garden Gnomes on Display in GermanyWednesday
October 14, 2009.
Oct. 15: A golden gnome showing the Hitler salute is seen in the installation 'Dance with the Devil' of German artist Ottmar Hoerl.
STRAUBING, Germany — A German artist is posing 1,250 garden gnomes with their arms outstretched in the stiff-armed Hitler salute in an installation that he calls a protest of lingering fascist tendencies in German society.
Artist Ottmar Hoerl posed the gnomes in the historic central marketplace of Straubing, a town in southeastern Germany, on Wednesday. The exhibit called "dance with the devil" is to run through Oct. 19.
Most of gnomes are black plastic, but about 20 are painted shiny gold.
Displaying Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany but a court ruled earlier this year that Hoerl's gnomes were clearly satire and thus allowed.
Hoerl says: "the fascist idea, the striving to manipulate people or dictate to people ... is latently dangerous and remains present in our society."
Across Europe, the embattled left loses its clout
By WILLIAM J. KOLE (AP)
VIENNA — Pity Europe's Socialists. It's getting lonely on the left.
Just when you might think capitalism's global crisis would breathe new life into the left, it's looking increasingly divided and tired. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's re-election a week ago is highlighting a conservative surge in her country and Europe's other powerhouse economies — Britain, France and Italy — where the center-right is either firmly in power or about to get there.
What happened?
Much of the answer lies in the nature of modern European politics, where even the most ardent conservatives can still embrace social welfare policies that would seem leftist to Americans. And in recent years, European center-right parties have mastered a certain political alchemy in co-opting some of the left's best ideas.
The result is that what would be hot-button issues in the U.S. — abortion, gun control, gay rights or state-guaranteed health care — have long ceased to rile voters in Europe.
Conservatives "have taken a page right out of Bill Clinton's playbook, and that's triangulation," said Heather Conley, a Europe scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Clinton brought the U.S. Democrats toward more laissez-faire economic policies, as did Britain's Tony Blair when his Labour Party ousted the Tories in 1997. Now European conservatives have done it in reverse — "taken the socialist agenda and claimed it as their own," Conley said.
The left's slide began well before the global recession discredited the right's faith in free markets and light regulation. The surprise, to some, is that Europeans seem to have more faith in conservatives to solve the crisis.
"In times of insecurity, the right has credibility," said Enrico de Bernart, a 43-year-old man window-shopping near the Pantheon in Rome. "People trust the right or center-right even if you don't like their objectives."
The Financial Times of London had another explanation: The left was in power for a decade in Britain and Germany, and it was then, voters believe, that the seeds of the financial meltdown were planted.
"Instead of being trusted to provide answers to the recession, they are seen as part of the problem," it said.
The right has also profited by pounding hard on immigration and crime — popular in times of economic uncertainty — while sending out reassuring messages about preserving Europe's generous welfare systems.
Analysts insist the social safety net isn't in jeopardy. "The lesson that Europe has taken a year after the collapse of Lehman Bros. is that the safety net cushioned the most extreme effects of the recession," Conley said.
"Our social system is not under threat at all," added Ghislaine Robinson, a French national who is spokeswoman for the Party of European Socialists, the left-leaning bloc in the European Parliament.
The left can take some comfort from having been re-elected in Portugal last month, and it's expected to win Sunday's election in Greece. Socialists are also in power in Spain, a major European economy.
But conservatives have deposed the left in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland. And in smaller countries where the center-left clings to power — Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands and Norway — its hold seems shaky at best.
Its most dramatic humiliation was its trouncing in Germany.
The Social Democrats were swept from government after 11 years — falling victim to Merkel's studied pragmatism and a campaign that made vague promises of modest tax relief while taking care not to do anything that might scare voters.
Merkel "succeeded perfectly in shrouding in fog what she wants," said Stefan Reinecke, a commentator for the left-leaning Tageszeitung daily.
The left, by contrast, had never really recovered from the labor reforms and welfare state cuts that ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pushed through in 2003 in his own experiment with triangulation. Like Blair, Schroeder had advocated a "Third Way" approach, only to be accused of dismantling the German welfare state.
Many Germans seem to think the conservatives, "because of their alleged or actual economic competence," are more capable of fixing the economy, said Gero Neugebauer, a professor of political science at Berlin's Free University.
Elsewhere, left-leaning politicians are caught in nasty party infighting and are up against populist conservatives.
In France, the once-powerful Socialist Party is in crisis for lack of a personality to rally around.
The party had its heyday under the 14-year presidency of Francois Mitterrand. But since losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 presidential elections, the Socialists have been unable agree on a program or a cohesive solution to the financial crisis.
Sarkozy has further undermined support for the Socialists by leaning left himself, talking of a more "moral" capitalism and leading a global push for tighter international regulations and limits on bankers' bonuses.
"Socialism isn't dead — that is an exaggerated idea," said Ives Clemenceau, a 74-year-old Parisian retiree who worked in the hotel business and voted for Sarkozy. "But the party is flat now. They don't have a plan."
Italy's left also is badly fractured and fairly feeble in its opposition to conservative Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Critics question the left's ability to deal with the problems posed by modern society, such as rising immigration, urban insecurity and a changing labor market — issues Berlusconi has managed to tap into and stay on top in the polls despite sex and corruption scandals.
"The left governed three years ago and didn't do anything. We saw no results of what they promised Italians," said Costantino Alfredo, 46, an office clerk in Rome. "The right and the left are the same in Italy."
The center-left can't seem to catch a break in Britain, either.
The ruling Labour Party — foundering under unpopular Prime Minister Gordon Brown, suffered another indignity last week when Britain's biggest-selling tabloid, The Sun, announced it was switching support to the opposition Conservatives after backing Labour for more than a decade.
"This government has lost its way," the newspaper declared.
Most predict Labour will be voted out next year. David Cameron, the Conservative leader campaigning to become Britain's next prime minister, said voters "see a regenerated, refreshed Conservative Party ready to serve."
Labour, whose governments have been in the thick of the Iraq and Afghan wars, portrays the Tories as having no experience on the world stage — "a bunch of schoolboys," in the taunting words of Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
"I think the right wing has stolen quite a few ideas from the left and is pretending to sell them better than we do," said Robinson, of the Party of European Socialists.
"People are sick and tired of little battles between parties," she said. "What they care about is how they are going to pay their bills and feed their families. That's what matters to them."
AP correspondents Kirsten Grieshaber and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Alessandra Rizzo in Rome and Angela Doland and Rachel Kurowski in Paris contributed to this report.
Published: 30 September 2009 14:24 | Changed: 30 September 2009 14:26
By Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Gay teachers can be dismissed by religious schools if it can be shown that their homosexuality clashes with the ethos of the institution, home affairs minister Ter Horst has said.
Interior Minister Guusje Ter Horst made the statement in a letter to parliament attempting to clear up uncertainty on the highly controversial issue.
Until now religious school boards faced legal proceedings if they expelled homosexual teachers.
The law was unclear as two constitutional rights clashed: freedom of education and freedom of sexual orientation.
Christian values
In her letter, Ter Horst said schools are entitled to demand that their staff adhere to the school's principles. In the case of strict Christian schools, this means they are entitled to reject applicants or sack teachers if their sexual orientation conflicts with the school's Christian values.
Nevertheless the minister stressed that in general homosexuals cannot be sacked or refused employment purely on the basis of their sexual orientation.
This gets around the anti-discrimination Universal Equal Treatment Act (AWGB), which states that religious schools are not allowed to sack an employee because of the "single fact" of a homosexual nature or a homosexual relationship but can make a distinction on the grounds of "additional circumstances".
Last May, a Christian primary school in the Dutch town of Emst suspended a gay teacher on the grounds that his sexual orientation conflicted with the mission of the school. Religious schools in the Netherlands are state-funded in the same way as non-religious schools, based on the principle of freedom of education.
In June, the Council of State, the Netherlands highest advisory body, ruled that although schools are not allowed to discriminate, they can make specific demands of their staff.
The minister's letter is at odds with education minister Ronald Plasterk's view that schools have no right to dismiss teachers for being openly gay.
In her letter, Ter Horst admitted that existing laws are confusing, although there are no plans to change legislation on this matter. She said her letter was intended to clarify matters
Anger in France and Poland after Polanski arrest
Sun Sep 27, 2009 12:42pm EDT
* French politicians seek release of Polanski
* Artists question Swiss motives for arresting director
* Poland considers appealing to United States
By Crispian Balmer
PARIS, Sept 27 (Reuters) - France's political elite rallied to the defence of Roman Polanski on Sunday, calling on Switzerland to free the 76-year-old film director rather than extradite him to the United States. Artists and film makers also urged the release of Polanski, who faces charges of having sex with a girl of 13 in 1977, accusing Switzerland of being overzealous in pursuing the case.
Polanski was due to receive a prize for his life's work at the Zurich Film Festival on Sunday, but was arrested on a 1978 U.S. arrest warrant after arriving in Switzerland on Saturday.
French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said he was "stunned" by the news, adding that both he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to see the acclaimed director returned swiftly to his family.
"(Mitterrand) profoundly regrets that a new ordeal is being inflicted on someone who has already known so many during his life," the culture ministry said in a statement.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also issued a statement, saying he had spoken to his Swiss counterpart to demand that Polanski's rights were fully respected and that a "favourable" solution be rapidly found.
Polanski holds French citizenship and is married to French singer actress Emmanuelle Seigner. He has spent much of his life here since fleeing the United States in 1978, but regularly visits countries where he does not expect extradition woe.
Robert Harris, a British novelist who said he had been working with Polanski for much of the past three years writing two screenplays, expressed outrage over the arrest.
"I am shocked that any man of 76, whether distinguished or not, should have been treated in such a fashion," he said in a statement, adding that Polanski had often visited Switzerland and even had a house in Gstaad.
"It is hard not to believe that this heavy-handed action must be in some way politically motivated," he said.
Born in Paris, Polanski moved to Poland with his Jewish family when still a toddler shortly before World War Two. His mother died in a Nazi concentration camp, but Polanski avoided capture and spent his youth in Poland before moving to the West.
His ties with Poland are still strong and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he might appeal directly to the United States over the case.
"I am considering approaching the American authorities over the possibility of the U.S. president proclaiming an act of clemency which would settle the matter once and for all," Sikorski was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency.
Poland's film-makers' association also rose to his defence.
"We do not understand why the Swiss invited Polanski to a film festival, where he was to have received a life's achievement award, and then arrested him," said association president, Jacek Bromski.
"We regard that as a scandalous situation and an example of incomprehensible overzealousness." (Additional reporting by Warsaw bureau; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
French police have cleared a notorious immigrant squatter camp on the outskirts of Calais.
Around 600 officers were involved in the operation and they detained 278 people, of whom 132 claimed they were children.
Public order teams gathered at local barracks in the French port, ahead of the operation to detain illegal immigrants and demolish the makeshift camp, known as 'the Jungle'.
As the first dozen officers entered the camp a small group of rights activists formed a human chain trying to bar access to the migrants, shouting "no border, no nation, stop deportation".
Police started peacefully leading out the migrants one by one, although a dozen who refused to move were dragged and carried out.
Officers also had minor scuffles with some protesters who shouted angrily while dozens of journalists looked on.
An illegal Afghan migrant cries as he is evacuated with others from the camp
The protesters, some in tears, shouted slogans at the police, including: "Shame on France."
Jessica Nora Shadia, 25, from Dunkirk, said: "It's shameful. They treat people like animals.
"Children were being pushed to the floor as if people have nothing. It's so sad."
But French Immigration Minister Eric Besson said he wanted to "take down this jungle".
"It's the base camp of the traffickers, with people who are exploited, victims of violence, there are bosses and deputies, it's the law of the jungle that rules and on French territory the law of the jungle cannot continue to rule," he said.
Why Calais Is Important To The UK
"The big bosses are not there but there are the lieutenants who are armed, they are organised, structured.
"They take themselves as forces of order, running a business. We need to break this chain of traffickers."
British Home Secretary Alan Johnson welcomed the closure but denied the UK would be forced to take refugees from the camp.
"Reports that the UK will be forced to take illegal immigrants from the 'Jungle' are wrong," he said.
"Both countries are committed to helping individuals who are genuine refugees, who should apply for protection in the first safe country that they reach. We expect those who are not in need of protection to return home."
The make-shift tent city grew after France closed a large Red Cross centre at nearby Sangatte in 2002 under pressure from Britain, which saw it as a magnet for illegal immigrants.
The main focus was on an area about half a mile south-east of the main port, known as the 'Pashtun jungle' due to the fact it is largely populated by Afghan migrants.
"The most important thing is to get to England."
It is estimated there were around 300 migrants living in the Pashtun jungle, significantly fewer than in previous months.
Other migrant dwellings in Calais have already been hit by police raids, including a Sudanese 'jungle' to the west of the port, and another Afghan dominated area on the dune land to the East, known as the 'Hazara jungle'.
A row of houses closer into the main town that is dominated by Africans, largely from Eritrea, has also been targeted.
According to aid agencies, the immigrants were taken in buses to police stations to be processed.
From there they will be sent back to the countries where they entered the European Union.
Police and protesters clash as the clearance operation gets underway
It was thought many will end up in Greece, one of the main points of entry for the immigrants. But aid agencies have predicted that many will end up back on the streets.
Fifteen-year-old Sail Pardes, from eastern Afghanistan, had been at the camp for six months and was hoping to make his way to England.
He said conditions were tough and he and his fellow immigrants were forced to live on basic rations such as pasta.
He added: "Most of the time we're tired. The most important thing is to get to England. I want to go to school and become a better person."
Merkel leads the quiet revolution
Pro-European and pro-American, the German chancellor is the right woman for our difficult times
German chancellor Angela Merkel's diplomatic skills have allowed her to build working relationships with world leaders. Photograph: Christian Charisius/Reuters
You've got to be careful with predictions. I remember writing an op-ed on the evening of the George Bush v Al Gore showdown, saying this was probably the most boring election in American history and that it didn't really matter who won because they were both nondescript grey men in suits and not particularly interested in foreign policy anyway. And then I went to bed. The rest is history: first Florida, then 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq and so on. But still, I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that after Germany's general election on 27 September, Angela Merkel will still be chancellor. The only question is, will her foreign minister be the Social Democrat incumbent Frank-Walter Steinmeier or the Free Democrat challenger Guido Westerwelle? Which doesn't really matter, as Merkel is her own woman and has forged her own foreign policy.
It's been a quiet revolution. Merkel's predecessor, the volatile Gerhard Schröder, had managed to manoeuvre Germany into a corner where our only friend was going to be Russia. Schröder had angered the US by his vociferous opposition to the Iraq adventure; he'd helped Jacques Chirac split the European Union into "Old Europe" and "New Europe", although Chirac's successor, Nicolas Sarkozy, was obviously going to want to repair that breach and cosy up to the British and Americans; he'd shocked the Poles and the other eastern European members and neighbours of the EU by his closeness to Vladimir Putin and the signing of a pipeline deal to deliver Russian gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea. In short, he was an unmitigated catastrophe.
Merkel has manoeuvred Germany out of that corner. Although her personal relationship with Barack Obama isn't as warm as was her friendship with George Bush, they have a working relationship. Similarly, though they couldn't be more different as far as temperaments are concerned, Sarkozy and Merkel seem to have une certaine idée de l'europe in common: they both realise Europe cannot and should not aspire to define itself against the US. José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, is Merkel's man – an ex-Maoist who sees Europe as an "Empire" holding the decisive centre of the western alliance. As far as Russia is concerned, Merkel has been candid about that country's disgraceful human rights situation, and although she hasn't gone as far as stopping Schröder's Nordstream gas pipeline (which she ought to do), she has lent quiet but decisive support to the Nabucco pipeline (a pet project of Barroso's), which will get Central Asian gas to Europe through Turkey, bypassing Russia.
The interesting thing is that Merkel has managed this realignment without creating an uproar in Germany. This is quite an achievement given that Schröder won re-election in 2002 mainly because of public support for his anti-American stance. Barack Obama's election has helped, of course. So has Tony Blair's departure from Downing Street. Last summer's war in Georgia helped dispel any lingering sympathies Germans may have had for Putinism, and the brutal suppression of the Iranian protest movement has made them rethink the wisdom of permanent appeasement vis-à-vis the Mullahs and their nuclear ambitions.
True to form, Merkel has tended to go with the tide rather than attempt to turn it. As a physicist, she won't repeat Canute's mistake. Or Sarkozy's mistakes, for that matter. This passivity can exasperate us journalists, who then tend to mutter darkly that she "has no principles" or at least that we don't know what she really stands for. But Merkel knows that she gains authority by seeming to be above the fray. When called for, she is ready to use that authority. After the fiasco of a rocket attack called in by a German commander that killed at least 30 Afghan civilians and signalled the final "loss of German innocence" (as the magazine "Der Spiegel" wrote) in the conflict that Germany still refuses to call a "war", Merkel's speech to the Bundestag was masterful. Probably only Merkel could have got away with such a clear commitment to a mission that is intensely unpopular on the German left and right.
The next four years are going to be difficult. Hobbled by the legacy of the economic crisis, the western alliance has got to make decisive progress in Afghanistan, stabilise Pakistan, de-fang Iran and North Korea and attempt to make Russia and China stakeholders in the world order. If Obama fails in this, the world will become a darker place. Europe has got to finally create a cohesive foreign and enlargement policy, whether or not the Lisbon Treaty is ratified or not. Our inability to solve piddling conflicts such as the ones between Greece and Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia, or North and South Cyprus, make the EU a laughing stock and belie our more grandiose ambitions. The cat-and-mouse game we're playing with Turkey is shameful. And we need to state clearly whether we are ready to support nations such as Ukraine and Georgia who are being subverted by the Putinist Empire. Above all, we need to seize the chance that the Obama presidency offers. There may never again be a more pro-European president in the White House. Europe must not let him down.
All in all, I think Merkel is the right woman for these difficult times. Unflappable and very sure of her basic instincts – pro-American and pro-European – as she is, Obama and whoever succeeds Gordon Brown would do well to demand more of her and Germany than has been demanded hitherto.
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Two primate species were among the seizures of bushmeat by customs
