Reopen Madeleine case, police urge

Scotland Yard has urged Portuguese authorities to reopen the search for Madeleine McCann as detectives said there are 195 potential leads to finding her alive. The detective leading the Metropolitan Police review said the case can still be solved before officers released a picture of what she might now look like as a nine-year-old. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said he believes her disappearance was a stranger abduction, as he said there are 195 "investigative opportunities". Police refused to say what evidence they had uncovered to suggest Madeleine is alive. Mr Redwood confirmed that his team of more than 30 officers involved in the case had been out to Portugal seven times, including a visit to the family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz. It will be five years ago next week since the three-year-old went missing as her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dined with friends nearby. A spokesman for the McCanns said the family was pleased with the image. Mr Redwood said his 37 officers had dealt with 40,000 pieces of information but the "primacy still sits in Portugal" in the attempt to find her. Commander Simon Foy said: "Most significantly, the message we want to bring to you is that, on the evidence, there is a possibility that she is alive and we desperately need your help today to appeal directly to the public for information to support our investigation." Mr Redwood said "evidence that she is alive stems from the forensic view of the timeline" that there was the opportunity for her to be taken. Investigations show "there do appear to be gaps", he added. Detectives in Portugal are also understood to want the case reopened but must gain judicial approval via the courts.

Insecure websites to be named and shamed after checks

Companies that do not do enough to keep their websites secure are to be named and shamed to help improve security. The list of good and bad sites will be published regularly by the non-profit Trustworthy Internet Movement (TIM). A survey carried out to launch the group found that more than 52% of sites tested were using versions of security protocols known to be compromised. The group will test websites to see how well they have implemented basic security software. Security fundamentals The group has been set up by security experts and entrepreneurs frustrated by the slow pace of improvements in online safety. "We want to stimulate some initiatives and get something done," said TIM's founder Philippe Courtot, serial entrepreneur and chief executive of security firm Qualys. He has bankrolled the group with his own money. TIM has initially focused on a widely used technology known as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Experts recruited to help with the initiative include SSL's inventor Dr Taher Elgamal; "white hat" hacker Moxie Marlinspike who has written extensively about attacking the protocol; and Michael Barrett, chief security officer at Paypal. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Everyone is now going to be able to see who has a good grade and who has a bad grade” Philippe Courtot Many websites use SSL to encrypt communications between them and their users. It is used to protect credit card numbers and other valuable data as it travels across the web. "SSL is one of the fundamental parts of the internet," said Mr Courtot. "It's what makes it trustworthy and right now it's not as secure as you think." Compromised certificates TIM plans a two-pronged attack on SSL. The first part would be to run automated tools against websites to test how well they had implemented SSL, said Mr Courtot. "We'll be making it public," he added. "Everyone is now going to be able to see who has a good grade and who has a bad grade." Early tests suggest that about 52% of sites checked ran a version of SSL known to be compromised. Companies who have done a bad job will be encouraged to improve and upgrade their implementations so it gets safer to use those sites. The second part of the initiative concerns the running of the bodies, known as certificate authorities, which guarantee that a website is what it claims to be. TIM said it would work with governments, industry bodies and companies to check that CAs are well run and had not been compromised. "It's a much more complex problem," said Mr Courtot. In 2011, two certificate authorities, DigiNotar and GlobalSign were found to have been compromised. In some cases this meant attackers eavesdropped on what should have been a secure communications channel. Steve Durbin, global vice president of the Information Security Forum which represents security specialists working in large corporations, said many of its members took responsibility for making sure sites were secure. "You cannot just say 'buyer beware'," he said. "That's not good enough anymore. They have a real a duty of care." He said corporations were also increasingly conscious of their reputation for providing safe and secure services to customers. Data breaches, hack attacks and poor security were all likely to hit share prices and could mean they lose customers, he noted.

Anti-depressants likely do more harm than good, study suggests

Commonly prescribed anti-depressants appear to be doing patients more harm than good, say researchers who have published a paper examining the impact of the medications on the entire body. See Also: Health & Medicine Pharmacology Birth Defects Mental Health Research Mind & Brain Depression Disorders and Syndromes Psychiatry Reference COX-2 inhibitor Psychoactive drug Seasonal affective disorder Anti-obesity drug "We need to be much more cautious about the widespread use of these drugs," says Paul Andrews, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University and lead author of the article, published recently in the online journal Frontiers in Psychology. "It's important because millions of people are prescribed anti-depressants each year, and the conventional wisdom about these drugs is that they're safe and effective." Andrews and his colleagues examined previous patient studies into the effects of anti-depressants and determined that the benefits of most anti-depressants, even taken at their best, compare poorly to the risks, which include premature death in elderly patients. Anti-depressants are designed to relieve the symptoms of depression by increasing the levels of serotonin in the brain, where it regulates mood. The vast majority of serotonin that the body produces, though, is used for other purposes, including digestion, forming blood clots at wound sites, reproduction and development. What the researchers found is that anti-depressants have negative health effects on all processes normally regulated by serotonin. The findings include these elevated risks: developmental problems in infants problems with sexual stimulation and function and sperm development in adults digestive problems such as diarrhea, constipation, indigestion and bloating abnormal bleeding and stroke in the elderly The authors reviewed three recent studies showing that elderly anti-depressant users are more likely to die than non-users, even after taking other important variables into account. The higher death rates indicate that the overall effect of these drugs on the body is more harmful than beneficial. "Serotonin is an ancient chemical. It's intimately regulating many different processes, and when you interfere with these things you can expect, from an evolutionary perspective, that it's going to cause some harm," Andrews says. Millions of people are prescribed anti-depressants every year, and while the conclusions may seem surprising, Andrews says much of the evidence has long been apparent and available. "The thing that's been missing in the debates about anti-depressants is an overall assessment of all these negative effects relative to their potential beneficial effects," he says. "Most of this evidence has been out there for years and nobody has been looking at this basic issue." In previous research, Andrews and his colleagues had questioned the effectiveness of anti-depressants even for their prescribed function, finding that patients were more likely to suffer relapse after going off their medications as their brains worked to re-establish equilibrium. With even the intended function of anti-depressants in question, Andrews says it is important to look critically at their continuing use. "It could change the way we think about such major pharmaceutical drugs," he says. "You've got a minimal benefit, a laundry list of negative effects -- some small, some rare and some not so rare. The issue is: does the list of negative effects outweigh the minimal benefit?"

Madeleine McCann, the British girl who went missing while on holiday in Portugal half a decade ago, could still be alive, Scotland Yard said on Wednesday.

Madeleine McCann as she might look aged 9  Photo: Teri Blythe

Detectives released a new “age progression” image of the toddler, which they said showed what she would look like today at the age of nine.

On Wednesday, Britain’s biggest police force said that as a result of evidence uncovered during a review “they now believe there is a possibility Madeleine is still alive”.

Officers have so far identified nearly 200 new items for investigation within historic material and are also “developing what they believe to be genuinely new material”.

Scotland Yard urged Portuguese authorities to reopen the search for her amid the new "investigative opportunities".

Police said the image, created ahead of what would have been her ninth birthday on May 12, had been created in “close collaboration with the family”.

Dengue Fever Asian Mosquito Could Invade UK

The mosquito can carry dengue and chikungunya viruses

 

A mosquito that spreads tropical diseases including dengue fever may be poised to invade the UK because of climate change.

The Asian tiger mosquito has already been reported in France and Belgium and could be migrating north as winters become warmer and wetter.

Scientists have urged "wide surveillance" for the biting insect across countries of central and northern Europe, including the UK.

The mosquito can carry dengue and chikungunya viruses, both of which cause high fevers. The infections usually occur in tropical regions of Africa, Asia and South America.

Scientists led by Dr Samantha Martin, from the University of Liverpool, used climate models to predict how changing conditions might affect Asian tiger mosquito distribution.

They wrote in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface: "Mosquito climate suitability has significantly increased over the southern UK, northern France, the Benelux, parts of Germany, Italy, Sicily and the Balkan countries."

The research shows that parts of the UK could become hot-spots of Asian tiger mosquito activity between 2030 and 2050.

The mosquito has been introduced into Europe from Asia via goods shipments, mainly used tyres and bamboo.

Climate change is now shifting conditions suitable for the insect from southern Europe to central north-western areas.

The mosquito could survive in water butts and vases, and may find winter protection in greenhouses, said the researchers.

'I want France out of eurozone!' - Presidential candidate

Democracy needs to be restored in France as well as control over its military, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a right-wing candidate in the presidential race, told RT. He says “Yes” to free trade and “No” to an undemocratic political super state. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan also believes France is not free because its leaders are dominated by the EU eurocrats. “I like Europe but I don't like 20 persons in Brussels who have never been elected. They are often corrupted or under influence of financial interests – and they decide everything. It's not possible anymore. Who is Brussels? Nobody!” Therefore he wants France to quit the eurozone. “I'm not against the free market, I'm against the system that doesn't let France to defend itself,” Dupont-Aignan says. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, born in 1961 in Paris. Branded a Gaullist, sovereigntist, right-wing euro-skeptic. A member of the center right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party until January 2007. The founder and the president of a right “Arise the Republic” party in November 2008. He is a co-president of the European political party EUDemocrats- Alliance for a Europe of Democracies. The candidate is also against US control over NATO. “I don't want to see French military under American decision. I don't want to be in Afghanistan, I want my country decide where to go.” Dupont-Aignan is forthright on immigration, which is a hot issue in French society, especially after the recent terror attacks in Tolouse. “It's crazy to accept more and more people if we have neither schools, nor jobs for them!”

Marine Le Pen, who made a spectacular French presidential election debut Sunday

Marine Le Pen, who made a spectacular French presidential election debut Sunday, has sought to transcend the bigoted image of the National Front she inherited from her firebrand father Jean-Marie. The 43-year-old lawyer won 18.2 to 20 percent in Sunday's first-round of the French presidential election, official estimates said, the highest ever score for her anti-immigrant, anti-European, far-right party. This did not allow her to go through to the second round on May 6 -- in which President Nicolas Sarkozy squares off against Socialist rival Francois Hollande -- but it puts her party in its strongest position yet. "The battle of France has just begun," she declared Sunday after the estimates were released, adding that "we have exploded the monopoly of the two parties" -- the Socialists and Sarkozy's right-wing UMP. The telegenic blonde had been hoping to repeat her father's stunning showing in 2002 when he defeated Socialist Lionel Jospin in the first round before losing to Jacques Chirac in the second. Calling for "economic patriotism" and vowing to leave the eurozone, she railed against globalisation and the "Islamisation" of France, initially gaining some ground with attacks on the production of Islamic halal meat. Sarkozy sought to steal her thunder on two key issues for the far-right -- immigration and security -- with his calls for fewer immigrants and his handling of deadly attacks lat month by an Islamist extremist in Toulouse. Le Pen, a seasoned politician before she took over the party last year, is credited with offering a softer image of the party dominated by her father since he founded it in 1972, and tainted by his extremist outbursts. But critics say she represents the same old hard-right National Front in new clothes, playing on white voters' sensitivities over France's Muslim population, estimated at up to six million. The twice-divorced mother of three was elected to local and regional council posts and in 2004 to the European Parliament, and also served as the National Front's legal head. Analysts see her as part of a new age of far-right leaders across Europe seeking to shake off the fascist stigma of their predecessors. "She embodies a new political generation in the National Front, which wants to modernise it and stop it seeming old-fashioned," said Nonna Mayer, a specialist on the far right at the Sciences-Po school in Paris. Like her father, Marine Le Pen has not avoided causing outrage with outspoken comments. Last year she compared Muslims praying in the streets outside overcrowded mosques in France to the Nazi occupation. Jean-Marie Le Pen on Sunday denied that he had already been eclipsed by his youngest daughter, said: "I passed her the baton. She runs faster than me, then that's so much for the better."

Four years as France’s first lady looked to have taken their toll on Carla Bruni

Four years as France’s first lady looked to have taken their toll on Carla Bruni yesterday as she voted in presidential elections which are on course to bring them to an end.

Just before exit polls predicted that her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, would suffer a humiliating defeat, Carla ticked her ballot paper close to her home in Paris’s 16th arrondissement.

Many suggested that too much botox and other surgical procedures had transformed her fresh good-looks into something a lot stranger.

Natural? Many suggested that too much botox and other surgical procedures had transformed Carla's fresh good-looks into something a lot stranger. She was pictured yesterday voting in the French election

‘She looks like the Bride of Wildenstein,’ said one onlooker, referring to former millionaire art dealer’s wife Jocelyn Wildenstein who severely altered her face through cosmetic procedures intended to make her look younger.

Sarkozy, you're finished

A feeble economy and lack of jobs could see Nicolas Sarkozy ousted from office as France goes to the polls for the first round of presidential elections today.

Many people are fed up with Sarkozy's showy style and his failure to bring down unemployment.

If they do vote against him, Sarkozy will become the country's first president to lose a fight for re-election in more than 30 years.

The result of today's poll will cut the list of 10 candidates down to just two finalists for the decisive run-off on May 6, which will set a course for the next five years.

Polls have showed for months that conservative Sarkozy - who has been relatively unpopular for months, if not years - and Francois Hollande, a Socialist, are likely to make the cut.

Arriving for battle: French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, arrives with wife Carla Bruni, right to cast his vote in the first round of 2012 French presidential election in Paris

 

Not popular: If France does vote against him, Sarkozy will become the country's first president to lose a fight for re-election in more than 30 years

 

 

Praying for divine intervention? Sarkozy raises his eyes to the sky as he and Ms Bruni make their way into the polling booth in Paris

Hollande, 57, promises less drastic spending cuts than Sarkozy and wants higher taxes on the wealthy to fund state-aided job creation, in particular a 75 per cent upper tax rate on income above 1 million euros ($1.32million).

Sarkozy, defending his record on the campaign trail, has repeatedly pointed to a tough economic climate and debt troubles across Europe - not just in France.

But with turnout a looming question, surprises could await among candidates including far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen, Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon or centrist Francois Bayrou.

J'adore him: Polls have shown that Francois Hollande, a Socialist, is the favourite with Sarkozy to make the final two in the French presidential elections

Hopefuls: Jean-Luc Melenchon, Front de Gauche leftist party's candidate, left, and Marine Le Pen, National Front Party Candidate, right, cast their votes

While they are not expected to win, a strong performance by one or all of them could cast a shadow over the second round vote. Polls show the five other candidates are expected to receive low single-digit percentages.

The Interior Ministry was expected to release its first estimates of turnout at around midday.

Meanwhile balloting got under way yesterday in France's embassies and overseas holdings. Polls have shown that concerns about jobs - with the unemployment rate hovering near a 10-year high - and the economy are top issues.

Cast your votes: A woman takes her ballots in Mont Saint-Michel, northwestern France, left, while right, a French ex pat votes at a polling booth in Shanghai

The campaign has often centred on issues such as immigration, Islam in France, and calls for taxes on the rich - which experts suggest will in fact have little effect on France's high state budget deficit.

The presidential election will determine the make-up of the next government and will finish just a month before elections for the National Assembly that is currently controlled by Mr Sarkozy's conservatives.

Like Barack Obama, Sarkozy swept to power on a wave of hope for change. His wave crashed on the global financial crisis and his own failings.

Around the word: Indian-French citizens stand in line at a polling station in Pondicherry, south-east India

Queue: Monks of Mont des Cats' abbey, queue to cast their ballots in Godewaersvelde, northern France

SARKOZY: A FALL FROM GRACE

In 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy inspired voters with pledges to break with the past and make France a more dynamic economy.

But after an initial wave of reforms, his momentum fizzled. 

His stormy personal life got in the way: he divorced months into office, then quickly married former supermodel Carla Bruni, and became seen as a bling-bling president more concerned with pleasing his super-rich friends than serving the public.

He enjoyed a string of foreign policy successes, improving relations with the United States and Israel, leading an international airstrike campaign in Libya and rallying European partners to stem Europe's financial crisis.

But voters at home felt forgotten and hurt by a presidency that included France's worst recession since World War II.

Francois Hollande, despite a bland persona and few eye-catching campaign ideas, has been more popular than Sarkozy for months.

Sarkozy showed signs of a possible comeback once he hit the campaign trail. The shooting rampage in southern France also gave him a platform to appear presidential and project the tough guy image that helped launch him to national prominence.

But in recent days his support has lagged again. The last polls before the election, released on Friday, showed Sarkozy slipping a few points behind Hollande in the first round - and a crushing 10 to 15 points away from victory in the runoff.

Under a quirk of French electoral rules, balloting got under way on Saturday in France's embassies and overseas holdings, starting in tiny Saint Pierre and Miquelon - islands south of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic Ocean. 

Campaigning and the release of poll data have been suspended until the first-round results come in this evening.

Surprises may await, like a surge by the anti-immigrant far right or utopian far left. Hollande, in his Mr Nice Guy kind of way, has tapped into a fear of the free market that has always held more sway in France than almost anywhere in the West, and has enjoyed a resurgence in the era of Occupy Wall Street and anti-banker backlash.

Hollande wants to tax high-income earners at 75 per cent and reconsider a hard-won European fiscal treaty meant to stem the continent's debt crisis. He says it's too focused on cost-cutting and hurts ordinary people.

Investors worry that France - no matter who's in charge, but especially if it is Hollande - is on a path to debt disaster if it doesn't tighten public finances and slash or rethink its generous welfare benefits.

Yet Hollande is just one of five leftists in today's race - and he's the most moderate and pragmatic of the bunch. If fiery rival Jean-Luc Melenchon, with his red neck-scarves and rallies thick with communist red flags, scores strongly, he and his voters will press Hollande to swing his own policies even farther leftward.

Speaking to international reporters on Friday, Melenchon - who wants to tax the ultra-rich at 100 per cent - called international finance 'parasitic.' He criticised U.S. hegemony and military might, looking instead to communist China for partnership.

On the other side of the spectrum, the campaign fear-mongering has a different focus: France's second most popular religion.

Sealing fate: A French woman carries her daughter as she casts her vote at the French Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam

UK ARRIVES ON FRANCE'S ELECTORAL MAP

French ex-pats living in the UK will vote for a French MP for Northern Europe for the first time in June.

The person who wins this newly created position will sit in the French National Assembly.

Their constituency will cover Northern Europe, which include the UK Scandinavia and the Baltic counties.

Eleven French MPs will represent natives living outside France. Some 400,000 live in London alone, making the capital the sixth largest French city.

Axelle Lemaire, chair of the French Socialist Party in London and a King’s College London graduate, is in the running for the position.

Far right candidate Marine Le Pen rails against the 'Islamisation' of France and made a stink about the widespread availability of halal meat and Muslims praying on pavements due to a lack of mosque space.

The rhetoric horrifies many voters and stigmatises France's estimated five million Muslims - Western Europe's largest Muslim population. But it has hit a nerve among many French people, especially after a suspected gunman killed Jewish schoolchildren and paratroopers in the name of radical Islam in a rampage last month.

Le Pen - and many of her voters - link Islam with immigration, since many French Muslims have family roots in former colonies in Africa. And they think France has too much of both.

Sarkozy has followed Le Pen's lead. He championed a ban on Islamic face veils that he says imprison women and go against French values, and says the country should slash the number of immigrants it takes in. And he's threatened to pull France out of Europe's border-free travel zone if more is not done to tackle illegal immigration, an idea gaining traction in other capitals.

However in a Friday night rally in the Riviera city of Nice, Sarkozy sought to distance himself from the far right and appealed to his followers: 'We must win!'

Hollande looked calm and easygoing as he walked down the main street of Vitry-le-Francois in eastern France on Friday, stopping in a pizzeria, several bars and cafes and a clothing shop to chat.

Crowds were passionate in the nearby town of Saint Dizier, where factories have closed and unemployment is a key concern.
'Francois for president!' fans chanted, pushing and shoving to shake Hollande's hand.
Other chants targeted his chief rival: 'Sarkozy, you're finished!'

France and Germany want to suspend the Shengen Agreement

They say they want a temporary suspension while the crisis continues. Spain will being introducing border restrictions during the European Central Bank meeting in Barcelona at the start of May.Angela Merkel and Nicolás Sarkozy - The Interior Ministers of France and Germany have written a joint letter in which they call for the reform of, and ‘temporary suspension’ of the Schengen agreement which allows for the free movement between most member states of the EU. They say the change is necessary ‘to control the massive flow of immigrants’. The call comes just ahead of the 25th anniversary of the treaty this coming Monday, although many countries signed up in March 1995. France and Germany consider that a ‘temporary suspension’ is needed during the crisis, and Paris and Berlin speak of ‘provisional’ closure of frontiers, and only when a country in the Schengen space cannot control the flow of immigrants. They say they will give the details to their European partners at the next conference. Meanwhile Spain has announced the suspension of the Schengen Treaty and the re-establishing of frontier controls with France ahead of the European Central Bank meeting which is to be held in Barcelona on May 3. It has not yet been decided how long the border restriction will remain in place, but say it will allow the authorities to act if there is ‘a serious threat to public order or interior security’. The measure will only affect the frontiers between Spain and France from the Basque Country to Cataluña. Reports indicate that it was the Catalan Government to step up the controls in the face of possible disturbances and the arrival of anti-system protestors from other countries in Europe.

Diddy tops hip-hop rich list

Rap mogul and entrepreneur Sean 'Diddy' Combs has topped Forbes magazine's annual hip-hop rich list. The star is worth $550 million, according to the publication. New dad Jay-Z comes in second with an estimated $460 million fortune. Coachella festival headliner Dr. Dre, Bryan 'Birdman' Williams and 50 Cent round out the top five.

10 things not to say to someone when they're ill

'People really did feel the need to reassure me that my hideousness was plain to see.' Illustration: David McCoy for the Guardian

What no one ever tells you about serious illness is that it places you at the centre of a maelstrom of concerned attention from family and friends. Of course it does. That's one of the nice things. It's actually the only nice thing. But it's also a rather tricky challenge, at a time when you may feel – just slightly – that you have enough on your plate. Suddenly, on top of everything else, you are required to manage the emotional requirements of all those who are dear to you, and also, weirdly, one or two people who you don't see from one year to the next, but who suddenly decide that they really have to be at your bedside, doling out homilies, 24 hours a day. It's lovely to hear from people when you're ill. But it's also lovely when they add: "No need to reply." The biggest shock, when I was diagnosed with cancer the summer before last, was quickly observing that people can be quite competitive in their determination to "be there for you", and occasionally unable to hide their chagrin when some other chum has been awarded a particularly sensitive role at a particularly sensitive medical consultation. Nobody means to be intrusive or irritating. It's all done with the finest intentions. But, God, it's a pain. Yet by not saying 10 simple things, you too, can be the friend in need that you want to be.

1 "I feel so sorry for you"

It's amazing, the number of people who imagine that it feels just great to be the object of pity. Don't even say "I feel so sorry for you" with your eyes. One of my friends was just brilliant at mimicking the doleful-puppy-poor-you gaze, and when I had been subjected to a sustained bout of it, I used to crawl over to the local pub for lunch with him, just so that he could make me laugh by doing it. Don't say "I feel so sorry for you" with your hand either. When someone patted my thigh, or silently rested their paw on it, often employing the exasperating form of cranial communication known as "sidehead" at the same time, I actually wanted to deck them. Do say: "I so wish you didn't have to go through this ghastly time." That acknowledges that you are still a sentient being, an active participant in your own drama, not just, all of a sudden, A Helpless Victim.

2 "If anyone can beat this, it's you"

Funnily enough, it's not comforting to be told that you have to go into battle with your disease, like some kind of medieval knight on a romantic quest. Submitting to medical science, in the hope of a cure, is just that – a submission. The idea that illness is a character test, with recovery as a reward for the valiant, is glib to the point of insult. Do say: "My mum had this 20 years ago, and she's in Bengal now, travelling with an acrobatic circus." (Though not if that isn't true.)

3 "You're looking well"

One doesn't want to be told that one's privations are invisible to the naked eye. Anyway, one is never too ill to look in a mirror, and see a great big moon-face, bloated with steroids and sporting the bright red panda eyes that are triggered by that most aggressive and efficient of breast-cancer drugs, Docetaxel. I knew I looked like death warmed up, not least because I felt like death warmed up. Nobody wants to be patronised with ridiculous lies. They are embarrassing for both speaker and listener. If your sick pal wants to discuss her appearance, she'll ask you what you reckon. It'll be a leading question, so take your cue from her.

4 "You're looking terrible"

 

I know it sounds improbable. But people really did feel the need to reassure me that my hideousness was plain to see. One person told me that while I'd put on a lot of weight, I'd of course be able to go on a diet as soon as I was better. I wouldn't have minded quite so much, if she hadn't arrived bearing a giant mound of snacks and cakes, a great, indiscriminate pile of stuff that suggested she'd been awarded four minutes in Whole Foods by Dale Winton, in a nightmarish haute-bourgeois version of Supermarket Sweep. And, in fact, I haven't gone on a diet. Somehow, being a size 10 doesn't seem tremendously importantany longer. On the other hand, when I said: "Don't I look monstrous?" I was asking people to help me to laugh at myself – which many did – and to tell me that this too would pass. One of my friends took photographs of me, behind a curtain in the hospital, looking comically interfered with by surgeons, and festooned with tubes and drains full of bloody fluid. We laughed so much that I probably came nearer to death right then than at any other point.

5 "Let me know the results"

 

Oddly, one doesn't particularly want to feel obliged to hit the social networks the moment one returns from long, complicated, stressful and invasive tests, which ultimately delivered news you simply didn't want to hear. Of course, this request is made because people are worried. But, a bit of worry is easier to bear than the process of coming to terms with news that confirms another round of debilitating, soul-crushing treatment. If people do want to talk about such matters, they really need to be allowed some control over when, how and to whom. Contacting their very nearest and dearest instead is fine, as is volunteering to spread the bad tidings to others who are also anxious.

6 "Whatever I can do to help"

Apart from anything else, it's boring. Everybody says it, even though your assumption tends to be that people do want to help, of course. That doesn't mean that help should not be offered. But "Can I pick the children up from school on Tuesdays?" or "Can I come round with a fish pie and a Mad Men box set?" is greatly preferable to: "Can I saddle you with the further responsibility of thinking up a task for me?" If you do happen to be on the receiving end of "whatever I can do to help", be shameless. Delegate with steely and ruthless intent.

7 "Oh, no, your worries are unfounded"

Especially when those worries are extremely founded indeed. Like a lot of women, when I was first diagnosed, I was disproportionately focused on the prospect of losing my hair. One friend, every time I tried to discuss this with her, would assert – baselessly – that this wasn't as likely to happen as it used to be. Actually, it's still very likely, and indeed it came to pass. But the crucial thing was this: I didn't want to talk about how pointless it was to be fearful. I wanted to talk about how sorely I dreaded the day when I was bald. When people want to talk about their fears, they want to talk about their fears, not to be told, quite blatantly, that their fears are imaginary. Even when they are imaginary, there are more subtle ways of offering assurance than blank rebuttal. Usually, an ill person brings something up because they feel a need to discuss it. Denying them that need is a bit brutal.

8 "What does chemotherapy [for example] feel like?"

 

It is staggering, the number of people who find it impossible to restrain their curiosity. Swaths of folk appear to imagine that exactly what you need, in your vulnerability, is a long and technical Q&A during which you furnish them with exhaustive detail pertaining to the most shit thing that's ever happened to your body in your life. If someone wants to talk about their procedures or their symptoms, they will. If you have to ask questions, that's prima facie evidence that this is not what they'd discuss, if only they could be gifted with just a smidgeon of control over the conversational initiative. Again, the golden rule is: take your lead from the person undergoing the experience. I tended to want my mind taken off all that stuff, and have a nice chat about nice things. One of my friends, asked by another what she had been up to lately, found herself saying she'd had a great time visiting Deborah in hospital after her mastectomy. It had indeed been a lively visit. Eight lovely people had turned up all at once, and it had been quite the rambunctious gathering. When she told me that it had been an absurd social highlight for her, I felt fantastically proud.

9 "I really must see you"

Don't say it, particularly, if you are then going to indulge in some long and complicated series of exchanges about your own busy life and the tremendous difficulty you have in finding an actual window, even though this appointment is so awfully important to you. At one point, I was sitting in a chemotherapy suite, large and painful cannula in the back of my hand, pecking out texts to somebody who had to sort something out this week, and wouldn't take "Let's do this later" for an answer. When I reluctantly picked a particular time from the list she had bossily pinged over, she replied that she'd have to bring her toddler son with her if itreally had to be then. I knew I couldn't handle a tiny visitor (and wasn't sure about the ability of the tiny visitor to handle it either), so we then arranged something else. A few days later, at the very time of predicted childcare crisis, I saw a tweet from her, declaring that she was wearing a new cocktail dress and held up in traffic on her way to a long-anticipated and very glamorous do. She had clearly just buggered up her dates and didn't want to say: "Whoops. Actually, I'll be at a PA-A-ARDEEEEE." Fair enough. Sweet, really. Nevertheless, the planning thing is an arse. I liked it when people just said, "Can I come by after work this evening?" or, even better, "I've got tickets to the theatre on the 25th. Tell me on the day if you can face it."

10 "I'm so terribly upset about your condition"

One friend, when I told her the initial news, blurted out: "I can't cope without you!" and unleashed a flood of tears. (I hadn't sobbed myself at that point. I never did.) Ages later, when she emerged from the loo at the pub I had designated as Telling People HQ, she explained that she'd been caterwauling unrestrainedly when a kind lady asked her what was wrong. Having sketched out her troubles, she got this reply, or something like it: "What? You're weeping in the lavatory, while your friend is in the bar having breast cancer? Pull yourself together, and get out there." This had inspired another torrent of waterworks. And that is the most important thing to remember, when your friend is facing a frightening and possibly fatal illness: it's not, not, not about you. If you're too upset to be in a position to comfort your friend, send cards, send flowers, send presents. But don't send your ailing chum a passionate storm of your own wild grief, personally delivered. It's a little too needy, under the circs.

If you recognise things that you have said or done yourself within this list, don't feel bad about it, at all. I most certainly have, and I've said and done much, much worse too; it took being on the receiving end before I realised what it could feel like. The thing is this: giant illness is a time of great intensity, and even the most cack-handed expressions of support or love are better than a smack in the face with a wet tea-towel. People feel helpless when they see that their friend is suffering. Sometimes – often – they say the wrong thing. But they are there, doing the best that they can, at a terrible, abject time. That's the most important thing of all. I look back on those grisly moments of ineptitude and clumsiness with exasperated amusement and tender, despairing, deep, deep fondness. The great lesson I learned from having cancer, was how splendid my friends were, whatever their odd little longueurs. They all, in their different ways, let me know that they loved me, and that is the most helpful thing of all. I'm so lucky to have them.

Energy-rich Qatar seeks la dolce vita with purchase of luxury resorts on Italy’s Sardinia isle

Qatar signed a deal Monday to buy the operator of four luxury resorts and other properties on the island of Sardinia as the wealthy Gulf emirate looks to bolster ties with Italy. The purchase coincided with a visit to Rome by the country’s emir. It is the latest deal in a European shopping spree that has given the natural-gas rich state a stake in European banks, energy companies and some of the continent’s best known brands. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post State-owned Qatar Holding, an arm of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, said it will acquire resort operator Smeralda Holding from Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm Colony Capital. The deal includes the Cala di Volpe, Pitrizza, Romazzino and Cervo hotels, a marina and shipyard, a golf club and a 51 percent interest in 2,290 hectares (5,660 acres) of undeveloped land nearby. Qatar Holding plans to keep Smeralda’s existing management, and said Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. will continue to run the hotels. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal must still be approved by Italian regulators. The deal was announced as Italian Premier Mario Monti held talks with Qatar’s emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani at a government villa in Rome. Monti hailed the visit as way for the countries to strengthen their friendship. “I am very happy for this meeting because it was (an) occasion to consolidate a strategic relationship between the two countries,” Monti told a news conference after the talks. The emir told reporters that Qatar’s sovereign fund is looking for ways to invest in Italy. When asked what factors discouraged investment in Italy, the emir said “corruption, first of all,” according to Monti. Among the accords signed Monday was one aimed at boosting efforts to fight graft and crime. Another raises the number of passenger flights between the countries from 14 to 35 weekly, and cargo flights from two to seven, Monti said. Monti promised Italian help to Qatar as it prepares to host soccer’s 2022 World Cup. “Italy has unique know-how and can contribute to the success” of the sporting event, the Italian leader said. Over the past several years, Qatar has used its vast energy wealth to amass a diverse portfolio of European properties. Its holdings on the continent include stakes in Barclays PLC, Credit Suisse Group, Volkswagen AG, and the London Stock Exchange. It acquired stakes in Spanish power utility Iberdrola SA and electric company Energias de Portugal last year. Qatari investors control French soccer team Paris Saint-Germain and Spanish club Malaga, while the logo of state-sponsored nonprofit Qatar Foundation graces the jerseys of another Spanish team, Barcelona.

Surf Air: Can an all-you-can-fly airline possibly work?

 

SURF AIR, a Californian start-up, has a novel business model: for a monthly fee you can fly with the airline as much as you want. Is buffet-style air travel the wave of the future? JetBlue and Sun Country Airlines have both already tried offering all-you-can-fly passes, but so far no carrier has built its business model exclusively on a buffet plan. The idea isn't bad, but some scepticism is warranted. At $790 a month, Surf Air's flying plan will probably only appeal to business travellers who often go to the same places and rich Californians in long-distance relationships. Will that customer base allow Surf Air to make a profit? Maybe: 20m frequent flyers jetted between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 2011, according to the company's numbers. The airline plans to launch with service between Palo Alto, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, but it still needs to secure regulatory approval, according to a company press release. Frequent flyers make up a huge portion of the business-traveller population, and almost every airline relies on business travellers to get (and stay) in the black. There is surely some group of private-jet-sharing business travellers who might be attracted to an all-you-can-jet airline as a cheaper alternative. A lot will depend on how many flights and how much convenience Surf Air can offer, and how quickly it can expand service. The company's promises certainly seem attractive: [Surf Air will offer] its members 30-second booking and cancellations, travel to and from uncongested regional airports, and an easy arrive-and-fly process with no hassle, no lines and no extra fees. It's easy to make promises, though. It's much harder to run a profitable airline. As Gulliver often notes, the American airline sector overall has never really made any money—in fact, total earnings over the entire history of the industry are minus $33 billion. That, of course, suggests that existing airlines might be doing it wrong. Maybe all-you-can-fly really is the way to go. It's at least worth a shot. I'll be eager to see what people think of the final product—assuming regulators give the go-ahead.

Worrying is good for you and reflects higher IQ

It evolved in humans along with intelligence to make them more adept at avoiding danger. A study of 42 people found the worst sufferers of a common anxiety disorder had a higher IQ than those whose symptoms were less severe. Scientists say their findings published in Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience, suggest worrying has developed as a beneficial trait. Psychiatrist Professor Jeremy Coplan, of SUNY Downstate Medical Centre in New York, and colleagues found high intelligence and worry are linked with brain activity measured by the depletion of the nutrient choline in the white matter of the brain. He said: "While excessive worry is generally seen as a negative trait and high intelligence as a positive one, worry may cause our species to avoid dangerous situations, regardless of how remote a possibility they may be. "In essence, worry may make people 'take no chances,' and such people may have higher survival rates. Thus, like intelligence, worry may confer a benefit upon the species." The researchers made the discovery by monitoring activity in the brains of twenty six patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and eighteen healthy volunteers to assess the relationship between IQ, worry and the metabolism of choline. In the control group high IQ was associated with a lower degree of worry, but in those diagnosed with GAD it was linked with more. The correlation between IQ and worry was significant in both the GAD group and the healthy control group. But in the former it was positive and in the latter negative. Previous studies have indicated excessive worry tends to exist both in people with higher and lower intelligence, and less so in people of moderate intelligence. It has been suggested people with lower intelligence suffer more anxiety because they achieve less success in life. Worrying has also been shown to lessen the effect of depression by countering brain activity that heightens the condition.

Eating nuts can help stave off obesity, says study

 

Dieters often dismiss them because of their high fat content, but research suggests that snacking on nuts can help keep you slim. A study found that those who consumed varieties such as almonds, cashews and pistachios demonstrated a lower body weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference compared to non-consumers. They were also at lower risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Experts are now recommending a daily intake of 1.5 ounces, or three tablespoons of nuts as part of a healthy diet. Lead researcher Carol O'Neil, from Louisiana State University, said: 'One of the more interesting findings was the fact that tree nut consumers had lower body weight, as well as lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference compared to non-consumers. 'The mean weight, BMI, and waist circumference were 4.19 pounds, 0.9kg/m2 and 0.83 inches lower in consumers than non-consumers, respectively.' In the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers compared risk factors for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome of nut consumers versus those who did not consume nuts.

Urban France moves to the countryside

 

a lazy village cafe in the south of France on a sunny midweek morning – makes it all the more incongruous to listen to Cathy Guillermet describe her high-octane Paris advertising career and the punishing commuter lifestyle that went with it. She and her husband, Jean-Maurice, both native Parisians, had built successful careers in the capital and had fallen into the sort of routine that left little time for family life. “We lived in the suburbs, and to drive 15km into the city would take me an hour and a half every morning,” Guillermet recalls. “The advertising industry is never-ending stress. Clients expect to be able to reach you at any time of day. I’d be arriving home at 8.30pm, just in time to put the children to bed.” The idea of leaving Paris had been a vague dream of the couple for a long time, but when Jean-Maurice was offered a job in the building industry in Montpellier seven years ago, they saw their chance. In their early 40s, Guillermet and her husband packed in their jobs, sold the house and headed south with their two youngest children, then aged three and four. Now, they live in the village of Montaud, about half an hour from Montpellier. “It was about quality of life more than anything else,” she says. “I felt I wanted a change in life – a chance to give ourselves and our children more time. I wanted the children to be able to run around, to be free, to play sport.” In moving from Paris to the south, Guillermet and her family were joining a wave of internal migrants – one million each year, according to the national statistics office – who are rapidly changing the demographic and political map of France. Large-scale shifts such as this have been taking place for centuries; the difference now is that the route has been reversed. In the early 1800s, the French population was concentrated in the west of the country, but the growth of industrial centres in the north and east drew huge numbers of people to those regions’ cities in search of work. In recent decades, however, people have increasingly been moving in the opposite direction. Broadly, today’s wave is from the north and northeast towards the coasts, leading to huge population growth around southern and eastern cities in a belt that stretches from Nantes to Nice via La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier and Aix-en-Provence. The shifts are so significant that, in the past 15 years, France’s long-standing trend of rural depopulation has, by some measures, come to an end. People are still leaving the countryside to look for jobs, but they are being replaced by urbanites who have fled the cities. Rocketing property prices have played their part, but other driving factors are technology, longer life expectancy (which means more leisure time), rising incomes and better transport. In 1950, the average distance a French person travelled in a day was five kilometres (three miles); today it is 45km (28 miles). A majority live within three hours of Paris by train. Cyril Esnos found himself in a similar situation to the Guillermets, tiring of his busy commuter lifestyle and pining for an escape to the countryside. A marketing executive at a company based in Paris, he was living with his wife and three children in a house in Melun, outside the city. “We had spent a weekend in Montpellier a few years before – we liked the way of life, the proximity to the beach, the sun.” So as soon as he could find a job, they sold up in Paris and rented an apartment in the heart of Montpellier. Five years on, the family have no regrets, Esnos says, but he admits that they did come close to giving up and retracing their steps. “From a lifestyle point of view, we never had regrets, but professionally it’s different.” Montpellier was pinpointed as a new capital of the south by the then president Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s, and it has been developing since. It is home to a renowned medical faculty, and a big pharmaceutical and biochemistry sector has emerged here. Under the guidance of Georges Frêche, its dominant mayor between 1977 and 2004, the city underwent huge development. Its industrial base remains relatively narrow, however, and unemployment is high. Esnos’s wife, a psychologist, could not find work, and it was only her success in passing the civil service entrance exams while in Montpellier than kept them from leaving. “That changed the dynamic. I set up my business, my wife got the exam and the kids settled in.” The business Esnos created was the website changerdeville.fr, the first in France aimed specifically at those who want to move to a new region. “People who move need to find a house, a job, a transport company, a new insurer, a new bank – everything changes,” he explains. “I thought, maybe there’s a business in this.” Some 120,000 French people move to the Mediterranean coast, between Perpignan and Nice, every year. Half of these are retirees and the other half are young, generally highly educated couples looking for lower rents and more space. The effect is striking in Montpellier, where two-thirds of the population were not here 30 years ago. “This is a mass phenomenon,” says sociologist Jean Viard. “It’s not a small social group. “In the 19th century, a poor peasant didn’t have a choice. He went towards industrial cities – and in France, that meant north. The significant element is that today people move because they want to live in a place, and generally they’re the places where tourists tend to go.” All of these movements are gradually redrawing France’s political map. Toulouse and Bordeaux were right-wing bastions encircled by left-wing strongholds, but now those cities are moving to the left. The opposite has happened in Aix and Avignon, which have shifted from left to right. “It’s disrupting the old equilibrium,” says Viard. After seven years, Cathy Guillermet feels firmly rooted in the south. She runs her own communications company from home and has been elected to the local village council. Does she miss Paris? “Not at all. I go there once or twice a year on holiday, and we do things we never did before, like visiting the Eiffel Tower. That was something I never did in 40 years there.” She adds: “You have everything here. This afternoon, we’re thinking of taking our books and going to the beach.” Irish voices: A low cost of living, a gentle life  Sinéad Ryan, an acupuncturist from Co Dublin, moved to Pézenas in the south of France four years ago “I had been in senior management jobs, and had a fairly charmed life overall. There was a house and a sports car and all the rest of it – appearance-wise, I’d made it. But I wasn’t happy, so I went back to college in my early 40s. “I moved to France in May 2008. When you come to live in a place like this, you have to be prepared to try anything. I did a bit of waitressing, and then I got a job in a spa. These days I’m freelance – I work hard for six months of the year, and then I take most of the other six months off. The cost of living is not that high here – there’s a lot you can do at very little cost. Actually, it’s a very gentle life. “One of the things that always hits me is how there’s no concept of customer service in France. You go into a shop and say: ‘I’d like a pack of red thumb-tacks’, and they’ll say: ‘Sorry, we don’t have any’. They could have blue, green, black, purple, pink. But you asked for red, and they don’t have it. They wouldn’t say to you, ‘We have all these other ones, Madame’. You have to learn to ask open questions all the time. It’s not a complaint, just an observation. “Village life here is wonderful. I know that I wouldn’t have the social life in Ireland that I have here. As a single woman in Ireland, I found it very difficult. Here, I feel very comfortable going to the local café on my own, and there’s so much going on in summer that you meet people quite easily.”

Serial killer fears grow in France after Paris deaths

Fears are growing that a serial killer may be operating in the French capital following four similar murders there since November. The killings were all carried out in and around Paris, reportedly with the same gun. The latest was on Thursday. Interior Minister Claude Gueant vowed all would be done to solve the case. The gunman fled on a motorbike each time, like in the recent killings around Toulouse, but no motive for the latest shootings has been determined. Mr Gueant, speaking on French radio, Europe 1, on Friday, said he was "putting every effort into finding out who is behind this". 'Normal person' All victims were shot with a 7.65mm calibre weapon, a police source told Agence France-Presse news agency. The latest was a 47-year-old widow and mother of Algerian origin, who was shot in the foyer of her apartment block in the Grande-Borne district of Grigny, south of Paris. "Everyone is in shock," one of her neighbours told AFP. "She didn't feel threatened. She's a normal person, simple, no history." The killing followed three others: 27 November: Laboratory assistant, 35, in Grigny 22 February: Man, 52, neighbour of first victim, also in Grigny 19 March: Man, 81, shot in Ris-Orangis suburb Prosecutor Marie-Suzanne Le Queau said during a press conference on Friday that all the killings took place between 16:00 and 18:00. Ms Le Queau said the last three killings had particularly similar circumstances, with all the victims shot in the head. Cartridges were recovered from Thursday's shooting. The first killing was different but involved the same weapon, she said. Ms Le Queau said police were trying to determine whether there were links between the victims and whether more than one perpetrator was involved. A man turned himself in for the first killing, but then retracted his confession and the other killings took place while he was in custody. Many in France are still coming to terms with the killings by self-styled al-Qaeda gunman Mohamed Merah in and around Toulouse. He was shot dead by police last month in the city, following attacks in which he murdered seven people, including three children. The killings have prompted two high-profile police operations targeting Islamist suspects across the nation.

Freedom near after years in hell but Schapelle Corby is too scared to hope

CONVICTED drug smuggler Schapelle Corby last night said she was "too scared to get my hopes up" after Indonesia's Justice and Human Rights Ministry recommended her jail sentence be slashed by 10 years - meaning she could be back in Australia within weeks. Her family is now anxiously awaiting a decision by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will have the final say on whether Corby is released. From her cell at Bali's Kerobokan prison, Corby last night said she was waiting for more information about the ministry's recommendation. Her sister Mercedes, who was visiting Schapelle when the news broke, said that if Dr Yudhoyono did agree to cut 10 years from Corby's sentence, she would be eligible to go home immediately. "She will have done eight years in October, plus she's had two years reduced in good behaviour, so that's 10 years," she said. "So if another 10 years is cut, she should be pretty much eligible for release immediately." Mercedes said, if released, her sister planned to head straight back to Australia to live with her mother Rosleigh in Queensland. Corby was jailed for 20 years in 2004 for attempting to smuggle 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali in a body board bag. The announcement of the major breakthrough in the former Gold Coast beautician's drug saga came as a "pleasant shock" to Corby and her family yesterday when The Daily Telegraph told them of the ministry's recommendation. Mercedes was at the prison having a small birthday celebration with Schapelle for their younger sister Mele, who had just turned 22. "Oh wow, have they recommended clemency? I hope this is true. I better make some calls," she said. A few hours later Mercedes said the family was "too nervous" to get their hopes up and would await the President's ruling before they celebrated. Corby first launched her bid for clemency two years ago, appealing for an early release on the grounds she was suffering from mental illness which could endanger her life. "She's on anti-psychotics to keep her stable, but she goes up and down," Mercedes said. A Justice Ministry official yesterday revealed the recommendation to slash Corby's sentence was based on humanitarian grounds: "Our office agreed with her clemency. We recommended granting it." Corby's lawyer Iskander Nawing described it as a "huge development" and a breakthrough. The recommendation also includes an approval for clemency from the director-general of prisons. Dr Yudhoyono's decision will be based on the recommendation from the Justice Ministry, as well as advice from the Attorney-General's Department, Foreign Ministry and National Narcotics Board. Print

Whitney Houston 'Powdery' substance in hotel bathroom

 

Drug paraphernalia and a white powdery substance were discovered in Whitney Houston's hotel room on the day she died, according to a coroner. The full report says the 48-year-old was found on 11 February lying face down in an overflowing hotel bathtub. Investigators said they recovered a rolled-up piece of paper, a small spoon and a portable mirror in the bathroom. The autopsy concluded that the singer had drowned due to the effects of cocaine use and heart disease. The report also indicated the singer had a perforated nose, a sign of long-term substance abuse. The 42-page document gave more details than an initial report released last month. Houston was found dead hours before she was due to attend a pre-Grammy party. One of the world's best known singers in the 1980s and 1990s, Houston had a long battle with drug addiction. Friends and family have said she appeared committed to a comeback, including a new film, during the time before her death.

French academic Descoings found dead in New York hotel

 

The head of one of France's most prestigious academic institutions has been found dead in a New York hotel room, police say. The body of Richard Descoings, 53, director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, was discovered naked at the Michelangelo hotel in Manhattan. A police spokesman said investigators were awaiting a medical report to determine the likely cause of death. He said police had so far found no evidence that a crime was committed. Mr Descoings had been the director of the Sciences Po institute, one of France's elite "grandes ecoles", since 1996. Colleagues raised the alarm on Tuesday morning when he failed to appear at a UN-sponsored conference of university heads he had travelled to New York to attend. The spokesman, Paul Browne, told the AFP news agency that there was "no sign of trauma". He said the disorderly state of Mr Descoings' room at the time of the discovery was the result of attempts by medical staff to resuscitate him. Richard Descoings was known for carrying out a programme of far-reaching reform at Sciences Po, which educates much of the French political, media and administrative elite. He also improved access for students from less privileged backgrounds. In a statement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to Mr Descoings' career, saying he had devoted his life to education.

Pensioner shoots himself at Greek Parliament, refuses to 'search for food in garbage'

77-year-old Greek man has committed suicide in central Athens by the nation’s parliament, shooting himself with a handgun in apparent financial desperation. Eyewitness reports say that the man shouted “So I won’t leave debts for my children” before turning the gun on himself. Others claimed he said nothing. Greek state media reports the man left a suicide note saying “The Tsolakoglou government has annihilated all traces for my survival. And since I cannot find justice, I cannot find another means to react besides putting a decent end [to my life], before I start searching the garbage for food." Georgios Tsolakoglou headed the Greek collaborationist government during the German occupation of Greece in the Second World War. The note has been widely regarded as drawing a parallel between Lucas Papademos’ current collaborationist government and Tsolakoglou’s regime because of the economic crisis in the country. The incident occurred around 9 am (local time) in Syntagma Square, just outside a metro station, when the area was filled with people and commuters. The man took his life behind a big tree, which concealed him from most eyes. Two people sitting on a bench some 10 meters away have been questioned by the police. An investigation into a motive has been opened. The pensioner, whose name is not yet released, appears to have been a pharmacist who owned a drugstore in Athens, which he later had to sell, Lourantos Costas, the head of the Attica Pharmacist’s Association told the Greek daily The City Press. The shocked Greek community is issuing calls for a "Syntagma afternoon" later on Wednesday. Motorcyclists are planning a protest ride around the capital starting at 17:30 local time (14:30 GMT). ‘Who’s next?’ People are bringing flowers to the tree under which the desperate old man took his own life. They also leave messages on the tree: "Austerity kills," "Not a suicide; a murder” or “Who’s gonna be next?” The number of suicides has dramatically increased in the country since the beginning of the economic crisis, shows data released by the Greek Health Ministry. Prior to the economic downturn Greece had the lowest suicide rate in Europe at 2.8 for every 100,000 inhabitants. Now, this figure has almost doubled, with police reporting over 600 suicide cases in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Attempted suicides are also on the up. Just on Tuesday, a 38-year-old Albanian man killed himself on the island of Crete. He had been unemployed for some time. The financial hardship made him jump off his second-floor balcony, reported local news. The private sector is proving to be no safe haven either, as in the last few months several businessmen have fatally shot themselves. To secure loan payments to foreign investors, Greece has been forced to drastically cut state spending by slashing public salaries and pensions by almost 40 per cent, while the unemployment rate has hit 21 per cent. But so far the Greek government has failed to pull the country out of its three-year economic downturn and continues to rack up austerity measures to qualify for EU bailout packages.

France expels radical Islamists after Merah killings

French officials say two radical Islamists have been deported and three more are to be expelled. The move appears be a response to last month's attacks by Mohamed Merah, an Islamist gunman who killed seven people around the city of Toulouse. The interior ministry said two men had been sent back to their home countries of Algeria and Mali, while another three face expulsion orders. On Friday, police arrested 19 suspected Islamist militants in dawn raids. The domestic intelligence agency (DCRI) also seized a number of weapons in the raids, which took place in Toulouse and a number of other cities. French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the two deported on Monday were a Malian imam who had preached anti-Semitism and advocated wearing the full face veil - which is illegal in France - and Ali Belhadad, an Algerian who has already served a prison sentence for his role in a 1994 Marrakech attack. Two imams from Saudi Arabia and Turkey and a suspected Tunisian militant are also due to be expelled, with more deportations to follow, officials said. 'Vigilant' "We do not accept Islamic extremism. This is not a new policy... but after what happened in Toulouse and Montauban we have to be more vigilant than ever," Mr Gueant told France's BFM TV. President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking at an election rally in the eastern city of Nancy, said he was sending a very clear message. "All those who make remarks contrary to the values of the Republic will be instantly put outside the territory of the French Republic, there will no exception, there will be no leniency," he said. Correspondents say the government and DCRI have been criticised for allowing Merah to slip through the net, so they are now intensifying efforts to deal with suspected militants. Merah's brother, Abdelkader, has already been charged with aiding him and police are hunting a third man said to have been involved in the theft of a scooter used in all the killings. But Merah's family are contesting the charges and have accused French police of murdering the 23-year-old. Merah was killed by police after a stand-off at his apartment in Toulouse. Zahia Mokhtari, a lawyer for Merah's Algerian father, told France's BFM TV on Monday that she had video evidence that contradicted the French narrative. She will be one of the lawyers representing his father in a lawsuit against France's elite Raid police unit.

French Islamist suspects 'meant to kidnap Jewish judge'

 

Suspected Islamist militants arrested in France were plotting to kidnap a Jewish judge, sources close to the investigation told French media. Of the 19 people arrested across the country on Friday, 16 remain in custody and the first court hearings are due to be held shortly. France expelled two foreign-born radical Islamists on Monday. An Islamist gunman, Mohamed Merah, killed seven people in south-western France last month before being shot. A lawyer for his Algerian father says she has evidence his son pleaded his innocence in talks with police besieging his flat in Toulouse. A French police source suggested the allegation did not square with the facts of the siege. Right to appeal Sources close to the investigation told French media that some of the suspects seized in Friday's dawn raids had been planning to kidnap Jewish magistrate Albert Levy in the eastern city of Lyon. Mr Levy and his family are now under police protection. The head of France's Central Directorate for Domestic Intelligence (DCRI), Bernard Squarcini, said earlier that the suspects were French nationals involved in "collective war-like training, linked to a violent, religious indoctrination". Some belonged to a banned extremist group, Forsane Alizza, and had been involved in paintball gun games, he added. Continue reading the main story French expulsion orders Almany Baradji, imam, expelled to his native Mali on 2 March Ali Belhadad, ex-prisoner, expelled to his native Algeria on 2 March Saad Nasser Alshatry, Saudi imam, facing expulsion Yusuf Yuksel, Turkish imam, facing expulsion Malek Drine, suspected Tunisian militant, facing expulsion Police also seized a number of weapons including four Kalashnikov rifles, eight other rifles and "seven or eight" handguns, along with tear gas canisters and a taser, Mr Squarcini said. French anti-terrorism legislation allows for suspects to be held for four days, and some of the suspects may be charged on Tuesday. On Monday, the French interior ministry announced two men had been expelled on grounds of state security and public safety, and had returned to their countries of origin. One of these, Malian imam Almany Baradji, had reportedly preached anti-Semitism and advocated the full face veil for women - which is illegal in France. The other, Algerian national Ali Belhadad, had already served a prison sentence for his role in a 1994 attack in Morocco, and had renewed his "ties with the radical Islamist movement in recent weeks". Both men are allowed to appeal against their expulsion, interior ministry press officer Marine Basset told the BBC News website on Tuesday. Two imams from Saudi Arabia and Turkey and a suspected Tunisian militant are similarly expected to be expelled, with more expulsions to follow, officials said. 'I am innocent' According to the French authorities, Mohamed Merah confessed to three gun attacks in which he killed unarmed three soldiers, and three small children and a teacher at a Jewish school. One soldier and a schoolboy were also seriously injured in the point-blank attacks, which Merah apparently filmed with a camera strapped to his chest. Days after the final attack, he was surrounded at his flat and shot dead after a 30-hour siege as he reportedly fired on police. Zahia Mokhtari, a lawyer for Merah's father, told France's BFM television on Monday she had two identical videos of Merah that contradict police accounts of the siege. "In these videos, he says, 'I am innocent. Why are you killing me? I didn't do anything,"' she said. She would not say how she had obtained the videos, saying she would reveal more on their origin once she had filed a lawsuit in French courts against RAID, the elite police unit involved in the siege. However, a police official with knowledge of the investigation pointed out to AFP that Merah had led police to evidence that proved he was the perpetrator. During conversations with police, the French authorities say, he told them where to find the video he took of the killings. The source who spoke to AFP said Merah had toyed with police during the stand-off, initially agreeing to surrender but later vowing to "die with his weapons in his hands". Ms Mokhtari said 10 lawyers, seven of them Algerian and three French, were planning to represent Merah's father, Mohammed Benalal Merah.

BRIT Government 'planning new Internet snooping laws'

The British government wants to expand its powers to monitor email exchanges and website visits, The Sunday Times reported. Internet companies would be instructed to install hardware to allow the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to go through "on demand" every text message and email sent, websites accessed and phone calls made "in real time, the paper said. The plans are expected to be unveiled next month. The Home Office said ministers were preparing to legislate "as soon as parliamentary time allows" but said the data to be monitored would not include content. "It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public," a spokesman said. "We need to take action to maintain the continued availability of communications data as technology changes. "Communications data includes time, duration and dialling numbers of a phone call, or an email address. "It does not include the content of any phone call or email and it is not the intention of government to make changes to the existing legal basis for the interception of communications." An attempt to bring in similar measures was abandoned by the Labour government in 2006 amid strong opposition. However, ministers in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government believe it is essential that the police and security services have access to such communications data in order to tackle terrorism and protect the public. The plans would not allow GCHQ to access the content of communications without a warrant. However, they would enable the agency to trace whom a group or individual had contacted, how often and for how long, the report said.