|
Monday, 18 February 2008 |
|
The European Commission has announced its latest battle
plan against global warming. The aim is to cut greenhouse
gases to 20% below their 1990 level by the year 2020, while
increasing renewable energy consumption by 20%. The plan
is to make polluting industries pay for permits that were
previously free.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Monday, 18 February 2008 |
Nicolas Sarkozy continues to conduct a puzzling foreign
policy. On the one hand, he is hand in glove with the United
States in its raucous – some would say excessive – hostility
to Iran. On the other hand, in direct opposition to
Washington’s views, his attitude to Russia is friendly.
His latest bold move is the opening of a small, but
unprecedented, French naval base in the United Arab
Emirates. The new base is just across the Persian Gulf from
the Iranian coast, in waters that have recently seen alleged
harassment of US warships by Iranian launches. Washington
is naturally very happy about this as most of its allies cannot
wait to leave the area.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Monday, 18 February 2008 |
Military chiefs in five
Western countries
have called for Nato
to accept the need for
pre-emptive nuclear strikes
against any would-be
nuclear power.
Eyebrows were raised
when a report calling for a
change in NATO’s
organisation and methods
was jointly drafted by
General John Shalikashvili,
General Klaus Naumann,
General Henk van den
Breemen, Admiral Jacques
Lanxade and Lord Inge.
According to ‘The
Guardian’ newspaper, the five
echoed the views of senior
NATO officials, who cannot
speak out themselves.
The report called for a
“grand strategy” and claimed
that “a first-strike” nuclear
option remains an
“indispensable instrument” as
there is “no realistic prospect
of a nuclear-free world”.
“The first use of nuclear
weapons must remain in
the quiver of escalation as
the ultimate instrument
to prevent the use of
weapons of mass
destruction,” they wrote.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Monday, 18 February 2008 |
Former British premier fights to keep his EU presidency dream alive.
Two French political
heavyweights have
opposed President
Sarkozy’s suggestion that
Tony Blair should become
Europe’s first president. Both
men, ex-PM Édouard
Balladur and ex-President
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing,
supported Sarkozy during the
presidential campaign.
Balladur has been
Sarkozy’s mentor in politics
and gave him his first big job
as Minister of the budget in
1993. He commented that
Blair is too close to the USA
to be “a fitting spokesman for
Europe”, reflecting the
opinion of many within the
UMP majority party and the
French political class in
general. It may also signify
growing unease within the
UMP at Sarkozy’s close
identification with President
Bush’s aggressive policy
against Iran and his moves to
take France fully into NATO,
just when American foreign
policy is running into
difficulties on all sides.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Monday, 18 February 2008 |
Jérôme Kerviel’s aunt tells Tim Finan in Finistère why she is convinced
her nephew is innocent of the five billion euro loss.
The 80-year-old aunt of Jérôme
Kerviel has a profound belief in the
innocence of her high-flying nephew,
Jérôme Kerviel, accused of the world’s
biggest ever bank trading scam.
Sylviane Le Goff told ‘French News’
how the 31-year-old told her younger
sister Marie-José: “Maman, I have done
nothing wrong.”
She related how Kerviel, 31, had
barricaded himself inside the flat of his
elder brother Olivier, talking to his
lawyer and fearfully awaiting events to
unfold, after the accusations that he
defrauded France’s biggest bank.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next > End >>
|
| Results 127 - 135 of 188 |
