NEWS,07.05.2012.

Putin sworn in as Russia's president

 

Vladimir Putin appealed for unity in Russia after being sworn in as president today, pledging to strengthen democracy in his new six-year term.In a glittering ceremony, was inaugurated before nearly 2000 guests in the Kremlin's St Andrew Hall, before being blessed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church."I will do all I can to justify the faith of millions of our citizens. I consider it to be the meaning of my whole life and my obligation to serve my fatherland and our people," Putin said in a brief speech."We will achieve our goals if we are a single, united people - if we hold our fatherland dear, strengthen Russian democracy, constitutional rights and freedoms."Putin, who was president of the former Soviet republic from 2000-2008 is returning to Russia's highest office after four years as prime minister, said he and the Russian people had already trodden a "difficult path" together."We believed in ourselves and in our powers, strengthened the country and restored the dignity of our great nation. The world has seen Russia reborn, and this is the result of the efforts of our people - shared, intensive work in which everyone has made a personal contribution."He praised Dmitry Medvedev, the ally he steered into the Kremlin when he faced a bar on a third straight term in 2008 and who is set to become prime minister in a job swap that has angered many Russians who are tired of the same leaders."Today we have everything we need to move forward and create a dynamic and developing state: A stable economic and social basis, an active and responsible civil society," Putin said. "I see in this a great service on the part of Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev.".A few kilometres across Moscow, several thousand people staged a rally supporting Putin, seen by his backers as the only leader capable of defending Russia's interests on the world stage and the guardian of the economy at home.While Putin's critics have tired of a political system that concentrates power in one man, many of his supporters welcome his domination of the country of more than 140 million."Democracy is the power of the majority. Russia is everything, the rest is nothing!" Alexander Dugin, a Kremlin-aligned nationalist, told the pro-Putin crowd.The rival rallies underlined the rifts opened by Putin's return to the Kremlin and protests that were sparked by allegations of electoral fraud but fuelled by many Russians' frustration that one man continues to dominate the country.Although the protests had lost momentum before Sunday's rally, they have given birth to a civil society, two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, that is gradually chipping away at Putin's authority.Putin, who will be 60 in October, grew up in Soviet days and worked as a spy in communist East Germany, is under pressure to show he can adapt to the new political landscape. Few think he has changed much - if at all.Putin has eased up on the choreographed macho antics that burnished his image at his peak in Russia, such as riding horseback barechested and shooting a tiger with a tranquiliser gun.Harder to shake off will be his habit of seeking total control and learning to cope with political opponents and a middle class demanding more political freedom.He has to quell rivalries between liberals and conservatives battling for positions in the new cabinet under Medvedev, who is swapping jobs with Putin. The outcome of the struggle could help determine how far reforms go to improve the investment climate.The $1.9 trillion economy is in better shape than in most European countries but is vulnerable to any change in the price of oil, Russia's main export commodity. The budget is under pressure from Putin's lavish election spending promises.Putin has said he wants to attract more foreign investment by improving the business climate, reduce corruption and red tape, and end Russia's heavy dependence on energy exports. He has not spelled out how he will do this.Putin is likely, as in the past, to use tough anti-Western rhetoric on foreign policy to drum up support if times get tough in Russia. But he has never yielded his strong influence over foreign policy as premier, so a major policy shift is unlikely.

Socialist Hollande ousts Sarkozy in French vote

 

 

Francois Hollande was elected France's first Socialist president in nearly two decades on Sunday, dealing a humiliating defeat to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and shaking up European politics.The result will have major implications for Europe as it struggles to emerge from a financial crisis and for France, the eurozone's second-largest economy and a nuclear-armed permanent member of the UN Security Council.Hollande won the vote with about 52 percent, according to several estimates from polling firms based on ballot samples, becoming France's first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995.Joyful crowds gathered in Hollande's adopted hometown of Tulle and in Paris to celebrate his victory."We are rid of a poison that was blighting our society. A normal president! It gives us a lot to dream about," said Didier Stephan, a 70-year-old artist who was among throngs of supporters at Paris's Place de la Bastille.Even before polls closed and broadcasters released estimates, supporters were chanting "President Hollande!" and "We Won!" at the iconic square.Sarkozy urged leaders of his right-wing UMP party to remain united after his defeat, but warned he would not lead it into June's parliamentary elections, according to political sources present at a meeting at his headquarters.Hollande led in opinion polls throughout the campaign and won the April 22 first round with 28.6 percent to Sarkozy's 27.2 percent -- making the right-winger the first-ever incumbent to lose in the first round.Grey skies and rain showers greeted voters across much of France, but turnout was high, hitting 71.96 percent at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) according to interior ministry figures. More than 46 million people were eligible to vote.The election was marked by fears over European Union-imposed austerity and economic globalisation, and Hollande has said his first foreign meeting will be with German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- the key driver of EU budget policy.The 57-year-old Socialist has vowed to renegotiate the hard-fought fiscal austerity pact signed by EU leaders in March and to make it focus more on growth, but is facing resistance from Merkel.The French vote coincides with an election in Greece, where voters were also expected to punish the incumbent parties for landing the country in its bleak economic state.Anger over sputtering economies has brought down leaders from Ireland to Portugal since the debt crisis washed over the European continent.

NEWS,06.05.2012.

France holds breath ahead of tight vote

 

France held its breath on Saturday on the eve of a presidential election that Socialist Francois Hollande was predicted to win despite incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy closing the gap after wooing the far-right.Political speeches and new opinion polls have been banned since a particularly ferocious campaign ended on Friday night, but the last poll published ahead of the deadline forecast a 52-48 per cent win for Hollande.The Ifop-Fiducial poll said Sarkozy has clawed back six percentage points of voter intentions since the end of last week as he went all-out to enchant those who voted for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the first round.With the Socialist’s lead the narrowest since campaigning began, Sarkozy has vowed a surprise, while Hollande has stressed that nothing can be assumed about a first Socialist presidential victory in over a quarter century.“Everything is possible on Sunday,” admitted the left-leaning Liberation’s headline, while the pro-Sarkozy Le Figaro’s front page stressed that French citizens had a “historic choice”.“Electing a president is not a beauty contest,” warned a Le Figaro editorial, apparently targeting Hollande’s image as a soft and convivial consensus builder without ministerial experience.Liberation skewered Sarkozy for dragging his UMP party ever further to the right as he courted National Front voters, vowing to defend French values, limit immigration and strengthen France’s borders. “Whatever the outcome, the political landscape will remain profoundly, durably and dangerously transformed,” it said. French overseas territories were voting on Saturday, before the mass of some 46 million voters goes to the polls on Sunday.Hollande was spending Saturday with his partner Valerie Trierwiler in his political heartland Tulle in central France, while Sarkozy was with his wife, former supermodel Carla Bruni, and their baby daughter Giulia.Hollande won the April 22 first round with 28.63 per cent of the votes to Sarkozy’s 27.18 percent, and both candidates have been fighting for the votes of those whose candidates failed to make the run-off.Le Pen, who won almost 18 percent in the first round, has said she will cast a blank ballot, and observers expect many of her supporters to do the same.Ifop has forecast however that 55 per cent of her voters would back Sarkozy and 19 per cent Hollande.

 

Cameron hails London mayor win

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday hailed fellow Conservative Boris Johnson's re-election as London mayor but it was the sole bright spot for his party as it took a mid-term beating.In local elections on Friday the opposition Labour party took control of 32 councils and won more than 800 seats at the expense of the Conservatives and their coalition partners the Liberal Democrats."I think it was a very strong campaign by Boris. It was based on his record, on the excellent things he has done out there and I am delighted to congratulate him," said Cameron, standing alongside Johnson at City Hall."It was a campaign the whole Conservative party got behind. I enjoyed campaigning for Boris but now what matters is working together for the good of London, as PM, as mayor, and that is exactly what we are going to do."Eccentric Johnson, famed for his dishevelled blond locks and gift for buffoonery, won 51.5 percent of the vote in a closer-than-expected run-off with rival and predecessor, Labour's Ken Livingstone."It was a very hard-fought long campaign," said Johnson, who will now lead London into the Olympic Games in July."I am grateful to the Conservative Party. They did turn out in large numbers to help me but I think we were able to reach people across the city with a message that resonated with them in tough times."British newspapers said Cameron now faces pressure from the right wing of the Conservative party to ditch policies including support for gay marriage, and bring in more radical tax and spending ideas."Now stand up for Tory values," said the right-leaning Daily Mail newspaper, while the left-leaning Guardian said the "drubbing" also boosted Johnson's own credentials for a possible Conservative leadership challenge.The Conservatives lost 12 councils and more than 400 seats in the local elections while the centrist Lib Dems, led by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, lost one council and lost more than 300 seats.Capping a bad month for the government after Britain slid back into recession, Cameron's push to create the posts of elected mayors in England's biggest cities was widely rejected in referendums.

NEWS,05.05.2012.

Obama unleashes negative barrage on Romney

 

President Barack Obama wants to tell America a few things about Mitt Romney: He is rich and indifferent, bad for women, and might wobble at a fateful moment as commander-in-chief.Obama's re-election campaign has unleashed a daily, negative, character-based slashing of his November foe, ahead of the president's official campaign kick-off rallies in the crucial battlegrounds of Virginia and Ohio on Saturday.In the latest volley, Obama's camp produced a memo accusing Romney of pursuing an "extreme" agenda towards women, seeking to lock in the Republican challenger's liabilities with the key electoral demographic.This followed an ad branding Romney's attitude towards the middle class as "just what you would expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account".Obama weighed in during his victory lap marking the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, questioning whether Romney would have made the gutsy call to launch a high-risk Navy Seal raid.An ad featuring an admiring ex-president Bill Clinton made a similar point.Hope and change, circa 2008, this is not.Obama supporters point out the president is not alone in going negative: The Romney campaign flexed a true mean streak in the Republican primary.Hard-charging Romney campaign operatives and outside groups flush with corporate cash are meanwhile readying the next anti-Obama barrage.But Obama's tactics reflect a need to amplify Romney's weaknesses to disqualify him as a potential president at a time when a stuttering economy is clouding his own prospects."Romney is coming off a bruising nomination battle that raised some doubts about his character and wants to reintroduce himself to the American people," said Professor John Geer, a negative campaigns expert at Vanderbilt University."The Obama campaign is not going to allow him to do that without continuing the choir of criticism. They want to raise some doubts about his character and make him look extreme on issues."Obama's attacks also seek to frustrate any bid by Romney to trek to the political centre where American presidential elections are often won."What the president is doing in terms of campaign tactics, and his strong criticism of Mr Romney, is not unusual for an incumbent," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University polling institute."Elections in which there is an incumbent are referendums on that incumbent, and given the president's relative lukewarm job approval ratings... his team has obviously chosen to try to demonise the opposition."Obama's assaults partly focus on Romney's history as a millionaire venture capitalist who Democrats say sent American jobs offshore and turfed people at ailing companies out of work.Romney says his corporate past makes him the ideal man to turn around the economy, which is giving off conflicting signs of recovery and slowdown in a slow trudge out of the deepest slump since the 1930s Great Depression.That is where the Swiss bank account comes in, as Obama hints that he, and not his wealthy foe, best understands middle class economic angst.A Quinnipiac poll on Thursday underlined Obama's challenge, putting the president just two points up on his foe, 44 to 42%, in the crucial state of Ohio.The race in the rustbelt battleground has tightened because signs of an improving economy have ebbed, the pollsters said, sharpening the row on pocketbook issues six months from election day.Obama's standing in swing states is underwritten by a wider appeal to women voters. He leads Romney among the group 44-42% in Florida, 50-37 in Ohio and 52-35 in Pennsylvania, the poll showed.So, hitting on women's issues, and reviving recent controversies over contraception, for instance, makes sense.Some Obama spots are airing on television already in battlegrounds like Iowa, Ohio and Virginia, while others run on the web or are farmed out to journalists in a bid to shape news coverage.His campaign has also produced longer, inspirational films aimed at convincing supporters Obama delivered the change he promised.Republicans are meeting Obama's assault head on and have a new bumper sticker-style slogan "Hype and Blame" - a play on Obama's 2008 "Hope and Change" theme, and accuse the president of slamming Romney to hide his own faults."Successful incumbents usually run on their record. Failed presidents run from their record," said Republican National Committee chairperson Reince Priebus.

Japan nuclear power-free as last reactor shuts

Japanese utility Hokkaido Electric Power Co began shutting the country's last active nuclear reactor today, leaving the world's third-biggest user of atomic energy with no nuclear-derived electricity for the first time since 1970.A crisis at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where an earthquake and tsunami in March last year triggered radiation leaks, has hammered public faith in nuclear power and prevented the restart of reactors shut down for regular maintenance checks.Hokkaido Electric said it started lowering output from the 912-megawatt No 3 unit at Tomari nuclear plant in northern Japan at 8pm (NZT).The maintenance on the unit is set to begin at around 2am (NZT) when power generation falls to zero, with the unit to be shut down completely by the early hours of Sunday.The shutdown means all of Japan's 50 reactors have been taken off line, marking the country's first nuclear power-free day since May 1970.Trade Minister Yukio Edano and three other ministers have been trying to win the support of communities to reactivate two idled reactors at Kansai Electric Power's Ohi nuclear plant to help ease expected power shortages of nearly 20% in coming hot-weather months.The two Ohi reactors are the first to be considered for reactivation by the central government, but it faces an uphill battle of winning public support.Kansai Electric's expected deficit for this summer was the highest among four Japanese nuclear plant operators that forecast shortfalls when demand peaks in the summer.The last time Japan was nuclear power-free was for five days to May 4, 1970, when the two reactors then existing were shut for maintenance, according to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan.

NEWS,04.05.2012.

US and China in talks as ties at great risk

 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and China's Vice President Xi Jinping attend a dinner at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on May 3, 2012. Clinton on told China that it cannot deny the "aspirations" of its citizens as she opened talks in Beijing marred by a row over a Chinese dissident.The fourth round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue opened here today, with the two global players expected to boost their strategic mutual trust as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits.The current trust gap between Beijing and Washington stems from continual trade disputes, and more importantly, lack of concrete action on the US side to prove that its strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific region poses no threat to China. As a case in point, recent months have seen Washington moving to forge a closer military relationship with Manila through military assistance, warship sales and joint drills. The development comes at a time when the Philippines has been brazenly challenging China’s sovereignty over Huangyan Island, an integral part of China’s territory since ancient times. Despite US claims that it is not taking sides in the issue, its action speaks a louder truth: It is projecting visible influence, just as is desired by the Philippines. To preserve and promote the hard-earned China-US mutual trust, the United States needs to make more earnest efforts, instead of paying only lip service. In regard to trade disputes, many sober minds have pointed out that the punitive duties the United States has repeatedly slapped on Chinese goods are harmful not only to Chinese industries but to the recovering US economy. It is in the interests of both sides that US decision-makers sit down with their Chinese counterparts and negotiate a solution to their trade frictions, rather than simply resort to protectionist measures. In mid-April, China widened the trading band of its currency against the US dollar, a major step towards further increasing the flexibility of the yuan, which has been appreciating against the greenback since 2005. With China committed to reforming the yuan’s exchange rate regime, it is time that the United States discarded the ill-founded argument that its huge trade deficit with China is caused by the yuan’s “artificially low” exchange rate. In addition, the United States needs to play its due part in re-balancing bilateral trade by, among other things, removing the trade barriers against China. (Xinhua)

Polls show Sarkozy gaining on Hollande

Paris - Two polls released on Friday showed President Nicolas Sarkozy trimming Socialist Francois Hollande's lead for France's presidential runoff vote, the latest surveys to show the incumbent gaining ground after Wednesday's televised debate.A survey by pollster BVA showed Hollande taking 52.5% of the vote in Sunday's final round of the presidential election, down two points from late April, with Sarkozy taking 47.5%, a rise of two points.Separately, TNS-Sofres showed Hollande's score edging down 1.5 points to 53.5% from last week, with Sarkozy rising to 46.5% from 45% previously.A majority in the BVA survey still thought Hollande was most convincing in the televised debate, with 40% believing he gained the upper hand, against 31% who preferred the conservative Sarkozy.Four surveys conducted since the face-off have now shown Sarkozy gaining ground, following similar results from Harris Interactive and CSA on Thursday.A separate poll by OpinionWay carried out half before and half after the debate showed the Socialist frontrunner's lead narrowing to five points.Despite Sarkozy's gains, Hollande still retains a comfortable lead for Sunday's vote, with an average of recent opinion polls putting him six points ahead.The latest polls were also conducted before centrist Francois Bayrou's declaration on Thursday that he would not back Sarkozy in the second round, leaving his supporters to make up their own minds.Sarkozy's best hope of winning the vote hinge on his gaining support from at least 80% of far-rightist Marine Le Pen's voters, and around half of Bayrou's. Bayrou said on Thursday he objected to Sarkozy's recent lurch to the right, and that he himself would vote for Hollande.According to Friday's TNS-Sofres survey, 32% of those who voted Bayrou in the first round would vote for Sarkozy on Sunday while 37% would back Hollande. Meanwhile, 52% of Le Pen voters would choose Sarkozy in round two against 7% for Hollande, with a further 41% abstaining.

NEWS,03.05.2012.

French presidential rivals clash in TV debate

 

 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande clashed repeatedly in their only television debate but the conservative incumbent failed to land a knockout blow to shake his challenger's lead for Sunday's runoff.Hollande, ahead in opinion polls by six to 10 points, seemed calm and unflappable during the nearly three-hour debate today while Sarkozy, struggling to catch up with the moderate social democrat, was often agitated and tense.Political commentators said the confrontation was no game-changer and probably only reinforced voters' opinions of their two champions in a contest that has been as much about style and personality as substance."This debate should not shift things and as Francois Hollande is in the position of favourite, he's the one that should benefit," said analyst Jerome Fourquet at pollster Ifop.French television commentators concluded that Sarkozy had performed "like a boxer" and Hollande "like a judo fighter", using touches of wit and interjections to unbalance his adversary.Hollande, 57, was confident and relaxed in early exchanges, saying he aimed to be "the president of justice", "the president of revival" and "the president of unity".He said Sarkozy, also 57 and in office since 2007, had divided the French people for too long and was using the global economic crisis as an excuse for broken promises. "With you it's very simple: it's never your fault," Hollande said.Sarkozy, fighting for his political life, repeatedly accused his opponent of lying about economic figures and reeled off reams of statistics in an attempt to unbalance his rival."Mr Hollande. When you lie so shamelessly, do I have to accept it?" he asked when his opponent said the president was always happy with his record.The two sparred over Europe, which has become one of the biggest issues of the election race, along with the sickly economy, rife unemployment, nuclear power and immigration."The example I want to follow is Germany and not Spain or Greece," Sarkozy said, declaring that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had saved Greece from an economic wipeout and avoided the collapse of the euro currency."Europe has got over it," Sarkozy said of the crisis.Hollande shot back: "Europe has not got over it. Europe is today facing a possible resurgence of the crisis with generalised austerity, and that's what I don't want."Hollande, who vowed to push for a new focus on growth to allow the euro zone to convalesce, said people across Europe were watching the election in the hope it would change the bloc's economic direction for the better.The conservative head of state and his centre-left rival have duelled at a distance for months, with Sarkozy accusing Hollande of being incompetent and a liar, and Hollande branding the incumbent a "failed president" and "a nasty piece of work".Sarkozy, being punished for rife unemployment and a brash manner, is the most unpopular president to run for re-election. He was the first in recent history to lose a first-round vote, with Hollande benefitting from the anti-incumbent sentiment that has swept 11 euro zone leaders from office since 2009.Today's duel was carried live on channels that reach roughly half France's 44.5 million voters. The streets of Paris were unusually deserted with many people staying home to watch.A handful of opinion polls due to land before Friday evening will measure any impact."It threw into sharper relief the strengths and weaknesses of both candidates: a tough-talking and often condescending Sarkozy determined to pick holes ... and a milder-mannered yet feisty MrHollande," said London analyst Nicholas Spiro. "There was no knock-out blow or major slip-up on either side."Sarkozy suffered a setback on Tuesday when far-right leader Marine Le Pen - whose 17.9% score was the surprise of the first round - refused to endorse him. She vowed at a Paris rally to cast a blank vote and told her supporters to make their own choice, focusing most of her attacks on Sarkozy.The issue of how to deal with the anti-immigration crusader and her supporters has tormented Sarkozy's UMP party all week, as a TNS Sofres opinion poll found a third of voters agreed with the National Front's positions.The candidates tangled on immigration in the debate, with Sarkozy attacking Hollande's proposal to give long-term, non-European foreign residents the right to vote in local elections.Sarkozy began campaigning weeks after the more plodding Hollande, vowing to boost industrial competitiveness, hold referendums on contentious policies, crack down on tax exiles and make the unemployed retrain as a condition for receiving benefits.More recently, seeking to court the 6.4 million National Front voters, he has vowed to cut immigration and threatened to pull out of Europe's Schengen zone of passport-free travel unless the European Union's external borders are strengthened.Recent polls show Hollande with a slightly tighter but still comfortable lead. A BVA survey today put the gap 1 point narrower at 7 points, with the rivals at 53.5 and 46.5%.

NEWS,02.05.2012

Anti-austerity anger sweeps Europe

Fed up with high unemployment and austerity, May Day protesters took to the streets across Europe on Tuesday in a wave of anger that threatens to topple leaders in Paris and Athens.From the eye of the eurozone debt storm in Madrid to the streets of Paris and Athens, where tottering governments face elections within days, marchers spoke of job losses, spending cuts and hard times.More than two years after the eurozone sovereign debt crisis erupted, frustration with austerity is boiling over across the continent as voters wait in vain for signs of the economic pay-off.

In Spain - suffering the industrialised world's highest jobless rate of 24.4% in the first quarter of 2012 - major unions called protests in about 80 cities.Tens of thousands massed in central Madrid's Neptuno square, decrying the jobless queue, new labour reforms that make it easier and cheaper to fire workers, and a budget squeeze in health care and education."They are going to destroy more jobs with the labour reform," complained 28-year-old graphic designer Sonia Calles."Already in Spain almost everyone is an intern up to the age of 30. And now employment insecurity is going to hit those in their 30s and 40s," she said in the capital.Thousands more rallied in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities around Greece, five days ahead of cliffhanger general elections with voters fed up with years of austerity."No-one Alone, Together We Will Get There!" read a banner draped on a stage in Athens' central Kotzia square.Polls indicate that Greeks are fleeing the main parties for smaller groups in revenge over a European Union-IMF economic recovery plan that has brought repeated waves of pay and pension cuts.
In Paris, the French presidential election race overcast the day as three powerful political movements battled for attention with competing rallies five days before polling day.Marine Le Pen's anti-immigrant far-right National Front kicked off the May Day events with several thousand supporters marching through central Paris in memory of Joan of Arc, who has become a far-right icon.Le Pen, who scored a record 18% in the April 22 first round, led the march and urged supporters to abstain rather than back President Nicolas Sarkozy or Socialist Francois Hollande in the run-off.Sarkozy's right-wing supporters were gathering at the Place du Trocadero in Paris's posh 16th arrondissement to hear their champion give his last major speech in the capital before the vote.And, on the left, trade unions organised their traditional march to the historic Place de la Bastille.With the latest poll predicting an Hollande win on Sunday by 53 to 47%, Sarkozy is anxious to gain some momentum from the rally.In contrast to Western European rallies, more than 100 000 people held a Soviet-style march through Moscow to celebrate labour day and show support for president-elect Vladimir Putin ahead of his inauguration.Accompanied by kitsch brass music and surrounded by multi-coloured balloons, Putin and outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev led the march through a central Moscow avenue.Police said around 120 000 people took part in the "Holiday of Labour and Spring" march in Moscow.
Elsewhere in Europe, people showed growing frustration with an era of crushing economic hardship.Across Poland and in the Czech Republic's capital Prague, people protested against unemployment, homelessness, and the dogged pursuit of austerity policies.Some 100 000 Social Democratic Party supporters rallied in Vienna for better education and a fairer distribution of wealth, and some 2 000 packed Bulgaria's capital Sofia urging the conservative government to resign.In Turkey, tens of thousands from all political parties packed the emblematic Taksim Square in Istanbul. Some 20 000 police mobilised in the city to ensure security in the marches.

 

Sarkozy goes for broke but Le Pen scorns his advances

 

Nicolas Sarkozy took his re-election bid to the streets of Paris on Tuesday, seeking to hijack the French left's traditional May Day show of force but failing to win over a scornful far right.With five days to go before the French presidential vote, the country's three main political movements were on the march, with three competing street rallies in the capital battling for the electorate's attention.Marine Le Pen, flag-bearer of the far-right anti-immigrant National Front seized on her party's traditional May Day homage to Catholic martyr Joan of Arc to launch another fierce attack on both remaining candidates.She had won just under 18 percent of the vote in the first round on April 22, trailing Sarkozy and the Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande, who now face each other in a televised debate Wednesday and the run-off on Sunday.Sarkozy has embarked on a determined bid to recruit her supporters to his cause, stressing again and again his promises to cut immigration, withhold voting rights from foreign citizens and oppose gay marriage.But a triumphalist Le Pen scorned his overture, damning Sarkozy and Hollande equally as creatures of the same party duopoly she blames for France's economic woes and loss of sovereignty to Europe and international finance."Who between Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy will impose the austerity plan in the most servile way? Who will submit the best to the instructions of the IMF, the ECB or the European Commission?" she demanded ironically."On May 6 it's not a president who is to be elected, but a simple employee of the European Central Bank, a Brussels sub-controller of finance, charged with applying the Commission's decisions without question," she said."And, forgive me, with regular reports to Angela Merkel's Germany," she added, as the crowd booed.Le Pen reminded her supporters that they are free to vote as they choose on Sunday, but said that she would cast a blank ballot so as not to endorse either candidate and strongly suggested that they should do the same.She declared that the National Front had set the agenda of the presidential election and imposed itself as the "compass" guiding French politics, and she urged her supporters to back the party in June's legislative election."This movement we have launched cannot be stopped, our victory is inevitable. Nothing will ever be the same again," she said.Polls suggest many of Le Pen's supporters will vote grudgingly for Sarkozy, although not enough to return him to office, and many of the hardcore party members in the crowd in Place de l'Opera disagreed."If I was obliged to vote, with a pistol to my head, I'd probably vote Hollande, because five years ago Sarkozy said he had killed the National Front," said Jean-Marie Cojannot, 66, who had come from the far south.Sarkozy was to meet thousands of his own supporters gathered at his last major rally in the capital across from the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero, hoping for a last-minute surge to defeat a confident Hollande.And, on the left of the debate, trade unions set out along the boulevards of the Left Bank in bright sunshine on their traditional march to the historic Place de la Bastille.With the latest poll predicting a Hollande win on Sunday by 53 to 47 percent, Sarkozy is anxious to gain some momentum from the rally and said he expected "tens of thousands of French" to take part.Under fire for rallying his supporters on a day traditionally dominated by unions and the left, Sarkozy has hit back with attacks on state benefit recipients and appeals to the middle class.

NEWS,01.05.2012

Nuclear waste to be stored in Sydney suburbs

A plan to store radioactive waste in Sydney's suburbs has the backing of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) because it will not be dumped in the outback.Thirteen cubic metres of the waste - enough to fill one third of a shipping container - will be returned to Australia by 2015 and stored for five years at the Lucas Heights nuclear facility.The waste, which will remain toxic for centuries, was generated in Australia through the production of nuclear medicine and during scientific research.It was taken to France for reprocessing but will be returned under and Australian-Franco government agreement and kept in a newly built storage unit.ACF nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney said he would rather have the waste at Lucas Heights than placed near outback communities."It puts it into an area where there's established and proven security and monitoring," Sweeney said."And where there's the greatest number of experts in Australia."Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) CEO Dr Adi Paterson said most people would be surprised how small the volume of waste was."The store would hold around 13.2 metres cubed of waste from spent fuel - equal to a third of one shipping container - from the old HIFAR reactor at Lucas Heights," he said.Dr Paterson said the waste will be moved to an as yet unbuilt National Radioactive Waste Management Facility by 2020.The Australian newspaper reported it will be shipped from France in a custom-built 6.5 metre cask with walls more than 20 centimetres thick.ANSTO said it will formally apply for a licence to create the new storage building at Lucas Heights, with work already underway on its design.Lucas Heights is located in the Sutherland Shire, about 20 kilometres southwest of Sydney's CBD.

Scandal talk clouds French campaign before TV debate

Allegations of scandal and dirty tricks, and a presidential lawsuit, clouded France's election race as it entered the final week with both sides preparing for rival May Day rallies and a crucial television debate.The developments, along with a new opinion poll showing Socialist challenger Francois Hollande's lead over Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy has narrowed slightly, raised the temperature on the eve of the rallies and Wednesday's sole TV debate before Sunday's decisive runoff.Sarkozy filed a lawsuit against investigative news website Mediapart for publishing a document it says shows the government of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sought to fund his 2007 election campaign.The Paris prosecutor's office opened a police inquiry in response to Sarkozy's complaint against Mediapart for allegedly publishing false information and using forged documents.Sarkozy also tried to embarrass his opponent Hollande by turning the spotlight on former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was favourite for the Socialist nomination until he was arrested on rape allegations last year.Sarkozy, in a direct challenge to Hollande, who is staying away from May Day events, said he expected a big crowd to attend a political rally he will hold in Paris to rival trade union marches to defend worker rights."Tomorrow I will draw tens of thousands of people. I will talk to them about work," Sarkozy declared during a campaign trip in the southern city of Avignon.An Ipsos-Logica poll for France Inter showed the Socialist down one point on 53 percent and Sarkozy up one point on 47. A Reuters survey of polls published since the April 22 first round of voting gives Hollande an average score of 54 percent.Waging an uphill battle for re-election, Sarkozy dismissed a purported 2006 letter from Libya's former secret service chief, published by Mediapart, that discussed an "agreement in principle" to pay 50 million euros ($NZ80.9 million) for Sarkozy's campaign.The case seems unlikely to sway the election at such a late stage in a country where voters are inured to regular sleaze allegations, but it could stain the last week of the race."Do you really think that with what I did to him Mr Gaddafi would have made me a bank transfer? Why not a signed cheque - it's grotesque," Sarkozy told France 2 television before filing his suit.Sarkozy hosted Gaddafi on an official visit to Paris in 2007 but spearheaded Western military intervention that helped drive the Libyan from power after a 2011 popular uprising.The president called the document an "obvious fake", saying that the two Libyans who were supposed to have sent the letter and received it had both denied any involvement.Sarkozy will make a last attempt to turn the tide against Hollande when they face off on TV on Wednesday evening for a sole head-to-head debate expected to draw millions of viewers.Sarkozy plans a meeting in Paris's Trocadero square as a rival to traditional union marches to defend workers' rights that some senior Socialist Party members will attend. The president said last week his event would showcase "real work" - a term he has since said he regretted."This sort of rhetoric, which divides people, has become unbearable," Francois Chereque, head of the CFDT union, told Liberation. The CFDT has not endorsed a candidate, while the CGT union has urged its members to "vote against Sarkozy".Alongside union-led marches, the far-right National Front party will be holding its annual "Joan of Arc Day" rally, at which party leader Marine Le Pen has said she will spell out voting advice for her supporters ahead of the runoff.Hollande will attend a ceremony in memory of late Socialist Prime Minister Pierre Beregovoy who took his life on May 1, 1993.A more direct contest comes the following day when the two candidates meet for a television debate which could be decisive.In 2007, commentators said a heated exchange between Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal helped widen the centre-right leader's margin of victory after Royal - Hollande's former partner - lost her cool when talking about handicapped children.Sarkozy was ahead in polls one week before the deciding round in 2007. This time he faces more difficult odds.Surveys show voters are most concerned about resolving France's economic woes and restoring growth as jobless claims have risen to their highest level since September 1999.Yet it seemed scandals and mudslinging could dominate the last days of the race.On Monday, Sarkozy drew attention to a Socialist lawmaker's birthday party at which some of Hollande's campaign staff rubbed shoulders with Strauss-Kahn, who has become a political pariah over his alleged sexual misconduct."When you see the circus around this birthday dinner... with Mr Strauss-Kahn on rue Saint Denis - you couldn't make this stuff up - you wonder whether the Socialists are thinking," Sarkozy said, highlighting the fact that the party took place in a Paris street renowned for prostitution.Hollande told Europe 1 radio: "I have already said that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has not been involved in this election campaign and it is not his place to show up now."