US benchmark borrowing costs plunged to levels last seen in 1946 and those for Germany and the UK hit all-time lows as investors took fright at what they see as a disjointed policy response to the debt crisis in Spain and Italy. In a striking sign of the flight to haven assets, German two-year bond yields fell to zero for the first time, below the equivalent rate for Japan, meaning investors are willing to lend to Berlin for no return. US 10-year yields fell as low as 1.62 per cent, a level last reached in March 1946, according to Global Financial Data. German benchmark yields reached 1.26 per cent while Denmark's came close to breaching the 1 per cent level, hitting 1.09 per cent. UK rates fell to 1.64 per cent, the lowest since records for benchmark borrowing costs began in 1703. "They are extreme levels because we are in an extremely perilous situation. People just want to put their money somewhere where they think they will get it back. People may soon be paying Germany or the US to look after their money," said Gary Jenkins, head of Swordfish Research, an independent credit analysis company. The flight to safety came as the situation in Italy and Spain, the eurozone's third- and fourth-largest economies, deteriorated further. Italy held a disappointing debt auction and saw its benchmark borrowing costs rise above 6 per cent for the first time since January. The euro fell 0.8 per cent against the dollar to under $1.24 for the first time in two years. Confusion over how the Spanish government's rescue of Bankia, the stricken lender, will be structured led the premium Madrid pays over Berlin to borrow to hit fresh highs for the euro era at 540 basis points. Analysts said the elevated level meant that clearing houses could soon raise the amount of margin, or collateral, that traders need to post against Spanish debt, a move that led to the escalation of crises in Portugal and Ireland. The European Central Bank has made clear to Spain that it cannot use the bank's liquidity operations as part of a recapitalision of Bankia. However, the central bank said on Wednesday it had not been officially consulted on the plans. Equity markets globally fell on the eurozone fears with bourses in Paris, Frankfurt and London all dropping 2 per cent. But Nick Gartside, international chief investment officer for JPMorgan Asset Management, noted that while US bond yields had halved since April last year the S&P 500 equity market was at the same level. "One of those two markets is mispriced. Core government bonds are an efficient market and they are ahead," he added. Investors said borrowing costs for the US, UK and Germany were likely to continue to fall amid a worsening economic backdrop and the threat of more central bank intervention. Wealth managers have been moving client assets into currency havens in recent weeks, with the Swiss franc and the US dollar among the biggest beneficiaries "Risk aversion, a rapidly slowing global economy and unusually low policy rates will pin these short and intermediate maturity bonds at unprecedented low levels for quite a while," said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco, one of the world's largest bond investors. Mr Gartside said he could easily see German rates going below 1 per cent, following a path that only Japan and Switzerland have taken among major economies, while the US and UK could dip under 1.5 per cent. Markets are increasingly resigned to more turmoil until policy makers take more radical action. The two most popular plans of action for investors are for the ECB to buy Spanish and Italian bonds in unlimited size or for eurozone countries to agree on a fiscal union involving the pooling of debt. "You have to throw everything at it. Spain is just too big for half measures. The next intervention has to be not just massive in size but it has to show a total commitment," said Mr Jenkins. He recommends that the ECB set targets either for the premium Spain and Italy pay to borrow over Germany or for their yields.
Categories
- �The Sun and Daily Mirror are facing contempt of court proceedings over the way they reported the hunt for the killer of Jo Yeates last December. (1)
- .Estepona Town Hall (1)
- ' (1)
- ' arrested in Berlin (1)
- ' Griselda Blanco (1)
- 'Fast Eddie' (1)
- 'Gazanging’ rises as home sellers get last-minute cold feet (1)
- 'Godmother of Cocaine (1)
- 'I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am. (1)
- 'I hope he is marrying her for love': Socialite warns Petra Ecclestone of her future husband's past (1)
- 'IRA' drug-gang linked to double British murder (1)
- 'Kinky' nuns and tattooed Christs spark controversy for Spanish gallery (1)
- ‘Loco Mia’ (1)
- 'Neurology time bomb' on the cards for NHS (1)
- 'Queen of Disco' Donna Summer 'thought she became ill after inhaling 9/11 particles' (1)
- 'Rogue trader' Kweku Adoboli faces fraud charges dating back to 2008 (1)
- ‘Save euro’ plea to Germans as Spain slumps (1)
- 'Six feared dead' and thousands evacuated as cruise ship hits rocks off coast of Italy (1)
- ‘Slob’ Simmons had sex sickness says Ace (1)
- $10 mln bounty on LeT founder Hafiz Saeed (1)
- 000 (4)
- 000 a year having 15 orgasms a week - all in the name of work. (1)
- 000 border arrests due to screening system (1)
- 000 damages in hacking case (1)
- 000 euros (1)
- 000 feet (1)
- 000 from his elderly aunt and cheated his own brother has been ordered to pay back £200 (1)
- 000 Gallic expats living in the UK. (1)
- 000 gang debt (1)
- 000 heart attack deaths (1)
- 000 in damages from the News of the World after they made a full admission of phone-hacking. (1)
- 000 investment. (1)
- 000 Nail Polish (1)
- 000 passengers allowed to enter Britain on Eurostar without border checks (1)
- 000 price on the heads of gang members who allegedly shot the son of a former Finks member. (1)
- 000 property (1)
- 000 through a series of benefit scams (1)
- 000-a-month apartment in New York's trendy TriBeCa (1)
- 000-a-year head of the UK Border Force (1)
- 000. (2)
- 1.6m patients' records on CD sent to landfill (1)
- 10 (1)
- 10 things not to say to someone when they're ill (1)
- 100 people plus who evacuated their homes as a fire swept across Mijas Costa (1)
- 12 injured (1)
- 17 (1)
- 18 Best Places to Retire Overseas (1)
- 1993 £1m Felixstowe heist: Suspect Eddie Maher was 'bankrupt' (1)
- 20-STRONG ‘dog squad’ is taking on disobedient dog owners in Marbella. (1)
- 21 (1)
- 22 (1)
- 240 kilos of cocaine have been found in the hull of a yacht in Huelva (1)
- 26 (2)
- 270 bodies has been found in the Libyan capital (1)
- 3 years after US accident (1)
- 30-year-old man who has been arrested by police investigating the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World is believed to be Ross Hall (1)
- 400 Job Cuts (1)
- 44 year old British angler (1)
- 46 year old Xavier Font (1)
- 49 (1)
- 5 Top Ways Stars Lose All Their Cash (1)
- 5 UK men on trial for allegedly distributing leaflets calling for gay people to be killed (1)
- 500 (1)
- 500 complaints a day (1)
- 500 handbag (1)
- 500 jobs in investment bank shake-up (1)
- 51. (1)
- 525 hectares affect by fire at Tossa de Mar (1)
- 55 security guards arrested with fake qualifications (1)
- 56 (1)
- 56-year-old says she hopes to become the first woman to have her womb transplanted into her daughter. (1)
- 600 staff redundant (1)
- 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking. (1)
- 68-year-old man who was critically injured as he tried he tried to stamp out a fire during riots in west London has died (1)
- a 45-year-old Irish singer (1)
- a book has claimed. (1)
- A British housewife arrested alongside a husband and wife as part of a major drugs bust in Indonesia said she made the trip because her children in the UK were being threatened. (1)
- A British photographer's adorable images of puppies (1)
- A Facebook crime every 40 minutes (1)
- a footballer who allegedly had an affair with ex-Big Brother star Imogen Thomas (1)
- a former chairman of the BBC Trust (1)
- A FORMER cop who stole more than £400 (1)
- A frog-obsessed con woman used unwitting celebrities including Princess Diana to run up massive debts with banks. (1)
- A glamorous French politician is set to become France’s first ever ‘MP for Britain’ to represent more than 100 (1)
- A huge wildfire is approaching the wealthy resort of Marbella on Spain's Costa del Sol (1)
- A LARGE crowd of Rebels Motorcycle Club members turned out at St Peter's Cathedral yesterday for the funeral of a member. (1)
- A man identified as Amsterdam crime boss Samir B. was murdered in Benahavis (1)
- A man who fled to Spain after being charged in connection with a terrifying robbery has been jailed for 10 years (1)
- A man who was convicted of gunning down his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend in 1984 was scheduled to be put to death Tuesday morning (1)
- A million Britons live with the hell of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (1)
- A mind-altering drug banned in Britain two years ago is being blamed for the spate of cannibal attacks in America. (1)
- A Moroccan teenager killed herself after a judge forced her to marry her rapist. (1)
- A Nation 'Addicted' To Statins... (1)
- A PLANNED bid for freedom by Melbourne identity Tony Mokbel has been sensationally scrapped. (1)
- A poorly designed (1)
- A Romanian man wanted for murder and robbery in Portugal has been arrested in Torre del Mar. (1)
- A Salvation Army officer was twice stabbed in the back yesterday by a thief who tried to steal his donation tin (1)
- A top surfer has been killed after a quick and brutal shark attack on the French-owned island of Reunion. (1)
- A TRUSTED accountant who fleeced $45 million from financial group ING Holdings has been jailed for at least seven years. (1)
- a verdict that caps a riches-to-rags trajectory for the former Texas financier and Caribbean playboy. (1)
- a violent street gang with ties to California (1)
- A well-known blogger has alluded on Twitter to several celebrities whom he claims have obtained super-injunctions to prevent the media from publishing stories on their private lives. (1)
- A woman died from a heart attack caused by shock after waking up to discover she had been declared dead - and was being prepared for burial. (1)
- A woman who works as a professional sex toy tester rakes in £15 (1)
- A4e boss Emma Harrison to step down from government role (1)
- A4e faces new fraud investigation (1)
- according to a hard-hitting report published today (1)
- according to researchers in the US. (1)
- according to the National Transitional Council (NTC). (1)
- accused of involvement in attacks on major websites (1)
- Accused wants to play soccer with witness (1)
- Addicted to stress (1)
- ADDICTION charity Focus12 has received a huge financial boost after a codumentary about Russell Brand was shown last night. (1)
- Addictive painkiller sales surge in new parts of U.S. (1)
- Adele joked that she wanted boyfriend Simon Konecki to buy her an engagement ring so big “you can see it from space”. (1)
- adviser says (1)
- Afghan Koran burning at Bagram sparks fresh protests (1)
- Africa and eastern Europe lining highways throughout the country (1)
- after a member of staff at the city's Roxy venue found two men and a woman in the men's toilets. (1)
- After expressing misgivings about the wording of the UN resolution (1)
- after media reports linked him to the case. (1)
- after tests revealed a man died in Nigeria from the disease (1)
- after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene. (1)
- against Carlos Divar (1)
- Alastair Campbell Claims Rupert Murdoch Pressured Tony Blair Over Iraq War (1)
- Alcoa to Curtail Operations in Italy (1)
- alcohol in red wine actually weakens its ability to lower blood pressure. (1)
- Alex Salmond wants Scotland to join the European Union in its own right and that means joining the euro – and leaving the pound (1)
- Alleged hit-run death case on hold until next year (1)
- Allen Stanford faces decades behind bars after being convicted of a $7 billion fraud that snared investors in 113 countries (1)
- Allen Stanford was convicted on Tuesday of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme (1)
- Alternative To Ketamine (1)
- Amelia Hill was questioned under caution by police in an inquiry into alleged leaks of information from Operation Weeting (1)
- American 'illegals' in Mexico (1)
- American Airlines flight attendant restrained after taking over PA system and screaming 'we're going to crash' (1)
- American Banker Shows DOJ Sat On a Bank-Kickback Scandal (1)
- Amsterdam Hells Angels leave clubhouse (1)
- Amy Winehouse 'spent £1 million on drugs in three years` (1)
- Amy Winehouse coroner (1)
- Amy Winehouse died during detox? (1)
- Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her flat in north London at the age of 27 (1)
- Amy Winehouse's unfinished final record is likely to receive a posthumous release. (1)
- An unflinching look at drugs (1)
- Analysis: There's no legislating for the internet (1)
- And Beer (1)
- and certain processed fatty foods (1)
- and muscle aches? (1)
- and Too Hairy—It's Also Too Brown (1)
- and why (1)
- Andy Coulson did not face the rigorous government security checks into his background that most recent Downing Street press chiefs have undergone (1)
- Andy Coulson was held today by Strathclyde Police (1)
- Anonymous releases Rebekah Brooks’ email address and password (1)
- Anti-Corruption prosecutors to be strengthened in Málaga (1)
- Anti-depressants likely do more harm than good (1)
- Apostasy (1)
- approached the Home Secretary’s office for permission to weaken passport checks (1)
- Aqwa Mist (1)
- are facing a transatlantic investigation involving Scotland Yard and United States authorities (1)
- are hoping to bring the format to Britain. (1)
- ARE YOU ADDICTED TO BUSYNESS ARE YOU A SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICT (1)
- Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates (1)
- armed robbery and drug trafficking are punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. (1)
- Army Records Show (1)
- Arnold Schwarzenegger's scheduled animated project 'The Governator' has been cancelled following recent revelations in the Hollywood actor's personal life (1)
- Arrest made after prison van escape in West Midlands (1)
- Arrested businessman had ‘double life’ (1)
- Arrested for allegedly throwing two suitcases of cocaine out of a hotel window (1)
- Arrests of Mexican drug cartel leaders in Texas raise concerns (1)
- Arrests over child prostitution network selling girls as young as 11 (1)
- as exemplified by a recent Olive Press investigation (1)
- as Rebecca Brook takes the sting from the closure of the News of the World. (1)
- As the star of the Fast and the Furious film franchise (1)
- Assange seeks political asylum (1)
- at least 28 hit in 5 years (1)
- At least four people (1)
- Australian facing drug death penalty in Malaysia (1)
- Australian investigators say gypsy gangs may have expanded their crime operations into drug dealing. (1)
- Azhar Ahmed to stand trial over Facebook post about dead soldiers (1)
- B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash (1)
- Bahrain jails daughter of hunger striker (1)
- Bank governor Sir Mervyn King sent a stark message to political leaders as he flagged an unresolved eurozone debt crisis (1)
- Bank of England meets amid talk of £50bn stimulus (1)
- Bank tax dodges halted by retrospective law (1)
- Barcelona Slaps Fine On Airbnb And Considers Taking Action To Ban Access To The Site Barcelona Slaps Fine On Airbnb And Considers Taking Action To Ban Access To The Site (1)
- Barcelona To Tackle Dog Walkers: Get a License Or Receive a Fine (1)
- Barclays boss Bob Diamond resigns (1)
- Barclays caps bonuses at £65 (1)
- Barclays clocks up 1 (1)
- Belarus fights Europe to retain death penalty (1)
- Benidorm (1)
- Berlin appears to be following in the footsteps of the Netherlands (1)
- Bernie Ecclestone (1)
- Beware of missed call to check SIM cloning (1)
- Big Brother wasted no time in getting mean last night by telling Kerry Katona she had to act like a diva for a secret task. (1)
- Biggest solar storm in years races toward Earth (1)
- Bikie's girlfriend still missing (1)
- black and liked chicken burgers (1)
- Blair was 'godfather to Murdoch's daughter' (1)
- Blinded woman gets to put acid in attacker's eyes (1)
- Bloodstained Saturday in Mexico leaves 14 dead (1)
- BMW to sell luxury cars for less online (1)
- boat washes up in Spain (1)
- Bobbi Kristina Brown 'found getting high after Whitney Houston's funeral' (1)
- Body found in search for Dublin drug addict killed over $4 (1)
- Bolivia nationalized the company that runs the three largest airports in Bolivia because the government claims the company did not invest in improving the airports. (1)
- Boris Berezovsky pays out £100m in UK's biggest divorce settlement (1)
- BOTTOM five most hated airports (1)
- Boy (1)
- Boy attacked pupils with needle (1)
- BP reaches £4.9bn Gulf oil spill deal (1)
- Brain scans may show addiction to soda (1)
- Brazil judge's murder points to vigilante power (1)
- Breaking Free of the Co-dependency Trap (1)
- Breast implant scandal: taxpayers face £100 million bill (1)
- Brian Regan: Brookside star to cocaine addict (1)
- Brink's Mat the reason that Great Train Robber shot dead in Marbella (1)
- BRIT Government 'planning new Internet snooping laws' (1)
- Britain (1)
- Britain's biggest ever Ponzi scheme Kautilya Pruthi faces 14 years in jail (1)
- Britain's FBI 'abandoned chasing crime Mr Bigs because it's too difficult' (1)
- Britain's financial regulator was warned that banks were blatantly fixing interest rates in the run-up to the financial crisis but did nothing stop it (1)
- British actress Sienna Miller has accepted $153 (1)
- British airlines are on alert for cases of the deadly virus (1)
- British Airways pilot killed his wealthy wife and buried her in Windsor Great Park (1)
- British cities are becoming no-go areas where drugs gangs are effectively in control (1)
- British man (1)
- British man arrested after allegedly setting fire to castle over wedding bill (1)
- British man arrested on Tenerife with 34 heroin capsules in his body (1)
- British man falls to his death in Benidorm (1)
- British man has died in the Seychelles following what locals say was a shark attack. (1)
- British man has shot his own finger off in an effort to get rid of a painful wart. (1)
- British man killed and 24 injured after coach crash during half-term skiing holiday (1)
- British Parliament Again Calls James Murdoch on Phone-Hacking Scandal (1)
- British police arrested three people (1)
- British terror supergrass sentence cut by two years (1)
- British tourist falls to her death from hotel balcony in Magalluf (1)
- British warship chases Spanish boat out of Gibraltar waters (1)
- British woman falls off hotel balcony when having sex (1)
- Britons living overseas defrauded 43 million pounds in benefit fraud in 2011 (1)
- BRITS ABROAD (1)
- Brodie Clark (1)
- broke into her £10million London home and rifled through her bedding. (1)
- Brooklyn Woman's Death Result Of Feud Between Gangs (1)
- Brookside's Brian Regan jailed for Bahman Faraji murder lies (1)
- Brother Lose Appeal in Spain Tax Case (1)
- Brussels gives green light for storage of Olive Oil (1)
- Brussels is stifling City of London (1)
- Brussels threatens to sue Britain to let in 'benefit tourists' (1)
- BSkyB shares tumble again (1)
- Bulgarian gangster Tihomir Georgiev has contract on his head (1)
- Busy London street evacuated over ‘hostage situation’ (1)
- Butler gets death threats over film (1)
- CadÃz second bridge delayed until at least 2013 (1)
- Caja Espana savings banks merge (1)
- calling her ‘embarrassing’ and ‘desperate’ (1)
- Cameron claims (1)
- Canada has joined Colombia as a leading exporter of synthetic or designer drugs (1)
- Canada’s top organized crime groups are recruiting workers at Pearson and other major airports to help them smuggle drugs and contraband into the country (1)
- Canadian man detained in Spain 'extremely thin and weak (1)
- Canadian woman charged in Gadhafi smuggling plot (1)
- Cannabis taxation: a win-win all round (1)
- Cannabis: Legal high (1)
- Captain ordered back onto boat by port officials (1)
- Card firm in breast implant refund (1)
- Cargo ship runs aground off Sweden (1)
- Carnival says caring for cruise disaster victims (1)
- Cat-Sized Rats Invade Florida (1)
- Catholic Church Child Trafficking Network (1)
- Caught with six kilos of cannabis and you could still avoid jail (1)
- Celebrities and millionaires living on one of Britain’s most exclusive estates have become the targets of a crime wave. (1)
- Celebrity addicts: Who dies (1)
- cementing its reputation as the hippest dance venue in Southern Spain. (1)
- charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120 (1)
- Charlie Brooks's kriotherapy freeze-treatment service at health spa Champneys (1)
- Charlie Sheen to pocket $25 million from settlement over ‘Men’ firing (1)
- Cheap drugs abroad could pay for break (1)
- children are being taken before the youth courts for trivial reasons. (1)
- Chinese prosecutors detain top TV news anchor for accepting bribe (1)
- Chris and Mary Gorman were arrested by police in Orlando (1)
- Christy Kinahan was celebrating today after being told he will not face trial in Spain on drugs and arms trafficking charges. (1)
- Citigroup banker faces 30 years in jail after admitting $22m fraud (1)
- City drummer Robbie France dies aged 52 (1)
- City Hall has now set up a special space where woman and men can carry out the oldest profession in the world without being fined. (1)
- claimed Le Roux Fourie carried out experimental surgery during a facelift (1)
- claims that in the opposite corner was Trudie Juggernauth-Sharma (1)
- Claus Mogensen 45 years old is a chronic drug addict who lives in Arhus (1)
- Clegg condemns 'grotesque' hacking (1)
- Climate change is gradually turning Spain into a fire zone (1)
- Clydesdale And Yorkshire Banks - 1 (1)
- cocaine claims (1)
- Coke and Pepsi contain tiny traces of alcohol (1)
- Colin McRae blamed for fatal helicopter crash (1)
- Colombia (1)
- COLOMBIAN lingerie model (1)
- Comic Billy Connolly has confessed he used pages of the Bible to make a roll-up cigarette - and joked that he may go to hell as a result. (1)
- complaint was filed May 8 (1)
- Corruption scandal plunges Kuwait into deep crisis (1)
- Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino told he will 'pay for this' by coast guard (1)
- Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Disaster: Captain Says He 'Fell Into Lifeboat' And Could Not Escape (1)
- Costa del Sol opposes drilling for oil and gas (1)
- Coty Prestige and the house of Cavalli unleash new global beauty brand (1)
- Could abolishing tax havens solve Africa's financing needs? (1)
- could still be alive (1)
- Coulson on Sheridan perjury charge (1)
- Court tells private investigator he must identify 'News of the World' executives who asked him to intercept voicemails (1)
- Cowell: Tweet for X Factor faves (1)
- Creators of the US version of the reality TV sex show (1)
- Credit card fraud websites shut down on three continents (1)
- crew suspected drunk (1)
- crime and tragic overboard deaths are common on cruise vacations (1)
- Crisis-hit Greece rents police for €30 per hour (1)
- Dale Farm residents celebrate court victory (1)
- Dancehall star Vybz Kartel has been charged with the murder of Jamaican promoter Barrington Burton (1)
- David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks became so close that he texted the former News International executive 'a dozen times a day' (1)
- David Cameron sent commiserations to Rebekah Brooks after she resigned as News International chief executive over the phone hacking scandal (1)
- DAVID Cameron was yesterday hit by shock claims that a senior civil servant had his phone hacked while Andy Coulson was in No10. (1)
- David Miliband was forced to deny plotting against his brother today amid claims of an ongoing feud over the Labour leadership. (1)
- Dead beggar ignored for hours at airport (1)
- Deadlocked Stanford Fraud Trial Jury Told to Keep Deliberating (1)
- Deadly Drug Overdose Leads to Pill-Pushing Doctor (1)
- Decapitated man John Grainger in Stockport 'was shot first' as two men quizzed (1)
- Decapitation murder victim named (1)
- Demi Moore on road to recovery (1)
- Demi Moore’s 911 call released: Star ‘smoked something’ (1)
- Dengue Fever Asian Mosquito Could Invade UK (1)
- Denmark. (1)
- diabetes (1)
- DID CHERYL'S ACCENT SCUPPER HER CHANCES? REACTION FROM HER HOME TOWN OF HEATON (1)
- Did Rebekah Brooks Try to Ditch Her Computer (1)
- Did the King of Spain try to seduce Princess Diana? (1)
- Diddy tops hip-hop rich list (1)
- direct or indirect ramifications to Australia of the criminal matters affecting the United Kingdom operations of News International (1)
- Doctors may strike over cuts to their pension pots (1)
- documentary that shows a graphic photograph of a dying Princess Diana (1)
- Dog 'The Bounty Hunter' Chapman's Show Canceled (1)
- Dominique Strauss-Kahn has demanded to be questioned by judges investigating an alleged prostitution ring (1)
- Don't blame me - I only own the firm (1)
- Donaldson enjoyed a lavish lifestyle in Marbella and Tenerife (1)
- Dowler lawyer pursues US legal action against News Corp (1)
- Doyle (1)
- Dr. Conrad Murray spent 45 minutes on the phone as Michael Jackson lay dying (1)
- Drug gangs report blasting UK cities as dangerous (1)
- Drug smugglers and dealers to get law thaw in UK (1)
- Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial (1)
- Drug That Killed Michael Jackson (1)
- Drug Users Could Avoid Jail Under New Guidelines Published By The Sentencing Council For Judges (1)
- Drug-dealing killer: Chicago cop stopped DEA investigation of me (1)
- Drugs mule sentences cut in new sentencing guidelines (1)
- ducklings and even kittens in hammocks will brighten up any rainy day. (1)
- Each addict can cost society not far off £850 (1)
- Earth braces for biggest space storm in five years (1)
- east London (1)
- Easter airport 'gridlock' warning (1)
- EasyJet pays maiden dividend after profit soars (1)
- Eating fried foods didn't hurt the hearts of Spaniards who follow a Mediterranean diet (1)
- Ebola Alert In Alicante After Man Taken Ill (1)
- Ebola outbreak vastly underestimated (1)
- Ebola terror at Gatwick as passenger collapses and dies getting off Sierra Leone flight (1)
- Ebola virus a threat (1)
- Ebola: UK border staff 'unprepared' says union leader (1)
- Ecstasy alert after club deaths (1)
- Eight people from 'Holy Death' cult arrested in Mexico over ritual sacrifices of woman and two 10-year-old boys (1)
- Elton John’s husband attacks Madonna after Golden Globes win (1)
- Emails sent to the Big Pictures agency in 2010 and 2011 contained the flight details of dozens of celebrities (1)
- Eminem talks addiction (1)
- Enabling drug addicts (1)
- Energy-rich Qatar seeks la dolce vita with purchase of luxury resorts on Italy’s Sardinia isle (1)
- Escaped prisoner Anthony Downes arrested and held in Amsterdam (1)
- EU clampdown on unregulated financial advisers in Spain (1)
- EU condemns Repsol state seizure (1)
- EU cookie implementation deadline is today (1)
- EU Must Investigate CIA European Prisons Case (1)
- Eugene Paull heard the beep. (1)
- Euro break-up 'could wipe 50pc off London house prices' (1)
- Euro zone crisis is tough going -- for traders (1)
- Europe Banks Hoarding Cash Resist Draghi Bid to Avoid Crunch (1)
- Europe is on the verge of financial chaos. (1)
- European court rules against Italy for expelling migrants (1)
- Ex-Navy man detained in U.S. for alleged drug smuggling in Japan (1)
- Ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has been arrested (1)
- Ex-policeman jailed over VAT fraud (1)
- Ex-policeman on Azelle Rodney murder charge (1)
- Ex-worker of Stanford tells jurors at fraud trial he saw ex-financier fudge numbers for bank (1)
- Expats could be forced to return home under new government tax proposals affecting rental property in the UK. (1)
- Expats in Spain warned of faulty hip replacements (1)
- Expect more gang violence in London (1)
- exploding the common myths about which foods are good for us (1)
- Facebook (1)
- Facebook App Lets You Add Enemies Online (1)
- Facebook riot invitation sentence 'too lenient (1)
- Facebook's 'dark side': study finds link to socially aggressive narcissism (1)
- facing unprecedented criticism from the police (1)
- Failure to solve Europe's debt crisis will cost UK taxpayers billions (1)
- Fake death pensioner 'was greedy' (1)
- Fake Ryanair pilots sentenced for smuggling cocaine into Spain (1)
- Fall of richest man in Ireland as Quinn is declared bankrupt (1)
- Families in Spain face eviction over stranger loans (1)
- Fat FreddieThomson has been wanted in Spain for the past 18 months (1)
- Feared To Be EastEnders Actress Gemma McCluskie Is Found In Canal (1)
- Feds indict 23 Texas Syndicate gang members (1)
- FEMALE pals of Murder Inc thugs John and Wayne Dundon are using SEX to recruit hitmen to execute gangster's moll April Collins. (1)
- Finca La Garganta (1)
- Fire (1)
- Fire in Benahavis (1)
- First Spaniard dies of Ebola (1)
- FISH and chip chain said today it would save the original Harry Ramsden’s restaurant in West Yorkshire with a £500 (1)
- Fishing skippers fined £720 (1)
- Five Britons in court in UK for Mallorca pyramid fraud (1)
- Five European tourists killed in attack in Ethiopia (1)
- Five reasons you should pay for your porn (1)
- Flash News best selling new addiction book (1)
- flooding the global market on an almost unprecedented scale (1)
- Florida (1)
- Florida a top source of guns linked to crimes in other states (1)
- FOAM pie protester Jonathan May-Bowles threw an insult at Rupert Murdoch yesterday after pleading guilty to assaulting him. (1)
- Foreign Office is urging Britons to remember that its services are reserved for people in real difficultly (1)
- Forest fire in Casares (1)
- Former BB star Imogen Thomas has launched a blistering attack on Katie Price – telling pals: “She looks like a transvestite.” (1)
- Former boxing champ shot in Marbella to be released from hospital (1)
- Former British and European champion boxer Jamie Moore has been shot in Marbella (1)
- FORMER Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson has been arrested on suspicion of committing perjury during the Tommy Sheridan trial (1)
- former executive claims (1)
- Former IMF chief swaps Rikers Island jail for $50 (1)
- Former James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore (1)
- Former Lloyds worker Jessica Harper in £2.5m fraud charge (1)
- former MP Margaret Moran (1)
- Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has hired one of Scotland's top QCs (1)
- FORMER policeman lived the high life in Marbella by running a £300million VAT fraud (1)
- Former royal editor Clive Goodman - who was jailed in January 2007 over the scandal - had been rearrested in connection with alleged payments to police (1)
- Four Evansville teens who city police say are the (1)
- Four former members of the Colombian army's special forces are training members of Los Zetas (1)
- Four members of a criminal gang have been jailed for their role in one of the biggest alcohol smuggling frauds ever uncovered in Britain. (1)
- FOUR men have pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to charges linked to the Gambino crime family. (1)
- Four of the last reporters and photographers willing to cover crime stories have been slain in less than a week in violence-torn Veracruz state (1)
- France and Germany want to suspend the Shengen Agreement (1)
- France brings in breathalyser law (1)
- France drugs: Policeman seized in massive cocaine hunt (1)
- France reporter Edith Bouvier asks for Syria evacuation (1)
- France siege gunman 'is dead' (1)
- Freddie Thompson's mob (1)
- Free at last: Longest-serving farang at 'Bangkok Hilton' is checking out (1)
- Freedom near after years in hell but Schapelle Corby is too scared to hope (1)
- French judges seek arrest of Equatorial Guinea leader's son (1)
- French prosecutors have started a preliminary inquiry into a writer's claim that former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in 2003. (1)
- Fresh appeal launched to find man living abroad accused of murdering Nantwich man (1)
- Frightening 'Drug Threat Assessment' for the USA and Mexico (1)
- From an arrest for stealing a charity box to an 11-year-old who admits she threw stones (1)
- FSA broke its own rules in Keydata probe (1)
- full brutality of former Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi's regime has been revealed in chilling video footage of prison torture sessions. (1)
- Funeral held for Hells Angel killed at fellow biker's burial begins (1)
- Fury erupts over bikie 'war' claims (1)
- GA preacher arrested for bullet in luggage (1)
- Gaga may once again have offended the pious as she emerged as a decapitated corpse from a confession box (1)
- Galicia offers attractive alternatives. (1)
- Gang dispute sparked funeral home shooting that left 2 dead (1)
- GANG of drug dealers planned to flood Britain with £4 billion of cocaine (1)
- gang of Romanian gypsies flew in and out of Britain to defraud taxpayers out of more than £800 (1)
- Gang ringleaders: Mehmet Sirin Baybasin (left) and Paul Taylor (Pic: PA) (1)
- Gangs of highway robbers are targeting British tourists on holiday in Spain. (1)
- Gangster Domenyk Noonan set to be told: You’re staying in jail (1)
- Gangster gets four years for drug stash (1)
- Gangster suspect Freddie is bailed in Spain (1)
- Gas canister man storms office (1)
- General Strike minimum services agreed for transport (1)
- Gerard Kavanagh shot dead in Costa del Sol pub (1)
- German nationals face death penalty over drug smuggling charges in Malaysia (1)
- German taxpayer would be obliged to subsidise the wages of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. (1)
- Get back on board damn it (1)
- Gilts Drop as France (1)
- Glenn Mulcaire 'followed News of the World orders' when phone hacking (1)
- Goldman Sachs director quits 'morally bankrupt' Wall Street bank (1)
- Google plans to warn more than half a million users of a computer infection that may knock their computers off the Internet this summer. (1)
- Graham Norton's London home was burgled on Friday night (1)
- Greece cannot leave the euro. (1)
- Greek far-right parties could end up with as much as 20 percent of the vote in Sunday's elections. The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has intensified the xenophobic atmosphere in the country. (1)
- Grisly remains found after police launch audit of body parts across the land (1)
- gun-for-hire carried out the pub murder of Paul ‘Farmer' Martin over three years ago (1)
- gunned down in Medellin (1)
- guns for hire (1)
- Hackers Challenge Mexican Crime Syndicate (1)
- Hacking officers and the 'champagne links' to Wapping (1)
- Hacking scandal: the net tightens on the Murdochs (1)
- Hamburg (1)
- HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS TODAY (1)
- Harry Potter Star Jamie Waylett Jailed For Two Years For Violent Disorder In London Riots (1)
- has died while out fishing for carp at the Amadorio dam (1)
- has launched a devastating personal attack on Jeremy Hunt over his relationship with the Murdoch empire (1)
- has revealed that his ex-wife spent more than £12 million (1)
- has said she first heard about the claims two weeks ago. (1)
- have clarified they are not suing Twitter (1)
- having been allowed to board an international flight from Liberia. (1)
- he was wrong (1)
- he would face up to 25 years in prison (1)
- Head of press watchdog is next to resign over hacking (1)
- Health Minister announces crackdown on foreigners using the Spanish Health Service (1)
- Helicopter rescue for crew of ship aground (1)
- Hells Angel charged over Sydney ice labs (1)
- Hells Angel Dayle Fredette turns informer (1)
- Hells Angel turns informer for SharQc cases (1)
- High Alert in Casablanca Airport After Death of Woman Returning from Mecca (1)
- High Court judge has ruled that BT must block access to a website which provides links to pirated movies. (1)
- HMRC clamps down on Swiss account holders (1)
- Holidaymakers warned on fake goods (1)
- Hollywood actor Jude Law was on Saturday reported to be suing The Sun newspaper (1)
- Home builds Marbella Mansions (1)
- How a Financial Pro Lost His House (1)
- How can you afford that £8m home (1)
- How clothes retailer Peacocks ran up £750m debts (1)
- How HMRC finally caught Nasir Khan (1)
- How to Embark on a Spiritual Journey (1)
- How Tony Blair tried to give Gibraltar to Spain to curry favour with the European Union (1)
- How Wall Street Bankers Use Seamless To Feast On Free Lobster (1)
- HSBC said it had cut its exposure to troubled eurozone countries in Greece (1)
- Huaxi: The socialist village where everyone is wealthy (1)
- HUGE volcano in Iceland could be about to blow which would turn day into night and cause chaos across Europe. (1)
- Hugh could not be happier or more supportive (1)
- Hugh Grant is the delighted father of a baby girl. He and the mother had a fleeting affair and while this was not planned (1)
- Hundreds (1)
- Hundreds of foreign residents could lose their homes after mortgage scam in Spain (1)
- Husband hits out at Palin sex (1)
- I want to put it to bed once and for all (1)
- I'm afraid (1)
- Iberia Express takes off on Sunday (1)
- Identity fraud biggest threat as number of scams soars (1)
- If Murdoch thought the worst was over (1)
- In flight terror as maniac CRACKS plane window at 35 (1)
- In Spain (1)
- including Madonna (1)
- including the royal editor of Rupert Murdoch's Sun tabloid (1)
- including three children (1)
- Incredible Map Shows Airplanes Getting The Heck Out Of Ukranian Airspace (1)
- India wants Italian ship captain to surrender (1)
- INDONESIAN authorities claim an Australian man arrested this week allegedly carrying 1.1kg of hashish inside his body was couriering for an international drug network. (1)
- inmate charged with murder on the run after prison van ambush (1)
- Insecure websites to be named and shamed after checks (1)
- Instagram and Facebook sparks outrage (1)
- internal inquiry in 2007 gathered ‘‘smoking gun’’ emails showing that several of its journalists were hacking mobile phones and making payments to police officers. (1)
- INTERPOL Targets Trafficking Of Stolen Vehicles (1)
- Invasion of the pickpockets (1)
- Investigators are questioning Mexico's former deputy defence minister and a top army general for suspected links to organised crime (1)
- Iran arrests six 'BBC Persian film-makers' (1)
- Iran car explosion kills nuclear scientist in Tehran (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Irish man shot dead in suspected gangland murder in Spanish bar (1)
- Irish teenager being held on attempted murder charge in Costa del Sol (1)
- Irishman attempting to row across the Indian Ocean naked was rescued on Tuesday after he was hit by a large wave and banged his head (1)
- Is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy really the answer to Britain's depression 'epidemic'? (1)
- Is it balls (1)
- Is it possible to effectively treat addiction without addressing the spiritual aspects of the problem (1)
- is one of the largest and most exclusive hunting estates in western Europe. (1)
- is sexualising the dance floors of a much younger generation. (1)
- is to launch on this side of the Atlantic. (1)
- ISIS terrorists discovered in Morocco (1)
- Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit has been moved from the Gaza Strip to Egyp (1)
- it emerged on Wednesday. (1)
- IT firm deleted News of the World emails nine times (1)
- it has emerged. (1)
- it is safe to say that Vin Diesel is a man who likes his boys' toys. (1)
- It's Not Dementia (1)
- It's Your Heart Medication: Cholesterol Drugs and Memory (1)
- Italian fugitive arrested in AlmerÃa (1)
- Italian government bonds breached the 7% danger level (1)
- Italian Wives ban their husbands from visiting Italian cafe where busty barmaid serves up drinks in skimpy outfits (1)
- Italy (1)
- Italy government hangs by thread as coalition crumbles (1)
- James Brown abused Ben Douglas at the Bafta Television Awards ceremony which was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. (1)
- James Murdoch giving evidence for a second time to the MPs' select committee (1)
- James Murdoch pleads innocence ahead of committee report (1)
- James Murdoch to resign as BSkyB chairman (1)
- James Murdoch under pressure as News Corp shareholders start lawsuit (1)
- Jamie “Iceman” Stevenson is back on the streets (1)
- Jenny Thompson was held after officers found drugs paraphernalia at the £400 (1)
- Jessica Harper admits £2.4m Lloyds Bank fraud (1)
- JetBlue plane in emergency landing after captain's apparent breakdown (1)
- jewellery and shoes. (1)
- Joe Keane used his car to 'box in' McCarthy-Dundon gang members during a stand-off last week. (1)
- Johnny Depp separates from partner Vanessa Paradis (1)
- Jonathan Chapman (1)
- Jonathan Dimbleby has admitted he tried cocaine and marijuana in his 20s. (1)
- Jonathan May-Bowles – aka Jonnie Marbles – to appear before magistrates court on Friday (1)
- José Manuel Martin Alba (1)
- Joseph Patrick John Lagrue handed himself in at Solihull police station in September after the brawl between members of the Hell’s Angels and Outlaws biker gangs (1)
- JPMorgan's Trading Loss Is Said to Rise at Least 50% (1)
- Judge orders search of News of the World executives' computers in bid to find out if key hacking evidence was destroyed (1)
- judge rules (1)
- Julian Assange's fight to evade extradition to Sweden appears doomed despite stay of execution (1)
- July 7 bomber's widow 'on the run' over links with terrorist cell (1)
- Jurors convict two men of first-degree murder in shooting death near Delray Beach (1)
- Kansas man struck by lightning hours after buying lottery tickets (1)
- KATIE Price is angry. In fact (1)
- Kelly Hoppen accepts £60 (1)
- Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll murder trial (1)
- Kevin J. Augustiniak entered his plea last week (1)
- Kidnapping in Texas (1)
- kill 28 people (1)
- Killer of Giuseppe Gregory in Stretford was sucked into gangs after surviving shooting when aged 14 (1)
- Knight Frank partners share £73m bonus pool (1)
- known as 'daggering' (1)
- Labour suspends MP Eric Joyce after Commons 'assault' (1)
- LADY GAGA has kicked off festivities at this year's Cannes Film Festival in jaw-dropping style (1)
- Laser attacks on planes are surging (1)
- Latvian company creates leather bound Ferrari (1)
- lawyer says (1)
- Lawyers representing 'CTB' (1)
- Lee Chapman (1)
- Legal High Mexxy (1)
- Legal warning to UK over benefits for EU nationals (1)
- Leslie Ash settles with NoW but may sue other papers Actor and her husband (1)
- Let’s clear up a few things about Whitney Houston. (1)
- Leveson - The Hunt is on (1)
- Lewis Hamilton could be in line for a sensational switch to Red Bull Racing (1)
- Libya minister denies claims Kadhafi men attack town (1)
- Libya rendition claims: David Cameron calls for inquiry (1)
- Libya: 'Gaddafi dies from wounds' suffered in Sirte capture (1)
- Libya: Col Gaddafi buried at dawn (1)
- Libyan Officials Say (1)
- Lionel Messi to be prosecuted for alleged tax evasion (1)
- Liver deaths at all-time high (1)
- Lloyds Bank strips five directors of more than £1 million in bonuses (1)
- Lock your doors alert as Whitby double murder suspect spotted on run (1)
- Locked Up Abroad is different. (1)
- London Gang Sweep Leads To 13 Arrests (1)
- London hospitals write off 'over 90%' owed by foreign patients (1)
- LONDON RIOTS: BUDGET CUTS ‘NO EXCUSE (1)
- London's secret music venue and their livestream act (1)
- looked a shadow of her former self as she arrived to face 21 charges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London. (1)
- Low fare airline bmibaby to close (1)
- Lowell (1)
- Luggage thieves caught at airport (1)
- Luka Rocco Magnotta (1)
- luxury travel. (1)
- Madeleine McCann (1)
- Madonna stalker escapes (1)
- Magaluf puts 50-person limit on pub crawls (1)
- Major wildfire in Malaga leaves elderly Briton dead and his wife missing (1)
- Makers say 'sorry' as excessive vitamin D found after dog food recalled from 190 Mercadona stores (1)
- Malaya case hears dramatic statement from Fidel San Román (1)
- MAN ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING POLICE OFFICER (1)
- Man arrested over alleged police payments named as Sun journalist (1)
- Man dead after N. Portland gang shooting (1)
- Man Held After Headless Torso (1)
- Man in court on murder bid charge (1)
- Man stabbed to death in Marbella in the early hours (1)
- Man stranded in desert builds motorcycle out of his broken car (1)
- Mandela faces fraud charges (1)
- Mandelson (1)
- Marbella boxer ring return after trainer shot (1)
- Marbella eight urbanisations (1)
- Marbella Forest Fire (1)
- Marbella in Spain on Wednesday. (1)
- Marbella Michelin stars (1)
- Marbella Police Commissioner moved to Madrid (1)
- Market traders told to be quiet in Málaga (1)
- mass grave containing 1 (1)
- Massive increase in Brits abroad drug arrests (1)
- Maurice Boland launches iTalk FM radio (1)
- Maybe when President Obama's hors d'oeuvre plate is whisked away he will find a bill for £5.5m (1)
- McLaren driver Lewis (1)
- Meat causes cancer. It’s been said so many times that you’d have to be an idiot not to believe it (1)
- Media group faces new hacking blows (1)
- MEP arrested on suspicion of European parliament fraud conspiracy (1)
- Mercenaries arrested for boot full of AK-47 rifles (1)
- Merry Christmas (1)
- Met to hand alleged phone-hacking notes to Hugh Grant and Jemima Khan (1)
- Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich says reading an interview in which Noel talked about quitting drugs is what made him give up taking cocaine. (1)
- Metropolitan police anti-corruption unit investigated over payments (1)
- Metropolitan Police chief Sir Paul Stephenson has resigned. (1)
- Mexican police arrest 15-year-old alleged drug-gang operator in murders of 2 women (1)
- Mexico Arrests Boss of La Mano con Ojos Gang (1)
- Mexico arrests senior Zetas crime boss (1)
- Mexico drug gangs targeting gov’t choppers (1)
- Mexico opposition may work with criminals (1)
- Mexico’s military says soldiers freed 61 men being held captive by the Zetas drug cartel for use as forced labor (1)
- Michael Jackson sisters happy with justice (1)
- Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue (1)
- Mike Tyson has for the first time revealed his lowest point ever in a searingly candid interview. (1)
- military and government. (1)
- Millions of Hotmail users cut off by Microsoft 'cloud' failure (1)
- Milly Dowler's family have been offered a multimillion-pound settlement offer by Rupert Murdoch's News International (1)
- Miners' union takes legal action to evict Arthur Scargill from his £1.5m luxury apartment (1)
- Minimum price for alcohol introduced in bid to tackle Britain's binge crisis (1)
- Missing M’sian girl took lift into Thailand from stranger (1)
- Missouri National Guard still on alert for possible gang retaliation (1)
- mobile (1)
- Mobile operator O2 hit by nationwide network failure that left users unable to make calls or text (1)
- Mobile phone users suffering from 'text neck' (1)
- Montreal criminal lawyer Gilles Doré — who has represented alleged Hells Angels — is in hospital with serious injuries (1)
- More arrests made in million dollar drug bust (1)
- More... Make-up of Michael Jackson doctor manslaughter jury revealed as they begin second day of deliberations Dr Conrad Murray: The sleazy lothario who made a perfect fall-guy (1)
- Morocco bans Spain’s El Pais newspaper over royal cartoon (1)
- Motorway speed limit to be raised (1)
- MP Eric Joyce charged with assault (1)
- Mr Strauss-Kahn has been indicted on seven charges. If he is convicted (1)
- Ms Moran (1)
- Ms Sandiford to be executed for drug trafficking. (1)
- MS-13 (1)
- murder (1)
- Murdoch slashes price for new Sunday tabloid (1)
- Murdoch's unholy political grip (1)
- Murdochs are not a mafia – but the family firm is in meltdown (1)
- Naked cyclists in Spanish city protests (1)
- named as Andrew Latham (1)
- Nationwide protests in Spain over economic woes (1)
- NAVY recruit flipped and killed an officer in a gun rampage on a nuclear sub after he was told off for his cleaning work. (1)
- near the village of Conquista (1)
- nearly eight years after his 2003 indictment (1)
- Netflix (1)
- New Black Panther leader arrested as group sets bounty in Florida shooting (1)
- New claims suggest that phone hacking is still going on (1)
- New ecstasy fears after two dead and one seriously ill following club weekend (1)
- New guidelines for Ascot dress code (1)
- New info about statin safety affects millions (1)
- New laws to break bikies' silience (1)
- New Magaluf sex video: 'British tourist' caught romping in broad daylight between parked cars (1)
- New scandal hits Murdoch's News Corp (1)
- new team of officers is set to investigate claims of computer hacking (1)
- Newfoundlanders arrested in RCMP drug bust (1)
- News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has announced that she will no longer be in charge of its internal investigation into phone hacking (1)
- News International faces FBI phone hacking probe (1)
- News International offices searched as four more men are arrested (1)
- News of the World phone-hacking whistleblower found dead (1)
- Nicolas Sarkozy threatens to pull France out of Schengen zone (1)
- Nigerian scam case deflates in Málaga (1)
- Nine in every 10 Spaniards feel uncomfortable speaking English (1)
- northern Spain is the place to go (1)
- Not everybody is going broke in Ireland these days (1)
- Notes and Phone? (1)
- Now You Can Buy a $250 (1)
- Numerous homes have been burnt out and others seriously affected in Ojén and Marbella. The urbanisation La Mairena has flames affecting several properties. (1)
- NYPD detective suspended after kidnapping victim found in his garage (1)
- Occulto (1)
- of 88 Forthill Ave. (1)
- off his face' during Sunday night's results show after getting just 30 minutes of sleep following his hard partying the night before. (1)
- offences related to the operation of a large-scale illegal waste landfill site at Aldermaston near Reading (1)
- Officer finds own parents Avtar and Carole Kolar killed in ‘revenge attack’ (1)
- official figures have shown. (1)
- ON CLOUD NINE: BATH SALTS BY ANOTHER NAME... WITH STRONG COMPULSIONS TO REDOSE (1)
- on suspicion of intimidating a witness. (1)
- on the border of Castilla La Mancha (1)
- on the grounds of having paid out of public funds (1)
- One in seven Cambridge students 'has sold drugs to help pay their way through university' (1)
- One of the biggest insurance companies in the world held a party for salesmen where they were rewarded with the services of prostitutes. (1)
- Online porn increases sex addiction risk says expert (1)
- Opiates Killed 8 Americans In Afghanistan (1)
- or both? (1)
- Oscars warn Baron Cohen against red carpet stunt (1)
- OUTLAW bikies are believed to have put a $500 (1)
- Outspoken Moroccan rapper awaits assault verdict (1)
- over-extended and ill-disciplined monetary union is in danger of falling apart (1)
- PADDLE4HEROES (1)
- Painkiller warning as pack contains higher dose than label says (1)
- Pair Of Late Night Shootings In Coachella Valley (1)
- Pakistani Taliban training Frenchmen (1)
- Paramedics Who Tried To Save Singer's Life Give Evidence (1)
- Pasquale Mazzarella and Clemente Amodio arrested in Marbella (1)
- Passengers feared death after cabin crew accidentally issued emergency landing message (1)
- Pattaya's foreign criminals feel the heat (1)
- Paul Conroy claimed to be 'safe' in Lebanon after being smuggled out of Homs (1)
- Penny Johnson (1)
- Pensioner shoots himself at Greek Parliament (1)
- Permanent Secretary 'stonewalls' MPs over Jeremy Hunt (1)
- Pete Doherty will not face criminal prosecution over the death plunge of partygoer Mark Blanco. (1)
- Phone data shows romance 'driven by women' (1)
- Phone hacking: Police bail sports writer Raoul Simons (1)
- Phone hacking: the names of nearly 30 News International staff appear in Glenn Mulcaire's notebooks (1)
- photographer was kicked to the ground and beaten by four youths on the Pembury Estate in Hackney on Tuesday (1)
- Picture of clubbers having sex in car park posted on Twitter (1)
- Pigs worship God of Materialism (1)
- Pilot Strike Affects Scores Of Travelers (1)
- Piranha Women who trap well-off men are pure myth (1)
- Place your bets on Euro Vegas (1)
- pleads guilty to murder (1)
- PM intervenes in Fox flatmate row (1)
- Police divers search for head and limbs of Gemma McCluskie (1)
- Police evacuate 100 houses after two men are arrested in anti-terrorism operation (1)
- Police find body in Perth motel car park (1)
- police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Ireland (1)
- Police have several leads in the investigation of the large forest fire that started a week ago. (1)
- police hunt for Michael Brown's missing millions (1)
- Police plans to fire rubber bullets in London (1)
- Police raid Perth bikie properties (1)
- Police said at the time the gang he is said to have led owned property worth 500 million euros in Brazil and 160 million euros in Spain. (1)
- Police smash gun supply ring operating out of tiny suburban tobacco shop (1)
- Police study Murdoch's 'secret' iPhone account (1)
- Police uncover 'serious and organised' criminality in £63m scam to breach European fishing quotas (1)
- Police warn they may not be able to afford Tesco's £3m riot compensation bill (1)
- Police were in dark over foreign axe killer living in UK (1)
- Ponzi fraud: two men found guilty of involvement in £115m UK scam (1)
- Poor men and lonely wealthy women (1)
- Pop legend Madonna today told a court of her 'alarm and distress' after a delusional fan (1)
- popular Caribbean dancing style used by adults (1)
- Portugal and Spain (1)
- Portugal now desperate for rain (1)
- possibly thousands of celebrities have had their names permanently banned from the new .xxx adults-only internet domain. (1)
- Pound Falls Versus Euro (1)
- power failures (1)
- Premier League footballer Fabrice Muamba is in intensive care after collapsing during an FA Cup tie. (1)
- President of the Supreme Court of Spain (1)
- Prime Minister (1)
- Prince Philip in hospital (1)
- Princess Beatrice and Sienna Miller. (1)
- Princess Diana death photo that has never before been seen in the United Kingdom is featured in a new documentary film that will be shown at Cannes Film Festival to the outrage of many Britons. (1)
- private jets waved through customs and immigration checks (1)
- Property owners not impressed by Junta's decree on irregular property (1)
- Prostitute in French footballer sex scandal launches own underwear range (1)
- Protein Rich Diet Good For Losing Weight (1)
- Protester Jonathan May-Bowles (1)
- Psycho gang boss set for arrest over Maria killing (1)
- Putin assassination plot foiled: Russian officials (1)
- Qaddafi Is Dead (1)
- Raids in 7 countries in $200M investment fraud (1)
- RAISING MONEY THROUGH KAYAKING (1)
- rape (1)
- Rapper Aggro Santos charged with raping two women (1)
- Rapper and Bloods Gang leader indicted for murders and racketeering (2)
- RBS is planning to lay off thousands of investment bankers over the next eighteen months (1)
- RBS staff told to pay for their own Christmas party (1)
- RBS to cut 3 (1)
- real estate company Reyal Urbis filed for insolvency after failing to renegotiate debt with its creditors. (1)
- Real IRA terrorist has been jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of buying weapons and explosives which he wanted to use to “kill Brits. (1)
- Rebbeca Brooks learned this morning that she will be taken to court over accusations of perverting the course of justice in relation to the phone hacking scandal. (1)
- Rebecca Brooks flame-haired Queen of Fleet Street (1)
- Rebekah Brooks refused to name source of Brown son story (1)
- Rebekah Brooks (3)
- Rebekah Brooks and husband arrested in phone hacking inquiry (1)
- Rebekah Brooks faces court (1)
- Rebekah Brooks formally charged (1)
- Rebekah Brooks has resigned as News International chief executive (1)
- Rebekah Brooks last night told the News of the World's staff that she had no option but to close Britain's best-selling Sunday newspaper (1)
- Rebekah Brooks may be interviewed by police investigating phone hacking at the News Of The World (1)
- Rebekah Brooks resigns (1)
- Rebekah Brooks survives or does she. (1)
- Rebekah Brooks texted David Cameron (1)
- Rebekah Brooks to lift lid on David Cameron friendship (1)
- Rebekah Brooks turns screw on Jeremy Hunt with 'hacking advice' email (1)
- Rebekah Brooks’ husband has denied accusations of a cover up after police seized a bag containing a laptop computer and personal documents stashed in a bin near their London flat. (1)
- Rebekah tried everything to stop the NotW staff having the last word and she utterly failed. (1)
- RECENT RUSH of so-called super injunctions in the UK has driven traffic up at Twitter by 14 per cent. (1)
- Recession causes 2 (1)
- Record numbers of police officers will be on duty across London during the Notting Hill carnival (1)
- Red or Black: The criminal thing about Cowell's show? (1)
- refuses to 'search for food in garbage' (1)
- registration by an unidentified party of the name 'Sun on Sunday' this week along with the domain name thesunonsunday.co.uk. (1)
- Released Alien from Border Crisis Arrested for Alleged Murder (1)
- Renounce your British Citizenship? (1)
- Replacement locks were fitted at their home yesterday after the thugs stole Billie's keys along with her £1 (1)
- restaurants have removed cucumber from their salads (1)
- resulting in his car being stolen. (1)
- Retailers must resist exodus from riot hot spots (1)
- REVEALED: Shocking failure to police drink-spiking in Spanish resorts (1)
- reveals French research (1)
- Rich Brits plot escape to France (1)
- Richard Branson tells MPs (1)
- Rick Perry takes military-style tack to protect Texas border from Mexican cartels (1)
- Ricky Martin and Benicio del Toro now have Spanish nationality. (1)
- Ricky Martin granted Spanish citizenship (1)
- right? (1)
- Rio de Janeiro’s most wanted drugs baron who controlled the drug trade in South America’s biggest favela with fear and intimidation for 30 years has been arrested (1)
- Rio hit with £500k bill after losing court battle (1)
- Rioter who attacked Malaysian student jailed for seven years (1)
- Rival gangsters pack Vancouver courts (1)
- Robbie Williams accidentally flashes willy on stage (1)
- Robert Dawes was finally arrested in Dubai on an international warrant but is now living free on the Costa del Sol. (1)
- Royals' plane food budget to double (1)
- ruling on how much money will be confiscated from the ringleader of an international drugs gang that was based in Wiltshire is due next week. (1)
- Rupert Murdoch bid to grab back the huge audience his News Corp lost (1)
- Rupert Murdoch flies into London as five Sun journalists arrested over alleged corruption (1)
- Rupert Murdoch was accused today of gagging the royal family's lawyers amid claims that key evidence in the phone hacking and bribery scandals has been held back from MPs. (1)
- Rupert Murdoch was branded “not a fit person” to run a major company (1)
- Rupert Murdoch's company was guilty of ‘deliberately thwarting’ the criminal investigation into the News of the World (1)
- Rupert Murdoch's Fox News ran 'black ops' department (1)
- Rush for safe havens as euro fears rise (1)
- Rushkinoff cough (1)
- Russia enacts 'draconian' law for bloggers and online media (1)
- Russian banker shooting: 'It looks like a contract hit' (1)
- Russian banker shot six times had testified over murder plot (1)
- Russian ship suspected of carrying munitions to Syria appears near Turkish port (1)
- Russian shot in UK was due to give evidence (1)
- Ruth Madoff reveals suicide pact after £40bn fraud (1)
- Ryan Giggs has been named by an MP in the House of Commons as the person identified on Twitter in the context of injunctions. (1)
- Ryanair adds six Euro surcharge to tickets purchased in Spain (1)
- Ryanair plans to launch budget flights to the Middle East and Russia (1)
- Ryanair threatens surcharge on flights to Spain (1)
- S SPAIN THE NEXT GREECE? NATION SINKS FURTHER INTO MIRE (1)
- Sacha Baron Cohen pulls Oscar stunt for The Dictator (1)
- Salford Murder: Family Of Anuj Bidve Learn Of His Murder On Facebook (1)
- Salou (1)
- Salsa in Buddha Marbella (1)
- Salvage crews are trying to secure the Costa Concordia to rocks with heavy cables as the cruise ship slips at a rate of 1.5cm per hour. (1)
- Sam Ibrahim headed to jail (1)
- San Diego tax preparer for the wealthy accused of ordering hit on 2 witnesses in fraud trail (1)
- Santander Chairman Botin (1)
- Sarah Harding has completed her 2-month stint in rehab (1)
- Saravy Sok (1)
- SAS soldiers are acting as spotters in Libya to help NATO warplanes (1)
- sat in the dock at the country's supreme court (1)
- Saudi prince's convoy in Paris attacked by gunmen (1)
- Saudi women given right to vote (1)
- Savile charity (1)
- says 'The bigger the crowd (1)
- says coroner (1)
- says Obama (1)
- says the X Factor supremo is one of the key reasons that his four-year romance with Nicole Scherzinger hit the skids. (1)
- Scale of abuse against women revealed (1)
- Scarlett Johansson photos: How did they end up online? (1)
- Scotland Yard drops Official Secrets Act bid against Guardian (1)
- Scotland Yard evidence room (1)
- Scotland Yard has said. (1)
- Scotland Yard lent police horse to Rebekah Brooks (1)
- Scotland Yard said on Wednesday. (1)
- Scottish supermarkets face extra tax on selling alcohol (1)
- Second arrest after man killed at Herbie Hide's home (1)
- Secret lives of the movie legends (1)
- Secret Service scandal sheds light on sex tourism in Latin America (1)
- Secure Science Corp (1)
- Senior Sun journalists arrested in police payments probe (1)
- sentenced Nguyen last month for second-degree murder in connection with a Tukwila killing. (1)
- Serbian mafia 'put gangster in mincer and ate him for lunch' (1)
- Serial attack seagulls besiege pensioners' home (1)
- Settling in Britain is a privilege not a right (1)
- Severed head of patron saint of genital disease on sale (1)
- Sex is a multibillion-dollar industry in Spain (1)
- Sex Robots Will Revolutionize Sex Tourism (1)
- SFO investigates price rigging in foreign exchange market (1)
- Shakira is first person ever to reach 100 million Facebook likes Shakira is first person ever to reach 100 million Facebook likes (1)
- Sham groom only knew fiancee was 'big (1)
- Shameful phone hacking scandal forces change inside the Murdoch bunker (1)
- Shares in Standard Chartered dive after Iran allegations (1)
- Shark attack at South Africa's deadliest beach (1)
- Shawn Tyson guilty of murdering two Britons in Florida (1)
- she’s furious and has something she is desperate to get off that famously pneumatic chest of hers... (1)
- SHIP AGROUND: COAST GUARD CONFIRMS 3 DEAD (1)
- SHOCK WEATHER FORECAST: Hottest August in 300 YEARS on way as jet stream BOILS Britain (1)
- Shocking images showing two couples having sex outside nightclub sparks outrage online (1)
- Shoe shop chain Barratts Priceless makes 1 (1)
- Shoot-Out In Raid Sees Police Injured (1)
- Shot Dead In Gangland Hit (1)
- shot in back in Poplar (1)
- show-insider Down Under also explained to the newspaper that Starr's bout of ill-health has nothing to do with his well-documented heart problems (1)
- shows that the News Corp house of cards is falling fast. (1)
- Shyness could be defined as a mental illness (1)
- Sicily's tiny anti-Mafia TV channel (1)
- Sinaloa cartel carving drug routes in Caribbean (1)
- Since Strauss-Kahn's arrest Ms Llera has gone to ground and has not been seen at her Rome apartment and she has also switched off her mobile and not returned messages (1)
- Sir Fred Goodwin's mistress promoted twice when he was RBS boss (1)
- Sir Michael Lyons (1)
- Sir Paul McCartney and his new wife Nancy are pictured after their wedding in a kooky official portrait taken by Sir Paul's daughter Mary. (1)
- Six dead UK soldiers set to be named (1)
- Six held in major anti-terror probe (1)
- Six Russian oligarchs (1)
- six-year-old female falcons have proved an unmitigated hit through the Alicante portion of the Volvo Ocean Race (1)
- SlutWalk London: Hundreds turn out in lingerie for the march (1)
- Smokers could one day be immunised against nicotine so they gain no pleasure from the habit (1)
- Snitch paid $500K in Project Deplete (1)
- socially disruptive narcissists More Facebook Friends You Have (1)
- Son-in-law of King Juan Carlos of Spain admits he defied orders in corruption trial (1)
- Spain (1)
- Spain Approves Canary Islands Oil Exploration (1)
- Spain braces for further cuts amid national uproar (1)
- Spain Coaxes Banks to Merge With Extra Time to Purge Losses (1)
- Spain Declares War on Online Pirates (1)
- Spain is happiest expat destination (1)
- Spain moves toward freedom of information law (1)
- Spain Plans Budget Law as Drug Firms Owed $8.4 Billion by States (1)
- Spain Sell Debt (1)
- Spain takes legal action against Spanair (1)
- Spain to probe cigarette smuggling Crime. (1)
- Spain was one of the first countries to start to lay down laws relating to old non-registered pay-as-you-go SIM cards (1)
- Spain's 4th largest airliner goes broke (1)
- Spain’s banking crisis reached Britain’s high streets last night when the credit rating of Santander UK was cut. (1)
- Spain's banking sector set to shrink to about 10 lenders (1)
- Spain’s Deficit Tests Europe’s Financial Rules (1)
- Spain's Iberia starts low-cost airline (1)
- Spain's most famous judge (1)
- Spain’s property bust is only getting worse. (1)
- Spain's public debt soars to record high (1)
- Spain’s Two Finance Ministers Clash on Budget Amid Recession (1)
- Spain's Unicaja (1)
- Spanair applies to stop all its flights (1)
- Spanish banks in €6bn merger talks (1)
- Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla could lose his vision after a dangerous run-in with a bull. (1)
- Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla lies on the arena after being gored in the face by a bull during a bullfight in the northeastern city of Zaragoza (1)
- Spanish duke to be questioned by judge in embarrassing first for Madrid's royal family (1)
- Spanish government will try and secure the 'gold on the Rock' (1)
- Spanish House Prices Tumble (1)
- Spanish police arrest 27 car dealers in ‘rollback fraud’ crackdown (1)
- Spanish police crackdown on organised crime (1)
- Spanish property an 'attractive investment' for Brits (1)
- Spanish tax authorities are cracking down on tax offenders (1)
- Spending on health per patient in Spain is down ten percent in two years (1)
- Stalking to become a crime for 1st time with offenders facing up to 5 years in jail (1)
- STAR WARS DETOURS™ Trailer (1)
- Statin side effects: How common are memory loss (1)
- Steak (1)
- Storms wreck homes across US (1)
- Stuart Kuttner is latest NoW exec to be arrested (1)
- study of pathological altruism (1)
- study suggests (1)
- Study Suggests Link Between Narcissism And Facebook (1)
- sugar (1)
- Sun defence editor arrested (1)
- Sun newspaper 'will continue' says Rupert Murdoch (1)
- Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin killed in Homs (1)
- Super Rich Foreigners soar by 21% in demand for homes over 500 (1)
- supplied Whitney Houston with a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs (1)
- Survey reveals expat banking fears (1)
- suspicion of attempting to smuggle drugs arrests in Morocco (1)
- Switch to olive oil for better health (1)
- Sydney's western suburbs came under siege again on Thursday about 12.30am (AEDT) when shots rang out in Bankstown (1)
- Syria bloodshed is outrageous (1)
- Taliban fire at delegates visiting Afghan massacre site (1)
- Taliban free hundreds from Pakistan prison (1)
- Tanning beds may be even riskier than thought (1)
- Tarragona village wants to grow marihuana to get out of the recession (1)
- Tattoos are permanent reminders of temporary feelings (1)
- Tax adviser guilty of fraud scheme (1)
- taxmen snoop about homes rented to sun-seeking vacationers — then visit the owners who neglected to report the income (1)
- Tech Savvy Street Gangs Take On Social Media (1)
- teenagers barricade themselves in ski chalet in France (1)
- Teenagers jailed for south London murder (1)
- Tens of thousands flee as floods sweep Bangkok (1)
- That reward is £50 (1)
- that that is a complete myth… that I used the influence of the Sun or the supposed political power to get favourable treatment. (1)
- the 'Canadian Psycho (1)
- the £135 (1)
- the American media giant that streams blockbuster movies and TV series over the internet (1)
- The arrest of “News of the World” executive Rebekah Brooks (1)
- The Bertie Ahern scandal and The Mahon Tribunal (1)
- the bigger my habit got' (1)
- The biggest fines in British maritime history were handed down to a group of Spanish fishermen on Thursday (1)
- the British girl who went missing while on holiday in Portugal half a decade ago (1)
- the charismatic and controversial investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzón (1)
- The Civil Guard have asked for help from the public in identifying a body (1)
- the company has confirmed. (1)
- the daily Sun had systematically paid large sums of money to “a network of corrupted officials” in the British police (1)
- The ex Mayor of AlcaucÃn in Málaga (1)
- The former chief reporter of the News of the World was arrested yesterday by police investigating the phone hacking scandal (1)
- the Formula One chief executive (1)
- The founder and leader of glam rock group (1)
- The girlfriend who could finally endure no more (1)
- The great Asian gold theft crisis (1)
- The hacking of Sara Payne's phone by News of the World (1)
- the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one. (1)
- The Italian captain of a ship that sank off the coast of Tuscany was placed under arrest after one of the most dramatic holiday cruise disasters (1)
- The King of Spain is a serial womaniser who once made a pass at Princess Diana while she was on holiday with Prince Charles (1)
- The King of Spain’s son-in-law was at the centre of a corruption storm today as he came under investigation for siphoning off public money. (1)
- The leader of Australia's Green party has called on the government to investigate Rupert Murdoch's extensive media holdings in Australia. (1)
- the Metropolitan Police has announced. (1)
- the More Unhappy You Are (1)
- THE mother of missing Madeleine McCann said yesterday she still wished she could “stop time”. (1)
- The new .xxx top-level domain is open not just to porn sites (1)
- The new Libya won't trust Britain so easily now | News (1)
- The News of the World newspaper bought contact details about the royal family from a policeman (1)
- the northern Spanish town where thousands of British students flock every spring for four nights of drunken debauchery. (1)
- The number of Britons arrested overseas is on the rise (1)
- The provocative documentary about the death of Princess Diana (1)
- THE record company behind Irish rockers U2 has allegedly been unwittingly used by a multi-million dollar drugs trafficking ring (1)
- The richest woman in the world (1)
- the roll call of riot accused begins (1)
- the Russian ambassador ultimately raised his hand in favour. (1)
- the schmoozer hated by Murdoch's wife and daughter (1)
- The shooting of three IRA members by the SAS in March 1988 is linked to a major review commissioned by the Prime Minister David Cameron (1)
- The singer was found five times over the drink-drive limit (1)
- The slain Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi secretly spirited out of Libya and invested overseas more than $200 billion (1)
- The Spanish Government is to increase the tax on diesel vehicles (1)
- The Sun and the Daily Mirror were found guilty of contempt of court (1)
- The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the roadside bomb that killed six British soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan (1)
- The UK could become a hub for smuggling the herbal stimulant khat (1)
- the ultimate Puerto Banús super club is proud to announce their latest coup (1)
- THEIR booze-swilling party lifestyle has turned the spotlight on Tyneside. (1)
- There has been a weekend of terror for immigrants in Tangiers (1)
- There is no night life in Spain (1)
- They somehow appeared in the bathroom. (1)
- Third of holidaymakers fall victim to crime in Spain (1)
- This is the buff soldier who exchanged numbers with Cheryl Cole. (1)
- Thornton Heath man in South American jail after being caught with £20k of coke (1)
- Thousands of British expats are on the brink of losing everything after being duped by unscrupulous financial advisers. (1)
- Thousands of Brits were celebrating last night after the power of their voice unmasked the footballer they had already named on Twitter in connection with the injunction farce. (1)
- Thousands of children' sexually exploited by gangs (1)
- Thousands of passengers faced massive travel disruptions across Spain (1)
- Threat of EBOLA as 224 african immigrants rescued off Spanish coast (1)
- Three killed in northern Italy earthquake (1)
- Three More Arrests in Murdoch Paper Phone Hacking Scandal (1)
- Three post offices targeted in spate of raids over 12 hours (1)
- Throwing former editor to the wolves would leave media chief's son exposed to criticism for his role in the hacking affair (1)
- Thurlbeck to fight sacking claim (1)
- Tiger wife. Power vegan. Volleyball player. The spouse of media mogul Robert Murdoch is no pushover. (1)
- Times of London (1)
- To Be Outlawed (1)
- Today's ruling by the European court of human rights in Max Mosley's privacy case is a victory for the British government (1)
- Tony Blair 'visited Libya to lobby for JP Morgan' (1)
- Tony Blair is unaccountable over business interests (1)
- Tony Blair's spin doctor Alastair Campbell was barracked (1)
- Too Floppy (1)
- Top five most hated Airports (1)
- Top former art dealer faces 87 charges after fraud probe (1)
- TOP Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson tried to stop his ex-wife from claiming they had sex after he remarried. (1)
- TOWIE hunk took to Instagram with a series of snaps from his latest holiday in Ibiza. (1)
- trafficking accused found hiding in loft with £70k in cash (1)
- Trial begins in giant Spanish corruption scandal (1)
- Tripoli (1)
- Trolling Could Get You 25 Years in Jail in Arizona (1)
- Troubled Spain (1)
- Troy Mercanti To Have Bedside Hearing (1)
- True guilt is guilt at the obligation one owes to oneself to be oneself. (1)
- Tulisa's Friend (1)
- Turf war feared as Gypsy Joker bikies descend on Brisbane hotel (1)
- Turf War in Central Mexico Leaves 8 Dead (1)
- TV cameras to be allowed into criminal trials (1)
- TV celebrity Peter Andre visited the new Aventura Amazonia (1)
- TV chef outs father-in-law’s secret family (1)
- Twenty-five officers from Dorset Police are to be sent to Bristol after disorder broke out in parts of the city on Monday night. (1)
- Twitter addict? Too much Internet may alter your brain (1)
- Twitter has complained about changes made by Google to integrate its social network Google+ into search results. (1)
- Twitter. (1)
- Two arrested after headless burnt body is found in 'suspected gangland execution' (1)
- Two arrests after five men shot in Homerton (1)
- Two British students were gang raped by six men after being attacked on an isolated beach on the Caribbean island of St Lucia. (1)
- TWO BRITISH teenagers (1)
- two Ferraris in one (1)
- Two former News of the World executives have hit back at their 'disingenuous' former boss James Murdoch (1)
- Two men took their friend's corpse on a night out with them to a strip club so they could use his ATM card to buy drinks (1)
- TWO men who have been arrested by detectives investigating the murder of crime boss Eamon 'The Don' Dunne are senior lieutenants of crime lord Christy Kinahan. (1)
- Two police officers were injured in a shoot-out in Toulouse on Wednesday with a gunman claiming links to al Qaeda (1)
- two sisters running a bakery in a desert (1)
- Two UK Murdoch journalists in apparent suicide bids (1)
- Two-thirds of smokers try to quit in new year (1)
- U.S. court backs Spain over $500M sea treasure (1)
- UBS CEO Gruebel resigns over rogue trading loss (1)
- UK border checks are 'a bad joke' (1)
- UK economy forecast: Eurozone crisis dampens Bank’s growth estimate (1)
- UK Home Office considering gender-neutral passports (1)
- UK police arrest Murdoch tabloid staff (1)
- UK press in dock over phone-hacking (1)
- UK ticketholder wins £41 Euromillions jackpot (1)
- UN watchdog says nuclear talks with Iran failed (1)
- Under European Union law (1)
- understood to have accepted 'healthy six-figure sum' over alleged phone hacking (1)
- Underworld bankers Daniel Keenan and Andrew Barnett who laundered £17m of drug money are jailed (1)
- US and France send warships through Strait of Hormuz (1)
- US east coast on hurricane alert (1)
- US issues travel alert linked to Iran plot (1)
- US says it will 'consider other measures' to end bloodshed (1)
- US to pressure Iran over 'plot to kill Saudi envoy' (1)
- vagina (1)
- Various stories about how Al Qathafi lived his last moments have emerged (1)
- Victoria Beckham gave birth to a baby girl on 10 July (1)
- Village on alert after firearm incident (1)
- Villages all but wiped out as storms batter Italy's 'Cinque Terre' (1)
- Vinnie Jones heads to Marbella (1)
- Vintage Ads Most Disturbing Household Products (1)
- Virgin Atlantic employee has resigned following allegations she routinely fed information about the airline's celebrity clientele (1)
- Vladimir Putin is moving to Marbella (1)
- Wall Street markets are suffering huge falls this morning as fears grow that Europe's plan to save the euro will unravel (1)
- Wallace's ex: I'm really sorry (1)
- warn aviation officials (1)
- was arraigned on gun charges (1)
- was jailed for six weeks at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court today (1)
- Watchdog to probe UK minister Jeremy Hunt in News Corp row (1)
- Wayne Rooney launches phone-hacking claim (1)
- We cannot see our greatest selves beyond giant shame trees that provides shade for our demons of guilt (1)
- were killed (1)
- Western embassies targeted in Afghanistan attacks (1)
- What Do The New Airport Security Measures Mean For You? (1)
- where a similar levy was trialed three years ago. (1)
- where the authorities have evacuated thousands of people. (1)
- which sees young women filmed stripping off on camera (1)
- while in Birmingham two photographers were mugged (1)
- whistleblower claims (1)
- Whitney Houston dead: coroner confirms singer was found in hotel bathtub (1)
- Whitney Houston drowned after cocaine use (1)
- Whitney Houston full autopsy report to offer more details (1)
- Whitney Houston To Make Hollywood Return (1)
- Whitney Houston: 'Powdery' substance in hotel bathroom (1)
- Whitney Houston's Funeral To Be Streamed Live Online (1)
- Whitney is laid to rest: Late singer buried at private ceremony in home town (1)
- who believes the star loves him (1)
- who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses. (1)
- Who needs The X Factor when you have your own shoe line? (1)
- who survives (1)
- who was arrested for a second time with seven other people (1)
- who was editor of the News Of The World when the paper allegedly hacked Milly Dowler's phone (1)
- who was identified by prosecutors as a member of the Tiny Rascals Gang-Grey (1)
- Why don't GPS warn you that statins can harm your memory? (1)
- wife killed at Thai resort (1)
- with all the extra opportunities for enjoyment that brings (1)
- with colorfully lit brothels staffed mainly by poor immigrant women from Latin America (1)
- with three empty vodka bottles next to her. (1)
- Woman who is promoting a cannabis plantation in Catalan village is arrested (1)
- Wonga stops targeting students after Twitter protests (1)
- Would a Good Father sacrifice his own son (1)
- Wrecked Italian liner will not be moved for months (1)
- yellow jacket stun gun case for iphone (1)
- Yemeni women burn veils to protest regime (1)
- You're not in Newscastle anymore: The master bedroom inside the $5.5 (£3.4million) mansion in Beverly Hills Cheryl viewed last night (1)
- Your Vagina Isn't Just Too Big (1)
Text Widget
Pageviews from the past week
Labels
Subscribe via email
UK POLITICS
BLACK SERVERS
NEWS INTERNATIONAL
Blog Archive
Thursday 31 May 2012
Euro break-up 'could wipe 50pc off London house prices'
Property prices in the capital’s most sought-after postcodes have been driven up by investors moving funds out of assets held in euros to buy into what is seen as a “safe haven” alternative. Foreign money seeking a refuge from the wider economic turmoil accounted for 60pc of acquisitions of prime central London property between 2007 and 2011, according to a report by Fathom Consulting for Development Securities. If the shared currency broke up completely, London property would initially be boosted by the continued flight towards a safe haven, the report predicts. But, once the break-up had taken place, demand for these assets as an insurance against this event would start to ebb. “Although fears about a messy end to the euro debt crisis may account for much of the gain in prime central London (PCL) prices that has taken place over the past two years, we find that a break-up of the single currency area is also the single greatest threat to PCL,” said researchers.
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Leveson - The Hunt is on
Up until now, Lord Justice Leveson has only held the future of the British press in his hands. Today, despite all his protests to the contrary, his inquiry may determine the fate of the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt. The judge insists that it is not his job to put any minister in the dock and that he certainly will not be giving his verdict on whether there have been any breaches of the ministerial code. Nevertheless, the prime minister has made it clear that he sees today's hearing as the moment when Mr Hunt must defend his much criticised handling of News Corp's £8bn bid for total control of BSkyB. The culture secretary has, I'm told, submitted more than 160 pages of internal memos, emails and text message transcripts to the Leveson Inquiry. I understand that he will insist that, despite having originally been a cheerleader not just for Rupert Murdoch but also for his bid, he acted in ways which frustrated it rather than accelerated it once he was made the minister in charge. He will claim that he referred it to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom when told by officials that it wasn't necessary to do so. He is likely to face questions about why he did not follow Ofcom's advice to refer the bid to the Competition Commission. He is likely to reply that he was given legal advice that he had first to consider News Corps offer to spin off Sky News so as to deal with so-called plurality issues. The culture secretary is likely to be asked how he can claim to have been unaware of the scale or nature of the contact between News Corp and his political adviser, Adam Smith - who resigned once his flood of emails and texts were revealed. I understand that Jeremy Hunt originally believed that his adviser had done nothing wrong and told friends he would resign himself rather than letting a junior official resign for him. The prime minister shows no sign yet of wanting to force him out - believing that however bad things may now look, Mr Hunt didn't actually do anything wrong or anything which helped the Murdochs and their bid. Labour argue that - even before today's hearing - it is evident the culture secretary should go as he is in breach of the ministerial code for failing to supervise his adviser, and for misleading the House of Commons when he wrongly asserted he had published all contacts between his department and News Corp - as well as claiming never to have intervened to affect the outcome of the bid.
Coulson on Sheridan perjury charge
David Cameron's former communications chief Andy Coulson has been charged over allegations he committed perjury during the trial of former MSP Tommy Sheridan. The 44-year-old was detained for questioning at Govan police station in Glasgow by officers from Strathclyde Police. More than six hours later, the force confirmed he had been arrested and charged with perjury. A report will be sent to the procurator fiscal which will decide if Coulson is to face court proceedings. The former News of the World editor gave evidence at Sheridan's perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow in December 2010, while he was employed by Downing Street as director of communications. At the trial, he claimed he had no knowledge of illegal activities by reporters during the time that he was editor of the now-defunct newspaper. He said: "I don't accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World." Sheridan was ultimately jailed for three years in January last year after being found guilty of perjury during his 2006 defamation action against the News of the World. He had been awarded £200,000 in damages after winning the civil case but a jury found him guilty of lying about the tabloid's claims that he was an adulterer who visited a swingers' club. The former Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) leader was convicted of five out of six allegations in a single charge of perjury relating to his evidence during the civil action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Sheridan was released from jail in January this year after serving one year of his sentence and vowed to continue the fight to clear his name. Coulson was arrested last year in relation to Scotland Yard's long-running investigation into phone hacking at the newspaper. He was held in July on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption, and had his bail extended earlier this month. Coulson resigned as editor in 2007 after the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for phone hacking. In May that year, he was unveiled as director of communications and planning with the Conservative Party. He quit his role as Downing Street communications chief in January last year after admitting the News of the World phone-hacking row was making his job impossible.
Julian Assange's fight to evade extradition to Sweden appears doomed despite stay of execution
Julian Assange's fight to evade extradition to Sweden appeared doomed today though he was given a stay of execution by the highest court in the land. His celebrity-endorsed legal battle trundled on without him as the self-proclaimed champion of truth and transparency remained stuck in London's notorious traffic, undoubtedly disappointing his legion of fans. While vastly diminished in number from the early days of the furore surrounding the WikiLeaks founder, they were as vociferous as ever, penned in outside the Supreme Court yesterday, carrying megaphones, guitars and banners proclaiming “Free Assange” and “God Save Julian”. Mr Assange, 40, had argued that an European Extradition Warrant from Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual molestation was invalid as the public prosecutor who issued it did not constitute a “judicial authority”. He denies the accusations, insisting they are “politically motivated”. His case was partially trumped by the French translation of the words judicial authority, which judges at the Supreme Court said carried a far wider meaning that simply a judge or court. By a majority of five to two they decided the practice by many European countries to have public prosecutors issue such warrants countered the interpretation in United Kingdom and his appeal failed. Nevertheless they granted his lawyers 14 days to apply to have the case re-opened after they insisted that they had not been given an opportunity to argue on the very legal points on which the judges had based their decision.
FORMER Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson has been arrested on suspicion of committing perjury during the Tommy Sheridan trial
![Andy Coulson has been arrested on suspicion of perjury. Picture: Getty](http://www.scotsman.com/webimage/1.2326533.1338370216!image/97450135.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_595/97450135.jpg)
Andy Coulson has been arrested on suspicion of perjury. Picture: Getty
FORMER Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson has been arrested on suspicion of committing perjury during the Tommy Sheridan trial at the High Court in Glasgow, the Crown Office said today.
The 44-year-old was detained in London this morning by officers from Strathclyde Police.
Coulson gave evidence in Mr Sheridan’s perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow in December 2010.
He was also arrested last year in relation to Scotland Yard’s long-running investigation into phone-hacking at the News of the World.
He was held in July on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption and had his bail extended earlier this month.
A Strathclyde Police spokesman said: “Officers from Strathclyde Police Operation Rubicon detained a 44-year-old man in London this morning under section 14 of the Criminal Procedures Scotland Act on suspicion of committing perjury before the High Court in Glasgow.
“It would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”
It is understood Coulson is on his way to Glasgow.
Operation Rubicon detectives have been looking at whether certain witnesses lied to the court during Sheridan’s trial as part of a “full” investigation into phone hacking in Scotland.
Mr Coulson, then employed by Downing Street as director of communications, told the trial in December 2010 he had no knowledge of illegal activities by reporters while he was editor of the News of the World.
He also claimed: “I don’t accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World.”
Former News of the World Editor arrested in dawn raid on his London home
Mr Coulson, 44, was detained at his home in Dulwich at 6.30am by seven officers from Strathclyde police and taken to Glasgow where he will be questioned.
The case centres on claims that he misled a court about his knowledge of phone-hacking during a criminal trial in Glasgow. The former News of the World editor, hired by the Prime Minister as his director of communications, told a court in 2010 that he had no knowledge of illegal voicemail interception when in charge of the tabloid.
During the perjury trial of former Scottish MP Tommy Sheridan, Mr Coulson said: “I don’t accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World.” He also denied knowing that the
newspaper paid corrupt police officers for tip-offs. Mr Cameron has faced questions over his decision to bring Mr Coulson into the heart of government. Mr Coulson has already been arrested by the Met on suspicion of phone-hacking and bribing public officials.
The perjury charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years, is potentially the most serious facing the former Conservative Party spokesman.
One Downing Street source said the arrest came as a “complete surprise”.
Mr Coulson was a major witness in a trial involving Sheridan who was accused of lying in court during a libel victory against the NoW.
Coulson was editor when it published a story that labelled Sheridan an adulterer who visited swingers’ clubs. He was called as a witness and told the court that he had no knowledge of illegal activities by reporters.
Sheridan was jailed for three years last year after being found guilty of perjury during his 2006 defamation action against the NoW. He had successfully sued the newspaper over its claims.
Strathclyde police announced its probe into Mr Coulson last July but it was thought to be taking a back seat as five major Scotland Yard inquiries into the Murdoch media empire rumbled on.
However, the Standard can disclose that officers from Scotland recently visited London to interview several former NoW staff about their old boss.
Under Scottish law a suspect is detained on suspicion of an offence unlike in England and Wales where a suspect is arrested. Mr Coulson has not been charged.
Monday 28 May 2012
A British housewife arrested alongside a husband and wife as part of a major drugs bust in Indonesia said she made the trip because her children in the UK were being threatened.
Lindsay June Sandiford, 55, was stopped with the 4.7kg haul in a suitcase as she arrived on a flight from Bangkok in Thailand on 19 May. If convicted she could face the death penalty by firing squad.
She covered her face during a press conference in the holiday town of Kuta as she was pictured sitting at a table surrounded by packages wrapped in brown tape as a customs official cut them open with a knife.
Sandiford, from Redcar, was wearing an orange prison T-shirt, and was flanked by armed officers wearing black masks.
Police spokesman Mulyadi, who only goes by one name said: "For over a week, we conducted a controlled drug delivery through the suspect, Sandiford, to uncover a drug ring.
"Four Britons, including Sandiford, and one Indian citizen were arrested," he said.
The other suspects were not named.
The police monitored Sandiford for over a week as she stayed in a hotel in Ahmed, on the eastern part of the holiday island, on the orders of another British woman who was also later arrested, he said.
She was arrested along with four other suspects after a sting operation.
After taking her in for questioning, they said they found cocaine in the lining of her bag.
Another 68g of cocaine, 280g of powdered ecstasy and a small amount of hashish were also recovered following the arrest of the other gang members at separate locations in Bali, officials said.
Two of the suspects, who police identified as JAP and RLD, are husband and wife and own a villa in Bali.
Police said their role in the trade was to pick up drugs delivered by Sandiford.
After arresting JAP, who had picked up the cocaine from Sandiford, JAP directed the police to his villa in Tabanan, where police discovered 48.94 grams of cocaine hidden in a black bag and arrested his wife, RLD.
Given information extracted from these two suspects police were able to capture the other two suspects the next day, kompas.com reported on Monday.
They arrested NA, the Indian national, in a villa in Badung where they found 78 plastic bags filled with ecstasy. They also arrested PB in a villa in Kuta with 3.36 grams of hashish.
Police have said that they will continue to use Sandiford to lure out other members of the alleged Bali drug syndicate.
Made Wijaya, head of the Customs office in Bali, said officials saw drugs in Ms Sandiford’s suitcase when her luggage went through an X-ray machine as part of a routine check.
He said: "After weighing, the total cocaine is 4.791kg. This is a big international network. The charge against them would carry the death penalty."
Three Britons and an Indian national were believed to be the intended recipients. They are being questioned.
Police are expected to reveal further details later today.
Indonesian authorities said she told them she was a housewife. She was arrested at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport on May 19.
The Daily Mail reported that Sandiford's neighbours at her previous residence in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire today described her as a "neighbour from hell."
Residents near her old address, a £275,000 detached home, said she appeared to be a respectable middle class mother, but was really a nuisance neighbour.
A 63-year-old man who lived next door said she was evicted around five years ago for allegedly failing to pay rent.
He said: 'She gives off the impression that she's a well-to-do middle-aged woman, but she's not at all. She was a real neighbour from hell.'
He added: 'It doesn't surprise me at all that she's been arrested for drugs. I don't know what was going on really - and I suspect neither does she.
Indonesia has some of the toughest anti-drugs laws in the world.
The death penalty has been used in the past for drug traffickers, but in recent years it has been applied infrequently.
More than 140 people are on death row in the country, a third of them foreigners.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the arrest in Bali, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance."
Friday 25 May 2012
EU cookie implementation deadline is today
A year after its implementation in May 2011, the European Commission's Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive will finally start to be enforced as of tonight, meaning visitors to websites are required to be informed of, and given choice over, the site's intentions to store their data in cookies. Though there has been fierce opposition to the directive, some companies, such as the BBC, Channel 4 and the Guardian, have now begun implementing measures that range from multiple user choices in the level of information shared with the site, to a single message informing the user that, by continuing to browse, they have automatically agreed to have their information stored. Further reading EU cookie law is a 'restraint to trade online', says online retailer Most UK organisations not compliant with EU cookie law New EU cookie law set to come into force But the majority of companies, it is widely reported, will miss tonight's deadline. While the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) still disagrees that a "one size fits all" policy of standardisation is not the way forward when enforcing cookie legislation, some believe such a framework is the only way forward. Society for engineering and technology professionals, the Institution of Engineering & Technology said, "The implementation of this directive is likely to prove very variable until the introduction of a set of standards on the best way to provide a balance between easy browsing and personal privacy. "We had hoped that more progress would have been made on achieving this in the 12 month implementation delay that the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, gave British organisations."
Google plans to warn more than half a million users of a computer infection that may knock their computers off the Internet this summer.
Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. In a highly unusual response, the FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers to prevent Internet disruptions for those infected users. But that system will be shut down July 9 -- killing connections for those people.
The FBI has run an impressive campaign for months, encouraging people to visit a website that will inform them whether they're infected and explain how to fix the problem. After July 9, infected users won't be able to connect to the Internet.
- LONG ARM OF SCOFFLAW
An online ad scam is having some unintended ramifications: The fix may prevent as many as 360,000 from getting online. Several sites will show if you're infected:
DNS Changer Working Group: can discern whether you’re infected and explain how to fix the problem.
DNSChanger Eye Chart: if the site goes red, you’re in harm’s way. Green means clean.
The FBI website: type in the IP address of your DNS server to find out if it is infected.
Read more on how to stay safe
On Tuesday, May 22, Google announced it would throw its weight into the awareness campaign, rolling out alerts to users via a special message that will appear at the top of the Google search results page for users with affected computers, CNET reported.
“We believe directly messaging affected users on a trusted site and in their preferred language will produce the best possible results,” wrote Google security engineer Damian Menscher in a post on the company’s security blog.
“If more devices are cleaned and steps are taken to better secure the machines against further abuse, the notification effort will be well worth it,” he wrote.
The challenge, and the reason for the awareness campaigns: Most victims don't even know their computers have been infected, although the malicious software probably has slowed their web surfing and disabled their antivirus software, making their machines more vulnerable to other problems.
Last November, when the FBI and other authorities were preparing to take down a hacker ring that had been running an Internet ad scam on a massive network of infected computers, the agency realized this may become an issue.
"We started to realize that we might have a little bit of a problem on our hands because ... if we just pulled the plug on their criminal infrastructure and threw everybody in jail, the victims of this were going to be without Internet service," said Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent. "The average user would open up Internet Explorer and get `page not found' and think the Internet is broken."
On the night of the arrests, the agency brought in Paul Vixie, chairman and founder of Internet Systems Consortium, to install two Internet servers to take the place of the truckload of impounded rogue servers that infected computers were using. Federal officials planned to keep their servers online until March, giving everyone opportunity to clean their computers.
But it wasn't enough time.
A federal judge in New York extended the deadline until July.
Now, said Grasso, "the full court press is on to get people to address this problem." And it's up to computer users to check their PCs.
- Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent
This is what happened:
Hackers infected a network of probably more than 570,000 computers worldwide. They took advantage of vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system to install malicious software on the victim computers. This turned off antivirus updates and changed the way the computers reconcile website addresses behind the scenes on the Internet's domain name system.
The DNS system is a network of servers that translates a web address -- such as http://www.foxnews.com -- into the numerical addresses that computers use. Victim computers were reprogrammed to use rogue DNS servers owned by the attackers. This allowed the attackers to redirect computers to fraudulent versions of any website.
The hackers earned profits from advertisements that appeared on websites that victims were tricked into visiting. The scam netted the hackers at least $14 million, according to the FBI. It also made thousands of computers reliant on the rogue servers for their Internet browsing.
When the FBI and others arrested six Estonians last November, the agency replaced the rogue servers with Vixie's clean ones. Installing and running the two substitute servers for eight months is costing the federal government about $87,000.
The number of victims is hard to pinpoint, but the FBI believes that on the day of the arrests, at least 568,000 unique Internet addresses were using the rogue servers. Five months later, FBI estimates that the number is down to at least 360,000. The U.S. has the most, about 85,000, federal authorities said. Other countries with more than 20,000 each include Italy, India, England and Germany. Smaller numbers are online in Spain, France, Canada, China and Mexico.
Vixie said most of the victims are probably individual home users, rather than corporations that have technology staffs who routinely check the computers.
FBI officials said they organized an unusual system to avoid any appearance of government intrusion into the Internet or private computers. And while this is the first time the FBI used it, it won't be the last.
"This is the future of what we will be doing," said Eric Strom, a unit chief in the FBI's Cyber Division. "Until there is a change in legal system, both inside and outside the United States, to get up to speed with the cyber problem, we will have to go down these paths, trail-blazing if you will, on these types of investigations."
Now, he said, every time the agency gets near the end of a cyber case, "we get to the point where we say, how are we going to do this, how are we going to clean the system" without creating a bigger mess than before
Under European Union law, Greece cannot leave the euro.
That is the theory. But in practice, any protection the law offers investors could be difficult to enforce, according to lawyers trying to protect their corporate clients against the upheaval sure to follow if Greece defaults on its debts and adopts a new currency. So their advice is blunt: Remove cash and other liquid assets from Greece and prepare to take a short-term hit on any other investments. “My personal view is that it is irrational for anyone, whether a corporation or an individual, to be leaving money in Greek financial institutions, so long as there is a credible prospect of a euro zone exit,” said Ian Clark, a partner in London for White & Case, a global law firm that has a team of 10 attorneys focusing on the issue. Several multinational corporations have already taken the same view. Vodafone, the mobile phone operator, and GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceuticals firm, say they are “sweeping” money out of Greece and into British banks each evening. This applies not just to Greece but to most other euro nations, although Glaxo says it still keeps money in Germany. Corporate attorneys say looking to E.U. law provides only approximate guidance on whether Greece could stop using the euro while remaining in the Union. Although the E.U. prides itself on basing decisions on strict interpretation of the legal texts in its governing treaty and other legislation, the rules on euro membership have proved flexible. For example, while all 27 E.U. nations are supposedly obliged to join the single currency, once they meet certain economic criteria, Britain and Denmark were able to negotiate the option of retaining their own currencies. Sweden is one of the nations technically obliged to join the euro, but since a national referendum opposed the idea in 2003, no one has pressed the country to do so. Similarly, while leaving the euro might, legally, mean quitting the union itself, most experts see this as a technicality that can be circumvented as well. “The treaty doesn’t cover the question of what would happen if a country were to leave the euro and return to its previous currency,” said Stephen Weatherill, Jacques Delors Professor of European Law at Oxford University. “In the absence of any provision, there is plenty of space for European governments to concoct a solution, adopt it and for it to be legally enforceable,” he added. “In general, you can do anything you like, so long as you do not breach pre-existing international obligations.” The mechanics of leaving the euro would surely lead Greece to impose so-called capital controls to stem the flight of money from a currency destined to be devalued. Again, such controls look impossible under E.U. law. But Mr. Weatherill thinks that a loophole allowing for the protection of public security could be invoked. Mr. Clark, of White & Case, a global law firm, points to a clause in Article 65 of the treaty that says that the pledge on free movement should not prevent countries from taking measures “which are justified on grounds of public policy or public security.” Mr. Clark and his team serve clients that include financial institutions like BNP Paribas and hedge funds. In February, Andrew Witty, the chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, said: “We don’t leave any cash in most European countries” except Germany. Tens of millions of pounds flow into accounts in Britain every day, he said. But, apart from trying to ensure that debts are paid promptly and therefore in euros, legal options for companies are limited. Contracts covered by Greek law, particularly for services delivered in Greece, provide little protection against the currency’s being redenominated and devalued — a development regarded as unlikely until recently. “Greece would, through its laws, be able to amend contracts governed by Greek law or to be performed within the territory of Greece,” Mr. Clark said. “It is the governing law and the place of performance of the contract that is most important.” International contracts, which might be covered by English, German or Swiss law, would be more likely to be honored in the designated currency, though in some cases the wording of the legal document may be vague. And even if the law is on their side, companies would find that to extract payment from a Greek company, they would need a judge in Greece to enforce a ruling from a foreign court. “Enforcement of foreign judgments is harder or easier from country to country within the E.U.,” Mr. Clark said. “Greece has always had a reputation of being a difficult place in which to enforce judgments, from a practical perspective.” That means that international trading partners are likely to share in any losses that accompany a Greek exit from the euro. “International businesses that have long-term interests in Greece are going to have to be pragmatic and probably, in the short term, give some dispensation to their Greek counterparties, rather than trying to enforce the terms of contracts that cannot be performed,” Mr. Clark said.
Former Lloyds worker Jessica Harper in £2.5m fraud charge
A former head of security at Lloyds Bank has been charged in connection with an alleged £2.5m fraud. Jessica Harper, 50, of Croydon, south London, is accused of submitting false invoices to claim payments, between September 2008 and December 2011. At the time she was working as head of fraud and security for digital banking and allegedly made false claims totalling £2,463,750. Ms Harper will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 31 May. She has been charged with one count of fraud by abuse of position. The bank, which is now 39.7% state-owned after being bailed out by the government during the financial crisis, refused to comment on the charging of Ms Harper. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said she was arrested on 21 December 2011 by officers from its fraud squad. Andrew Penhale, from the Crown Prosecution Service's Central Fraud Group, said: "The charge relates to an allegation that between 1 September 2008 and 21 December 2011, Jessica Harper dishonestly and with the intention of making a gain for herself, abused her position as an employee of Lloyds Banking Group, in which she was expected to safeguard the financial interests of Lloyds Banking Group, by submitting false invoices to claim payments totalling £2,463,750.88, to which she was not entitled. "This decision to prosecute was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. "We have determined that there is a realistic prospect of conviction and a prosecution is in the public interest."
Five reasons you should pay for your porn
Was that you who was named as a defendant by Raw Films for downloading Bareback Street Gang using Bittorrent? Chances are, if you download enough free porn, you’ll eventually become one of the 220,000 (and counting) defendants in piracy lawsuits filed by porn publishers. These plaintiffs have had mixed success enlisting the courts to compel ISPs to disclose names of customers based on their IP addresses. If you live in the Eastern District of New York and Magistrate Judge Gary Brown catches the case, you’re in good shape: he recently slapped down an attempt to sue multiple anonymous porn pirates. You’re out of luck, though, if you live in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where U.S. District Court Judge Mary A. McLaughlin ruled that “A Doe defendant who has allegedly used the Internet to unlawfully download and disseminate copyrighted material does not have a significant expectation of privacy.” Same story if you try it in London. In the end, I think a combination of the legal system, public opinion and corporate self preservation will shut down these lawsuits. We saw the same pattern with pirated music: by 2008 the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) formally announced an end to its pursuit of individual users. In the meantime, though, I love the excuses defendants in these porn cases come up with: It wasn’t me. Someone else must have been using my wireless network. I wasn’t home at the time. I’m too old to watch porn. These are the cross examinations lawyers wait their whole careers for. For now, those excuses have a pretty good chance of working, so as your legal advisor my suggestion if you get named as a defendant in one of these lawsuits is that you use a hard-to-disprove excuse (or three), and stick to it no matter how lame it is, because some judge may believe you … or at least think it’s not going to be possible to disprove you. That being said, there are five good reasons you should pay for your porn instead of downloading it illegally: 1. To avoid embarrassment You may not have to pay any money, but if you’re publicly named as a defendant in a lawsuit people will find out: your spouse, your employer, your neighbors, your kids. That you ultimately prevail on the legal issues can only do so much to repair perceptions. It’s bad enough to have everyone thinking you download porn, but if you’re one of the Bareback Street Gang defendants and people look the film up on IMDB they’re going to learn that every cast member is male. 2. There’s plenty of free porn available online It may not be the best porn, but you can visit a gazillion different free porn tube sites if you don’t want to pay for porn and don’t want to be doing anything illegal. As long as you don’t mind the popup windows and low resolution, you’re all set. If you want higher resolution and fewer sales pitches, just pay for it. 3. Porn is cheap As an alternative to illegally downloading Bareback Street Gang, bear in mind that Bi Now, Gay Later #4 is only $16.99 from Adult DVD Empire. Even if you work at McDonald’s you can probably earn more than $16.99 in the time it takes to deal with managing Bittorrent downloads with Vuze. 4. Porn stars need to make a living Being a porn star is a tough job. Yes, it’s true that even the most obscure porn actors get to be called stars, but beyond that it’s an exhausting way to pay the rent. Given how much effort these actors put into entertaining you, the least you can do is help support them. 5. If nobody pays for porn, it won’t get made This is the endgame if everybody copies porn instead of buying it: Nobody will produce it. Rather, the only available porn will be from amateurs who do it because they want to. So unless you want all porn to have the production values of Youtube guitar tutorials, and for all the actors to look like the people in those guitar tutorials, you should just pay for it.
Bahrain jails daughter of hunger striker
Bahraini court has sentenced Zainab al-Khawaja, the daughter of a prominent imprisoned opposition activist, to one month in jail for trying to organise an anti-government protest, her mother said. Bahrain has been in turmoil since a pro-democracy protest movement erupted last year after revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. Khawaja, the daughter of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike for more than three months, was arrested a month ago for trying to stage a protest in the capital Manama during Bahrain's Formula One Grand Prix. She was fined $530 on Monday on a separate charge related to insulting a government employee. "She was supposed to be released since she has already served the jail term," Zainab's mother, Khadija Almousawi, told the Reuters news agency by telephone from Manama. "She refused to pay the fine and the judge [on Thursday] said she would remain in jail for [a further] 40 days unless she pays it." Almousawi said she had visited her daughter in prison on Wednesday, and that she had been on hunger strike since Sunday in support of another imprisoned female political activist, Massouma al-Sayed, who was also on hunger strike. "She [Zainab] had been taken to hospital four times since Sunday because her blood sugar was very low ... She looked very pale." Bahrain's Sunni Muslim rulers have rejected calls from the mostly Shia protesters for an elected government. Violence has intensified in recent months, and protesters clash with riot police almost every day. The authorities say the opposition are being supported and encouraged by Shia Iran, and have vowed to get tough on protests as talks with the opposition have stalled.
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Metropolitan police anti-corruption unit investigated over payments
Scotland Yard is investigating allegations that detectives working for its anti-corruption unit have been paid thousands of pounds by a firm of private investigators. A parliamentary inquiry was told today that invoices, also seen by the Guardian, purport to show how a firm of private investigators made payments in return for information about the Metropolitan police investigation into James Ibori, a notorious Nigerian fraudster. On Tuesday, the Commons home affairs select committee was told by a lawyer involved in the case that invoices showed about £20,000 of potential payments to police officers in what amounted to an undetected case of "apparent corruption right at the heart of Scotland Yard". In recent weeks, as the Guardian investigated the allegations, the Met has sought to discourage the paper from publishing details about the case. But , after MPs heard the evidence, the Met dropped its previous insistence that there was "evidence that casts doubt on the credibility" of the allegations. A police source with knowledge of the investigation, which has been ongoing since October, said developments over the last 24 hours had now led police to take the allegations more seriously. The case revolves around a private investigation firm called RISC Management. Five years ago the firm was hired to work for Ibori, a former Nigerian state governor, after he discovered he was being investigated by the Met for serious fraud. Ibori recently pleaded guilty to money laundering and was jailed in the UK, after the conclusion of a major investigation into his financial affairs. The allegation now being investigated by police is that some detectives on the Met's Proceeds of Corruption Unit, which investigated Ibori, were receiving payments in exchange for information about the ongoing investigation. Invoices and other documents appearing to support the allegations have been anonymously posted to the Met and Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The documents have also been seen by the Guardian and separately sent to the home affairs committee, which is conducting an inquiry in whether private investigators should be subject to statutory regulation. Keith Vaz, the chair of the committee, has said there is growing concern in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that some private investigators are operating in "the shadows" of the law. The Commons inquiry has been scrutinising the nexus between private investigators - many of whom are retired police officers - and their former colleagues who are still serving. On Tuesday morning, Mike Schwarz, a lawyer who represents one of Ibori's co-accused, told the inquiry about what he understood to be the significance of the material. He said it indicated possible corruption at the heart of the police investigation into the Nigerian politician's money laundering activities. The invoices are alleged to be from RISC Management to Speechly Bircham, a top firm of lawyers hired by Ibori to prepare his defence. Schwarz told MPs the invoices "perhaps" documented "payments made by RISC Management to sources, presumably police officers or those close to the investigation". He added: "The records, which I think the committee have, show about half-a-dozen payments totalling about £20,000 over a period of eight or nine months [...] it appears to be inappropriate if not corrupt." Schwarz told the committee that he believed RISC Management had been hired to "extract" information from the police investigation into Ibori. He said he had also seen emails - which he believed had also been forwarded to the committee - which confirmed "contact" between detectives investigating Ibori and the private investigators. Schwarz, from Bindmans solicitors, represents Bhadresh Gohil, a London-based solicitor jailed along with Ibori for orchestrating his money laundering scam. Gohil is now considering an appeal. Gohil is understood to have been sent the invoices, anonymously, while in Wandsworth Prison last summer. In a statement, the Met said: "The [force] is investigating an allegation that illegal payments were made to police officers for information by a private investigation agency. The Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission in October 2011 which agreed to supervise a DPS investigation into the allegations." Following Schwarz's evidence to parliament, the Met said it had dropped its previous claim to have recently "uncovered evidence" casting doubt on the allegations. Previously, the force had suggested an active line of inquiry was the theory that Gohil or his associates had fabricated the allegations to undermine the prosecution. In a previous statement, provided on Friday, the force said: "As a result of inquiries police have uncovered evidence that casts doubt on the credibility of these allegations. Warrants have been executed at two addresses in London and a quantity of paperwork and computer equipment recovered." Two weeks ago, following raids on properties, one of which was the Gohil's family home in Kent, the force said: "Officers believe that they have identified the originator of the information and a line of enquiry suggests that there may have been an attempt to pervert the course of justice." However, sources at the Yard said previous statements no longer fully represented their position. A source with knowledge of the Met inquiry said the change of stance was unrelated to Schwarz's parliamentary evidence. The source said that, instead, there had been developments in the investigation over the last 24 hours. Schwarz named three serving Met police officers in his testimony to parliament as being potential "culprits": detective inspector Gary Walters, detective constables named as John MacDonald and "Clark". All three officers declined an opportunity to respond to the allegations when contacted by the Guardian last week. However, RISC Management indicated Walters would deny "any and all allegations". RISC Management denied all the allegations about the company, saying it was not aware of the Scotland Yard investigation and had no knowledge of the alleged financial records. The firm confirmed it had been hired by Ibori's lawyers but denied making corrupt payments, saying it "has never paid a serving police officer for information and would never approve such payments". Keith Hunter, chief executive of the company, said: "RISC management does not need to pay serving police officers for confidential information as we pride ourselves on our ability to provide positive solutions and accurate information legitimately. RISC Management has a highly respected reputation for conducting professional investigations". He added that his company was "proud to have a network of highly professional consultants, contacts and resources. These individuals are hired precisely because of their unique skill set and expertise". He accused Schwarz of "grandstanding" in front of the Commons committee, instead of taking the "correct course of reporting the matter to the police". He said Schwarz had not produced any evidence to support his claims and acted for a convicted solicitor, Gohil, who was jailed for seven years for money laundering. Speechly Bircham denied any knowledge of wrongdoing and said it would be willing to assist with any police inquiries. The law firm stressed Schwarz did not suggest in his evidence to parliament that Speechly Bircham was "party to illegal or corrupt payments" and said any such allegation would be false and defamatory. Ian Timlin, the former Speechly Bircham lawyer who was at the time representing Ibori, said neither he nor the firm had "any knowledge of any payments to police officers for information." He added: "At no time, did RISC ever inform me who or what was the source/s they were paying."
Monday 21 May 2012
Dog 'The Bounty Hunter' Chapman's Show Canceled
Dog "The Bounty Hunter" Chapman will have more time on his hands to catch criminals, because his show on A&E is being canceled ... TMZ has learned. Multiple sources connected with the show tell us ... Dog's people and A&E have been negotiating, but the network has now decided to pull the plug and not do season 9. One source connected with Dog tells us the cancellation is based on "creative differences." But here's the reality ... saying "creative differences" is like breaking up with a girl and saying, "It's not you, it's me."
Watchdog to probe UK minister Jeremy Hunt in News Corp row
Britain's beleaguered media minister Jeremy Hunt, under fire over his contacts with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, came under renewed pressure on Monday after a parliamentary watchdog said it would investigate allegations he had failed to declare donations from media firms. Labour has already called for his resignation amid allegations he was too close to News Corp as he deliberated whether to allow it to buy the portion of pay TV group BSkyB it does not already own.The donations were the cost of "networking events" at which media industry leaders were able to meet politicians. They were made while the Conservatives were in opposition before the May 2010 election and amount to some 27,000 pounds. The sponsoring companies included BSkyB, according to entries that Hunt's departmental colleague Ed Vaizey listed in the register of MPs' financial interests. Vaizey declared in the register that nine events between May 2009 and March 2010 were to "enable the Conservative frontbench team (Vaizey and Hunt) to meet sector leaders from the arts and creative industries". However, corresponding entries declaring the meetings were not made under Hunt's name. A spokeswoman for Hunt said he had only attended three of the events, hosted by advertising firm M&C Saatchi, a media club and a digital radio lobby. She said the omission had occurred because of an administrative error and that Hunt had now entered them in the register. The office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards said it had initiated an inquiry, following a complaint by a Labour MP. Hunt, a rising star in the Conservative Party, has resisted calls to step down in recent weeks but pressure on him to go is likely to mount when he makes a scheduled appearance at an inquiry into media ethics in coming weeks. Correspondence between his office and News Corp appeared to reveal leaks of confidential information to the media conglomerate, and appeared to show that Hunt's office was an enthusiastic supporter of the BSkyB deal. The minister was meant to be an impartial judge on the deal's impact on British media plurality, a key factor in deciding whether it should go through. Murdoch already owns several British newspapers, in addition to his stake in BSkyB. Hunt has denied any allegations of impropriety. Adam Smith, Hunt's special adviser, has resigned over the issue, and is also due to give evidence to the inquiry soon. The wide-ranging Leveson inquiry has taken testimony from several high-profile witnesses about the relationship between the press and the public, politicians and the police.
Sunday 20 May 2012
Three killed in northern Italy earthquake
Three people have been killed in a 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck northern Italy near Bologna, according to reports. The quake that struck at just after 4am local time was centred 21.75 miles north-northwest of Bologna at a relatively shallow depth of six miles, the US Geological Survey said. Italian news agency Ansa, citing emergency services, said two people were killed in Sant'Agostino di Ferrara when a ceramics factory collapsed. Another person was killed in Ponte Rodoni do Bondeno. In late January, A 5.4-magnitude quake shook northern Italy. Some office buildings in Milan were evacuated as a precaution and there were scattered reports of falling masonry and cracks in buildings. The tremor was one of the strongest to shake the region, seismologists said. Initial television footage indicated that older buildings had suffered damage. Roofs collapsed, church towers showed cracks and the bricks of some stone walls tumbled into the street during the quake. As dawn broke over the region, residents milled about the streets inspecting the damage. Italy's Sky TG24 showed images of the collapsed ceramics factory in Sant'Agostino di Ferrara where the two workers were reportedly killed. The structure, which appeared to be a hangar of sorts, had twisted metal supports jutting out at odd angles amid the mangled collapsed roof. The quake “was a strong one, and it lasted quite a long time”, said Emilio Bianco, receptionist at Modena's Canalgrande hotel, housed in an ornate 18th century palazzo. The hotel suffered no damage and Modena itself was spared, but guests spilled into the streets as soon as the quake hit, he said. Many people were still awake in the town since it was a “white night”, with shops and restaurants open all night. Museums were supposed to have remained open as well but closed following the bombing of a school in southern Italy that killed one person. The quake epicentre was between the towns of Finale Emilia, San Felice sul Panaro and Sermide, but was felt as far away as Tuscany and northern Alto Adige. The initial quake was followed about an hour later by a 5.1-magnitude aftershock, USGS said. And it was preceded by a 4.1-magnitude tremor. In late January, a 5.4-magnitude quake shook northern Italy. Some office buildings in Milan were evacuated as a precaution and there were scattered reports of falling masonry and cracks in buildings. In 2009, a devastating tremor killed more than 300 people in the central city of L'Aquila.
Thursday 17 May 2012
‘Save euro’ plea to Germans as Spain slumps
BRITAIN yesterday piled pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to save the euro. 6 comments Related Stories PM: Make or break for euro HE to issue plea to Merkel to fork out as only way to stave off meltdown New French Pres gets a soakingFrench warning for CameronSarky poll malarky will leave PM narky David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne said she must use her financial clout to stop the single currency collapsing. The PM hammered the message home in emergency talks via video-link with Mrs Merkel and French president Francois Hollande. It came as the chaos in Greece spread to Spain — with fears of a run on banks in both countries. Greeks have taken £560million from local banks in the past week. And yesterday Spain’s Bankia bank was forced to deny reports customers had taken £800million out of its coffers in the past seven days. Last night the fears hit Santander UK as credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the bank along with its Spanish owner and 15 other Spanish banks. And credit agency Fitch downgraded Greece on fears it will be booted out of the Eurozone. Earlier, Mr Osborne said the Treasury had drawn up emergency plans to cope with Greece quitting the euro. He told MPs: “Britain will be prepared for whatever comes.” Mr Cameron had warned countries such as Greece and Spain can only survive if richer countries did more to “share the burden of adjustment”. He also backed Eurobonds to raise billions to prop up crisis-hit countries — a proposal that would have to be bankrolled by Berlin. After the video chat, a Downing Street spokesman said the PM urged the eurozone to take “decisive action to ensure financial stability and prevent contagion”.
Spain’s banking crisis reached Britain’s high streets last night when the credit rating of Santander UK was cut.
In a sweeping reassessment, ratings agency Moody’s announced in Madrid that it is downgrading 16 Spanish banks because it could not be sure of the ability of the country’s government to provide the necessary support.
Santander UK was among the banks highlighted after the ratings agency took aim at its parent Banco Santander, based in Spain.
![The Spanish banking crisis has hit the British high street, with the news that Santander has had its credit rating cut](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/17/article-2146112-000024DD00000CB2-620_468x339.jpg)
The Spanish banking crisis has hit the British high street, with the news that Santander has had its credit rating cut
Santander is one of the biggest players in UK retail banking, having taken over the former Abbey National, Alliance & Leicester, Bradford & Bingley and most recently the English branches of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The new lower A2 credit rating is certain to be a cause of anxiety to Santander UK’s millions of British customers.
Nevertheless, they can be confident that their deposits up to £85,000 are guaranteed by the British government should there be a loss of confidence.
'Queen of Disco' Donna Summer 'thought she became ill after inhaling 9/11 particles'
The 63-year-old singer, who had hits including Hot Stuff, Love to Love You, Baby and I Feel Love, died in Florida on Thursday morning. She had largely kept her battle with lung cancer out of the public eye. But the website TMZ reported that the singer had told friends she believed her illness was the result of inhaling toxic dust from the collapsed Twin Towers. On Thursday night tributes were paid to the singer, considered by many to be the voice of the 1970s. A statement released on behalf of her family — husband Bruce Sudano, their daughters Brooklyn and Amanda, her daughter, Mimi from a previous marriage and four grandchildren — read: “Early this morning, surrounded by family, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith. "While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.
Investigators are questioning Mexico's former deputy defence minister and a top army general for suspected links to organised crime
![49 BODIES FOUND IN A HIGHWAY NORTHERN MEXICO](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/15/1337094823538/49-BODIES-FOUND-IN-A-HIGH-008.jpg)
Investigators are questioning Mexico's former deputy defence minister and a top army general for suspected links to organised crime, in the highest level scandal to hit the military in the five-year-old drug war.
Mexican soldiers on Tuesday detained retired general Tomás Angeles Dauahare and general Roberto Dawe González and turned them over to the country's organised crime unit, military and government officials said.
Angeles Dauahare was number 2 in the armed forces under President Felipe Calderón and helped lead the government's crackdown on drug cartels after soldiers were deployed to the streets in late 2006. He retired in 2008.
Dawe González, still an active duty general, led an elite army unit in the western state of Colima and local media said he previously held posts in the violent states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua.
An official at the attorney general's office said they would be held for several days to give testimony and then could be called in front of a judge.
"The generals are answering questions because they are allegedly tied to organised crime," the official said.
Angeles Dauahare said through a lawyer that his detention was unjustified, daily Reforma newspaper reported.
If the generals were convicted of drug trafficking, it would mark the most serious case of military corruption during Calderón's administration.
"Traditionally the armed forces had a side role in the anti-drug fight, eradicating drug crops or stopping drug shipments," said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst who formerly worked in the government intelligence agency.
"After 2006, they were more directly involved in public security, putting them at a higher risk of contact [with drug gangs]," he said.
About 55,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the past five years as rival cartels fight each other and government forces.
Worsening drug-related attacks in major cities are eroding support for Calderón's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, ahead of a 1 July presidential vote.
Over the weekend, police found 49 headless bodies on a highway in northern Mexico, the latest in a recent series of brutal massacres where mutilated corpses have been hung from bridges or shoved in iceboxes.
Opinion polls show Calderón's party is trailing by double digits behind opposition candidate Enrique Peña Nieto from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which says the government's drug strategy is failing.
Traditionally, the military has been seen as less susceptible to cartel bribes and intimidation than badly paid local and state police forces, who are often easily swayed by drug gang pay offs.
But there have been cases of military corruption in the past. Angeles Dauahare himself oversaw the landmark trial of two generals convicted of working with drug gangs in 2002.
Those two generals were convicted of links to the Juárez cartel once headed by the late Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who was known as the Lord of the Skies for flying plane load of cocaine into the United States.
Since then, the Sinaloa cartel - headed by Mexico's most wanted man Joaquín "Shorty" Guzmán - has expanded its power and is locked in a bloody battle over smuggling routes with the Zetas gang, founded by deserters from the Mexican army.
Wednesday 16 May 2012
JPMorgan's Trading Loss Is Said to Rise at Least 50%
The trading losses suffered by JPMorgan Chase have surged in recent days, surpassing the bank’s initial $2 billion estimate by at least $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the losses. When Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, announced the losses last Thursday, he indicated they could double within the next few quarters. But that process has been compressed into four trading days as hedge funds and other investors take advantage of JPMorgan’s distress, fueling faster deterioration in the underlying credit market positions held by the bank. A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment, although Mr. Dimon has said the total paper trading losses will be volatile depending on day-to-day market fluctuations. The Federal Reserve is examining the scope of the growing losses and the original bet, along with whether JPMorgan’s chief investment office took risks that were inappropriate for a federally insured depository institution, according to several people with knowledge of the examination. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way. The overall health of the bank remains strong, even with the additional losses, and JPMorgan has been able to increase its stock dividend faster than its rivals because of stronger earnings and a more solid capital buffer. Still, the huge trading losses rocked Wall Street and reignited the debate over how tightly giant financial institutions should be regulated. Bank analysts say that while the bank’s stability is not threatened, if the losses continue to mount, the outlook for the bank’s dividend will grow uncertain. The bank’s leadership has discussed the impact of the losses on future earnings, although a dividend cut remains highly unlikely for now. In March, the company raised the quarterly dividend by 5 cents, to 30 cents, which will cost the bank about $190 million more this quarter. A spokeswoman for the bank said a dividend cut has not been discussed internally. At the bank’s annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Mr. Dimon did not definitively rule out cutting the dividend, although he said that he “hoped” it would not be cut. John Lackey, a shareholder from Richmond, Va., who attended the meeting precisely to ask about the dividend, was not reassured. “That wasn’t a very clear answer,” he said of Mr. Dimon’s response. “I expect that shareholders are going to suffer because of this.” Analysts expect the bank to earn $4 billion in the second quarter, factoring in the original estimated loss of $2 billion. Even if the additional trading losses were to double, the bank could still earn a profit of $2 billion. And many analysts and investors remain optimistic about the bank’s long-term prospects. Glenn Schorr, a widely followed analyst with Nomura, reiterated on Wednesday his buy rating on JPMorgan shares, which are down more than 10 percent since the trading loss became public last week. What’s more, the chief investment office earned more than $5 billion in the last three years, which leaves it ahead over all, even given the added red ink. But the underlying problem is that while these sharp swings are expected at a big hedge fund, they should not be occurring at a bank whose deposits are government-backed and which has access to ultralow cost capital from the Federal Reserve, experts said. “JPMorgan Chase has a big hedge fund inside a commercial bank,” said Mark Williams, a professor of finance at Boston University, who also served as a Federal Reserve bank examiner. “They should be taking in deposits and making loans, not taking large speculative bets.” Not long after Mr. Dimon’s announcement of a dividend increase in March, the notorious bet by JPMorgan’s chief investment office began to fall apart. Traders at the unit’s London desk and elsewhere are now frantically trying to defuse the huge bet that was built up over years, but started generating erratic returns in late March. After a brief pause, the losses began to mount again in late April, prompting Mr. Dimon’s announcement on May 10. Beginning on Friday, the same trends that had been causing the losses for six weeks accelerated, since traders on the opposite side of the bet knew the bank was under pressure to unwind the losing trade and could not double down in any way. Another issue is that the trader who executed the complex wager, Bruno Iksil, is no longer on the trading desk. Nicknamed the London Whale, Mr. Iksil had a firm grasp on the trade — knowledge that is hard to replace, even though his anticipated departure is seen as sign of the bank’s taking responsibility for the debacle. “They were caught short,” said one experienced credit trader who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the situation is still fluid. The market player, who does not stand to gain from JPMorgan’s losses and is not involved in the trade, added, “this is a very hard trade to get out of because it’s so big.” He estimated that the initial loss of just over $2 billion was caused by a move of a quarter percentage point, or 25 basis points, on a portfolio with a notional value of $150 billion to $200 billion — in other words, the total value of the contracts traded, not JPMorgan’s exposure. In the four trading days since Mr. Dimon’s disclosure, the market has moved at least 15 to 20 basis points more against JPMorgan, he said. The overall losses are not directly proportional to the move in basis points because of the complexity of the trade. Many of the positions are highly illiquid, making them difficult to value for regulators and the bank itself. In its simplest form, traders said, the complex position assembled by the bank included a bullish bet on an index of investment-grade corporate debt, later paired with a bearish bet on high-yield securities, achieved by selling insurance contracts known as credit-default swaps. A big move in the interest rate spread between the investment grade securities and risk-free government bonds in recent months hurt the first part of the bet, and was not offset by equally large moves in the price of the insurance on the high yield bonds. As the credit yield curve steepened, the losses piled up on the corporate grade index, overwhelming gains elsewhere on the trades. Making matters worse, there was a mismatch between the expiration of different instruments within the trade, increasing losses. The additional losses represent a worsening of what is already the most embarrassing misstep for JPMorgan since Mr. Dimon became chief executive in 2005. No one has blamed Mr. Dimon for the trade, which was under the oversight of the head of the chief investment office, Ina Drew, but he has repeatedly apologized, calling it “stupid” and “sloppy.” Ms. Drew resigned Monday and more departures are anticipated.
Tuesday 15 May 2012
Rebbeca Brooks learned this morning that she will be taken to court over accusations of perverting the course of justice in relation to the phone hacking scandal.
The former editor of the News of the World and the Sun is to be charged with five others, including her husband Charlie Brooks.
Alison Levitt QC, principal legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, announced the decision at 10am, days after Mrs Brooks appeared at the Leveson inquiry into press ethics.
Mr and Mrs Brooks said: "We deplore this weak and unjust decision. After the further unprecedented posturing of the CPS we will respond later today after our return from the police station."
Rebekah Brooks arriving at the Leveson Inquiry
Monday 14 May 2012
complaint was filed May 8, against Carlos Divar, President of the Supreme Court of Spain, on the grounds of having paid out of public funds, luxury travel.
The daily El Mundo and El Pais, in their editions of Wednesday, May 9, 2012, reveal that a complaint was filed May 8, against Carlos Divar, President of the Supreme Court of Spain, on the grounds of having paid out of public funds, luxury travel.
The representative of the Higher Judicial Council, Jose Manuel Gomez Benitez, filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office against the President of the Supreme Court, Carlos Divar, for alleged embezzlement.
The newspapers El Mundo and El Pais unveiled, in their editions Wednesday that the complaint was filed on May 8 The President of the Supreme Court of Spain, Carlos Divar, very close to a conservative Partido Socialista Obrero Español, is believed to have settled out of public funds, the costs of its luxury travel, the weekend, for a worth around 16,000 euros.
Indeed, according to Gomez Benitez, a professor of criminal law, the travel, trips, destination Marbella and Malaga, southern Spain, from Friday evening to Monday morning, have no connection with the activities assigned to the position Chief Justice conferred, Carlos Divas, the title of President of the Supreme Court.
Aside from these trips, between September 2010 and November 2011, in the words of the complaint, Corlos Divar was accompanied by bodyguards whose expenses totaled more than 20,000 euros.
The representative of the Higher Judicial Council, Jose Manuel Gomez Benitez said, moreover, that in the body of his complaint to the Attorney General, Eduardo Torres Dulce, there is specified that President Carlos Divar ' lives in Madrid and that it has no domicile in Marbella or Malaga "and" it does not appear in the official records of activity that could motivate them, that the activities for which the President of the Supreme Court is suspected of embezzlement suspected, all took place on weekends and holidays, "
It has also specify that the complaint filed in the office of the Attorney General " only covers six travel destination Malaga which would have generated at least 36,000 euros for wrongful payments ", and do not report, further investigation is needed to support a second complaint of many trips, always performed on weekends or holidays, destination Marbella, between September 2008 and September 2010, and after November 2011.
It is finally noted that the Supreme Court refuses to provide documents, relating to the case of alleged misappropriation of funds, to the Attorney General of State because, if the allegations are true, they constitute a crime that goes into the jurisdiction of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court qualified to investigate a complaint lodged against the President and the Chief of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Judicial Council against .
Saturday 12 May 2012
Nationwide protests in Spain over economic woes
Spanish activists angered by grim economic prospects planned nationwide demonstrations today to mark the one-year anniversary of their protest movement. Spain is in deep economic difficulty, prompting fears it may need a bailout like Greece, Ireland and Portugal. It is in recession, and unemployment stands at almost 25% - the highest among the 17 countries using the euro. One in two Spaniards under the age of 25 are out of work. The conservative government has enacted deep spending cuts to reduce the national debt, but many people blame those measures for deepening families' financial plight. The protests began on May 15 last year and drew hundreds of thousands of people calling themselves the Indignant Movement. The demonstrations spread across Spain and Europe as anti-austerity sentiment grew. A year ago, the "indignados" pitched tents and occupied town and city squares across Spain for weeks. Demonstrators clashed with police who eventually moved in to evict them. The mostly young protesters aimed to occupy Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza tonight and stay for three days. But authorities have warned they won't allow anyone to camp out overnight, and up to 2,000 riot police will be on duty in the capital. "We are here today to celebrate one year since the ... movement started and though we have achieved some things the situation is much worse now, so we need to keep fighting to get things better and that's why we are here today," said 40-year-old activist Ana Pancorvo. Protests were also planned in other European cities, including London.
Police evacuate 100 houses after two men are arrested in anti-terrorism operation
100 homes have been evacuated as bomb disposal experts carried out four controlled explosions this morning. Two men were arrested last night on terrorism charges following the discovery of suspected explosives in a garage during raids on two properties in Cheltenham, according to police. Officers arrested a 52-year-old man from the Hester's Way area under the Explosive Substances Act.
Friday 11 May 2012
Rebekah Brooks turns screw on Jeremy Hunt with 'hacking advice' email
Jeremy Hunt, came under renewed pressure when the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks disclosed an email appearing to show he had sought the company's advice over how Downing Street should respond to the mounting phone-hacking scandal. The email, which also suggests Hunt sought to avoid a public inquiry into phone hacking, emerged on another day of extraordinary disclosures about the intimacy between Rupert Murdoch's company and government ministers. The email from News Corporation lobbyist Frédéric Michel written in June 2011 told Brooks that Hunt was poised to make an "extremely helpful" statement about the company's proposed acquisition of BSkyB, saying the takeover would be approved regardless of phone-hacking allegations. Michel also warned her, days before the Guardian revealed that murdered teenager Milly Dowler's voicemail had been targeted by the News of the World, that "JH [Jeremy Hunt] is now starting to looking into phone-hacking/practices more thoroughly" and that he "has asked me to advise him privately in the coming weeks and guide his and No 10's positioning". During five hours of testimony, Brooks revealed she dined with George Osborne on 13 December 2010, when she discussed Ofcom's initial objections to News Corp's £8bn bid. The objections had been sent in a confidential "issues letter" by the media regulator to her company three days before. Following a short discussion, the then News International boss reported to James Murdoch the next day that Osborne had expressed "total bafflement". In a steely and at times tetchy performance, Brooks said her lobbying of the chancellor had been "entirely appropriate" because she was "reflecting the opposite view to the view he had heard by that stage from pretty much every member of the anti-Sky bid alliance". But Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, said that the email demonstrated that it was "obvious that he was supportive of your bid, wasn't he", a suggestion Brooks rejected. The disclosures about her conversations with the chancellor will increase the likelihood that he is called to appear before the inquiry. He is the only one of eight ministers who have submitted statements to Leveson not to have been asked to appear. Though less damaging than some in Downing Street had feared, Brooks' testimony also proved embarrassing for David Cameron. She revealed the prime minister signed texts "DC" or sometimes "LOL" – until she explained that the phrase meant "laugh out loud", not "lots of love". She said she typically texted Cameron once a week, and twice a week during the 2010 election campaign, dismissing as preposterous reports that he sometimes texted her up to 12 times per day. Brooks said any email correspondence between her and politicians was now held by News International. She had only copies of emails and texts that were on her BlackBerry during a six-week period in June and July 2011, but a single message from Cameron had been "compressed" and could not now be read. Brooks confirmed that she had socialised with Cameron at least twice within four days in Oxfordshire during Christmas 2010, the culmination of a year in which they had already met at least five times. The first contact of the festive season was at a dinner at her house on 23 December, when there was a conversation about the BSkyB bid. The second was a previously undisclosed "mulled wine, mince pie" party organised by her sister-in-law on Boxing Day 2010, an event at which she was unsure if she had spoken to Cameron or his wife, Samantha, although "my sister-in-law tells me they were definitely there". Although Brooks has been arrested in connection with phone hacking and bribery investigations, and on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, the inquiry also heard that she had discussed the growing hacking allegations with Cameron at some point during 2010. She said the prime minister – who at that point was still employing former News of the World editor Andy Coulson – had asked her for an update. "I think it had been on the news that day, and I think I explained the story behind the news. No secret information, no privileged information, just a general update," Brooks said. The disclosure will add to the pressure on Cameron to explain why he failed to challenge Coulson about the hacking allegations against him at any time after the Guardian broke the story in July 2009. However, the most serious evidence to emerge regarded Hunt, whose fate has been hanging in the balance since Rupert Murdoch provided 163 pages of News Corp emails to the Leveson inquiry, which suggested that Michel had obtained a large amount of information about the progress of ministerial approval of the BSkyB bid. Finding a fresh email from Michel that had eluded Murdoch's legal team last month, Brooks showed that she had been told that Hunt would essentially approve the long-delayed takeover because he believed "phone hacking has nothing to do with the media plurality issues" that were increasingly concerning rivals. Michel told Brooks that the sought-after approval would happen later in the last week of June 2011.
Rebekah Brooks refused to name source of Brown son story
Rebekah Brooks has denied that The Sun hacked the medical records of Gordon Brown's four-year-old son - and refused to disclose the source of the information to the Leveson Inquiry She also insisted that the paper had permission from the former Prime Minister and his wife before publishing an article about the child's medical condition. Brooks said that she and Gordon's Brown wife Sarah "were good In a written response to the Inquiry's questions submitted in October last year Brooks set out a detailed description of safeguards put in place to check stories. The former tabloid editor and News International chief executive also denied commissioning any computer hacking or feeling any "negative pressure" from proprietor Rupert Murdoch. Much of the 12-page statement consists of explanations of the processes used to check accuracy and sources, train staff and decide whether to run a particular story. Despite those efforts, there were "failures from time to time" - significantly so at the News of the World, Mrs Brooks conceded. "I was horrified when I learned of them and I was and am deeply sorry about the further anguish that was caused to Milly Dowler's parents in particular," she wrote. Corporate governance was taken "seriously" within the newspaper group though, she added. Mrs Brooks also told the inquiry: :: She was not aware of any use of computer hacking: "I have been specifically asked by the Inquiry whether I or the newspapers where I worked ever used or commissioned anyone who used 'computer hacking' in order to source stories or for any other reason. I did not and I was not aware of anyone at either the News of the World or The Sun who did." :: There was a crackdown on the use of private investigators following highly critical reports by the Information Commissioner's Office and the Commons media and sport select committee. "I believe their use is now virtually non-existent," she wrote - noting there were exceptions such as using them to track down convicted paedophiles who had broken their bail conditions. :: The use of cash payments had been "considerably tightened up". :: It would be "highly unusual and not practical" for an editor to check the accuracy and sources of stories going into their paper other than the biggest or most controversial. :: There were "numerous examples" of times when she resisted publishing a story because the invasion of privacy outweighed any public interest or because it was more important to alert the police to criminal activities than to secure an exclusive. "It is quite wrong to believe that the press simply publishes what it can get away with, irrespective of the ethical requirements," she insisted. :: The industry felt privacy laws had "slowly crept in through the back door", stymieing legitimate journalism but failing to regulate inaccurate internet gossip. :: In her decade as a national newspaper editor she "never experienced or felt any negative pressure either financial or commercial from the proprietor. In fact the opposite is true. There was always constant advice, experienced guidance and support available." There was no financial motive to print exclusive stories. "Professional pride was the biggest incentive."
David Cameron sent commiserations to Rebekah Brooks after she resigned as News International chief executive over the phone hacking scandal
David Cameron sent commiserations to Rebekah Brooks after she resigned as News International chief executive over the phone hacking scandal, the Leveson Inquiry has heard. Ms Brooks said the indirect messages from the Prime Minister were "along the lines" of "keep your head up" and had also expressed regret that he could not be more loyal in public. She also received sympathetic messages from other senior figures in 10 and 11 Downing Street, the Home Office, the Foreign Office and some Labour politicians, including Tony Blair. The glimpse of Ms Brooks's network of high-powered friends and contacts came as she took to the witness box, despite being under investigation by police. Ms Brooks said she only had access to around six weeks of texts and emails from her time as NI chief executive, from the beginning of June to July 17 last year. Only one of those emails was relevant to the inquiry, according to her evidence. One of the text messages had been from Mr Cameron, but the content was compressed and unreadable, she said. Robert Jay QC, counsel for the inquiry, asked Ms Brooks about reports that she had received sympathetic messages after her resignation last July. "I had some indirect messages from some politicians but nothing direct," she replied. "A variety - some Tories, a couple of Labour politicians. Very few Labour politicians. I received some indirect messages from Number 10, Number 11, the Home Office, the Foreign Office..." She said Tony Blair had been among them but Gordon Brown had not. "He was probably getting the bunting out," she added, provoking laughter in the courtroom. Questioned on whether reports were correct that Mr Cameron's message had urged her to "keep your head up", Ms Brooks responded: "Along those lines." Pressed on whether the premier had also conveyed regret that political circumstances meant he could not be more "loyal", Ms Brooks replied: "Similar, but very indirect."
Thursday 10 May 2012
Rebekah Brooks to lift lid on David Cameron friendship
Former Sun and News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks is expected to lift the lid on her close relationship with the Prime Minister in evidence to the Leveson Inquiry. David Cameron is said to have texted Mrs Brooks, telling her to "keep her head up" after she resigned from News International last July. It has also been claimed that the 43-year-old former editor sent Mr Cameron more than 12 text messages a day. After her editorships Mrs Brooks went on to become chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's UK newspapers division News International in September 2009 until she resigned in the wake of the hacking scandal last July. She and racehorse trainer husband Charlie are key members of the influential Chipping Norton set, which also includes Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, and Mr Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth and her PR guru husband Matthew Freud. The inquiry has already heard that Mrs Brooks regularly met Mr Cameron and other top politicians along with Rupert and James Murdoch. She hosted a Christmas dinner on December 23 2010, just two days after Business Secretary Vince Cable was stripped of his responsibility for media takeovers for saying he had "declared war" on the Murdochs' News Corporation empire. Mrs Brooks's wedding on June 13 2009 was attended by Mr Cameron and former prime minister Gordon Brown, and in March Mr Cameron was forced to admit that he rode a retired police horse loaned to Mrs Brooks by Scotland Yard from 2008 to 2010. An updated biography of Cameron: Practically A Conservative, claims he told Mrs Brooks she would get through her difficulties just days before she stood down over the phone hacking scandal. There has speculation that the Leveson Inquiry could release emails and text messages sent between Mr Cameron and the former News International chief executive. According to Daily Telegraph columnist Peter Oborne, Mrs Brooks has kept all the texts she received from the Prime Minister. Mrs Brooks has twice been arrested by Scotland Yard detectives investigating allegations of phone hacking, corrupt payments to public officials, and an attempt to pervert the course of justice. She was bailed and has not been charged. She will not be questioned about anything that could prejudice the continuing police investigation into phone hacking or any potential future trials. Mr Cameron set up the Leveson Inquiry last July in response to revelations that the now-defunct News of the World hacked murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone after she disappeared in 2002. The first part of the inquiry, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, is looking at the culture, practices and ethics of the Press in general and is due to produce a report by October.
Sunday 6 May 2012
Brink's Mat the reason that Great Train Robber was shot dead in Marbella
The Brink’s-Mat curse even touched on the Great Train Robbery gang of 1963. One of them, Charlie Wilson, found himself in trouble when £3 million of Brink’s-Mat investors’ money went missing in a drug deal. In April 1990, he paid the price when a young British hood knocked on the front door of his hacienda north of Marbella and shot Wilson and his pet husky dog before coolly riding off down the hill on a yellow bicycle.
Saturday 5 May 2012
British tourist falls to her death from hotel balcony in Magalluf
23 year old British tourist has fallen to her death from the third floor balcony of her hotel in Magalluf, Mallorca. Emergency sources said it happened at 4.25am Saturday morning at the Hotel Teix in Calle Pinada. Local police and emergency health services went to scene. After 20 minutes of an attempt to re-animate her heart, the woman was pronounced dead. Online descriptions for the Hotel say it is the best place to stay of you are looking for non-stop partying, adding it not suitable for families.
Friday 4 May 2012
Four of the last reporters and photographers willing to cover crime stories have been slain in less than a week in violence-torn Veracruz state
Four of the last reporters and photographers willing to cover crime stories have been slain in less than a week in violence-torn Veracruz state, where two Mexican drug cartels are warring over control of smuggling routes and targeting sources of independent information. The brutal campaign is bleeding the media and threatening to turn Veracruz into the latest state in Mexico where fear snuffs out reporting on the drug war. Three photojournalists who worked the perilous crime beat in the port city of Veracruz were found dismembered and dumped in plastic bags in a canal Thursday, less than a week after a reporter for an investigative newsmagazine was beaten and strangled in her home in the state capital of Xalapa. Press freedom groups said all three photographers had temporarily fled the state after receiving threats last year. The organizations called for immediate government action to halt a wave of attacks that has killed at least seven current and former reporters and photographers in Veracruz over the last 18 months. Like most of those, the men found Thursday were among the few journalists left working on crime-related stories in the state. Threats and killings have spawned an atmosphere of terror and self-censorship, and most local media are too intimidated to report on drug-related violence. Social media and blogs are often the only outlets reporting on serious crime. Veracruz isn't the only battleground for Mexican media. In at least three northeastern states, journalists are under siege from assailants throwing grenades inside newsrooms and gunmen firing into newspaper and TV station buildings. In the state of Tamaulipas, on the border with Texas, local media stopped covering drug trafficking violence, mentioning drug cartels or reporting on organized crime shortly after two gangs began fighting for control of Nuevo Laredo in 2004. As part of that war, reporters were targeted to keep them silent or because they had links to gangs. Mexico has become one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists in recent years, amid a government offensive against drug cartels and fighting among gangs that have brought tens of thousands of deaths, kidnappings and extortion cases. Prosecutions in journalist killings are almost nonxistent, although that is widely true of all homicides and other serious crimes in Mexico. The latest killings came in Boca del Rio, a town near the port city of Veracruz where police found the bodies. The victims bore signs of torture and had been dismembered, the state prosecutors' office said. One victim was identified as Guillermo Luna Varela, a crime-news photographer for the website http://www.veracruznews.com.mx who was last seen by local reporters covering a car accident Wednesday afternoon. According to a fellow journalist, who insisted on speaking anonymously out of fear, Luna was in his 20s and had begun his career working for the local newspaper Notiver. The journalist said Luna was the nephew of another of the men found dead, Gabriel Huge. Huge was in his early 30s and worked as a photojournalist for Notiver until last summer, when he fled the state soon after two of the paper's reporters were slain in still-unsolved killings. He had returned to the state to work as a reporter, but it was not immediately clear what kind of stories he was covering recently. State officials said the third victim was Esteban Rodriguez, who was a photographer for the local newspaper AZ until last summer, when he too quit and fled the state. He later came back, but took up work as a welder. The London-based press freedom group Article 19 said he, like the other two, had been a crime photographer. The fourth victim was Luna's girlfriend, Irasema Becerra, state prosecutors said. Article 19 said in a report last year that Luna, Varela and Rodriguez were among 13 Veracruz journalists who had fled their homes because of crime-related threats and official unwillingness to protect them or investigate the danger. The Committee to Protect Journalists said in 2008 that Huge had been detained and beaten by federal police as he tried to cover a fatal auto accident involving officers. Last June, Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, a columnist and editorial director for Notiver, was shot to death in Veracruz along with his wife and one of his children. Authorities that month also found the body of journalist Noel Lopez buried in a clandestine grave in the town of Chinameca. Lopez, who disappeared three months earlier, had worked for the weeklies Horizonte and Noticias de Acayucan and for the daily newspaper La Verdad. The following month, Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, a police reporter for Notiver, was found with her throat cut in the state. Lopez was found after a suspect in another case confessed to killing him, but the other two murders have not been resolved. The cartel war in Veracruz reached a bloody peak in September when 35 bodies were dumped on a main highway in rush-hour traffic. Local law enforcement in the state was considered so corrupt and infiltrated by the Zetas and other gangs that Mexico's federal government fired 800 officers and 300 administrative personnel in the city of Veracruz-Boca del Rio in December and sent in about 800 marines to patrol. Mike O'Connor, the Committee to Protect Journalists' representative for Mexico, said journalists in Veracruz were exercising an unusual degree of self-censorship even before Ordaz and Lopez were killed. He said media avoided much coverage of crime and corruption. "Important news was not covered because it might upset the Zetas. Then these guys were killed and self-censorship cracked down even more," O'Connor said. "Almost all of the police beat reporters left town after those killings." Regina Martinez, a correspondent for the national magazine Proceso, continued to cover crime-related stories along with a handful of other journalists, however. On Saturday, authorities went to her home in Xalapa, the state capital, after a neighbor reported it to be suspiciously quiet. They found the reporter dead in her bathroom with signs she had been beaten and strangled. "Self-censorship was extraordinarily strong but whoever killed these journalists wanted more," O'Connor said. "It still wasn't enough to satisfy whoever killed these journalists." Mexico's human rights commission says 74 media workers were slain from 2000 to 2011. The Committee to Protect Journalists says 51 were killed in that time. It noted in a statement on the Mexico killings that Thursday was World Press Freedom Day.
Greek far-right parties could end up with as much as 20 percent of the vote in Sunday's elections. The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has intensified the xenophobic atmosphere in the country.
At night, the streets leading to Omonoia Square are empty. That wasn't always the case. The area was the premier multicultural neighborhood of Athens and one of the first quarters to be gentrified. Jazz bars and Indian restaurants lined the streets, separated by the occasional rooms-by-the-hour hotel. It was a quarter full of immigrants, drug addicts and African prostitutes, but also of journalists, ambitious young artists and teenagers from private schools. Today, the immigrants stay home once night falls. They are afraid of groups belonging to the "angry citizens," a kind of militia that beats up foreigners and claims to help the elderly withdraw money from cash machines without being robbed. Such groups are the product of an initiative started by the neo-Nazi Chrysi Avgi -- Golden Dawn -- the party which has perpetrated pogroms in Agios Panteleimon, another Athens neighborhood with a large immigrant population. There are now three outwardly xenophobic parties in Greece. According to recent surveys, together they could garner up to 20 percent of the vote in elections on Sunday: the anti-Semitic party LAOS stands to win 4 percent; the nationalist party Independent Greeks -- a splinter group of the conservative Nea Dimokratia party -- is forecast to win 11 percent; and the right extremists of Golden Dawn could end up with between 5 and 7 percent. My name is Xenia, the hospitable. Greece itself should really be called Xenia: Tourism, emigration and immigration are important elements of our history. But hospitality is no longer a priority in our country, a fact which the ugly presence of Golden Dawn makes clear. A Personal Attack Shaved heads, military uniforms, Nazi chants, Hitler greetings: How should a Greek journalist deal with such people? Should one just ignore them and leave them unmentioned? Should one denounce them and demand that they be banned? One shouldn't forget that they are violent and have perpetrated several attacks against foreigners and leftists. I thought long and hard about how to write about Golden Dawn so that my article was in no way beneficial to the party. On April 12, the daily Kathimerini ran my story under the headline "Banality of Evil." In the piece, I carefully explained why it was impossible to carry on a dialogue with such people and why I thought the neo-Nazi party should disappear from media coverage and be banned. Five days later, an anonymous reply to my article appeared on the Golden Dawn website. It was a 2,500-word-long personal attack in which the fascists recounted my entire career, mocked my alleged foreign roots (I was born in Hamburg) and even, for no apparent reason, mentioned my 13-year-old daughter. The unnamed authors indirectly threatened me as well: "To put it in the mother tongue of foreign Xenia: 'Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat, kommt Attentat!'" In other words, watch your back. Most Greeks believe that Golden Dawn has connections to both the police and to the country's secret service. Nevertheless, I went to the authorities to ask what I should do. I was told that I should be careful. They told me that party thugs could harass me, beat me or terrorize me over the phone. It would be better, they said, if I stopped writing about them. If I wished to react to the threats, they suggested I file a complaint against Golden Dawn's service provider. That, however, would be difficult given that the domain is based somewhere in the United States. Like Weimar Germany A friend told me that I should avoid wearing headphones on the street so that I can hear what is going on around me. My daughter now has nightmares about being confronted by members of Golden Dawn. Three of her classmates belong to the party. The three boys have posted pictures of party events on their Facebook pages. For their profile image, they have chosen the ancient Greek Meandros symbol, which, in the red-on-black manifestation used by Golden Dawn, resembles a swastika. The group's slogans include "Foreigners Out!" and "The Garbage Should Leave the Country!" The fact that immigration has become such an issue in the worst year of the ongoing economic crisis in the country can be blamed on the two parties in government. The Socialist PASOK and the conservative Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy, or ND) are running xenophobic campaigns. ND has said it intends to repeal a law which grants Greek citizenship to children born in Greece to immigrant parents. And cabinet member Michalis Chrysochoidis, of PASOK, has announced "clean up operations" whereby illegal immigrants are to be rounded up in encampments and then deported. When he recently took a stroll through the center of Athens to collect accolades for his commitment to the cause, some called out to him: "Golden Dawn has cleaned up Athens!" Yet, Chrysochoidis is the best loved PASOK politician in his Athens district, in part because of his xenophobic sentiments. His party comrade, Health Minister Andreas Loverdos, is just as popular. Loverdos has warned Greek men not to sleep with foreign prostitutes for fear of contracting HIV and thus endangering the Greek family. High unemployment of roughly 22 percent, a lack of hope, a tendency toward violence and the search for scapegoats: Analyses in the Greek press compare today's Greece with Germany at the end of the Weimar Republic. "We didn't know," said many Germans when confronted with the truth of the Holocaust after Nazi rule came to an end. After elections on May 6, no Greeks should be able to make the same claim.
Headlines
Popular Posts
-
She's the ultimate daddy's girl - the stunning daughter F1 billionaire Bernie Ecclestone bought a £56m house in Chelsea AND a £91m L...
-
A coast guard officer's "Get back on board damn it!" order to the fleeing captain of the capsized Costa Concordia liner is b...
-
Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers...
-
The flame haired, 43-year-old ability to get the scoop and rise up the corporate ladder were down to a potent mix of ruthlessness and dazz...
-
The News of the World newspaper bought contact details about the royal family from a policeman, the BBC reported on Monday, deepening the sc...
-
In this photo taken Oct. 7, 2011, Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla lies on the arena after being gored in the face by a bull during a b...
-
In 1997, when she was a 29-year-old feature writer on the News of the World, Rebekah Wade made a trip to Westminster to intercept the Conser...
-
American demonstrations are under way in the Afghan cities of Kabul and Jalalabad over the burning of copies of the Koran by Nato troops. ...
-
PHOTOGRAPHS of the spot where gangland figure Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll was shot dead were shown to a murder trial jury yesterday. The pictures...
-
Former Finks Bikie gang member Mark Sandery outside the Adelaide Magistrates Court. South Australian police are aware of the offer, which le...