In response to mass unemployment and the prospect of having to emigrate, an unemployed Irish graduate has spent €2,000 (£1,745) on a massive billboard advertisement asking employers not to let him leave the republic. Féilim Mac An Iomaire, who erected an advertising hoarding on the busy Merrion Road in south Dublin in an attempt to find a job, has said he has been overwhelmed by the response. The ad contains a picture of the 26-year-old marketing graduate facing a number of famous landmarks from Sydney, London and New York with the message: “Save me from emigration.” His ad has struck a chord across Ireland at a time when about 50,000 citizens, many of them young graduates, are expected to leave this year for work abroad. There are still up to 400,000 jobless workers in Ireland due to the property crash and the country’s fiscal crisis. Mac An Iomaire said he came up with the idea after being unemployed for eight months after a year in Australia. “I had a good bit of money saved when I came home from Australia but I was managing to live on jobseeker’s allowance. I gave it a week of hard thinking to come up with the concept and nothing was going to stop me then,” he said. “The great thing is that everyone’s been so positive about it. No one has really had a bad word to say. “Everybody who is close to me knows I’ve been pretty miffed about being unemployed and feeling like I’ve been on the sidelines.” Mac An Iomaire also set up a Facebook page and Twitter account, @Joblesspaddy , and has been inundated with emails and messages. “I’ve had some really nice replies. Some CV experts are willing to spruce up my CV so I’m pretty overwhelmed with that,” he said. “It looks good for something to come out of it, anyway. “I am not exactly looking for a concrete job offer. I would sooner go through the whole process of doing an interview,” he added. Ireland bailout Ireland European debt crisis Unemployment and employment statistics Advertising Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
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Former Conservative peer falsely filed for travel and overnight subsistence to claim more than £11,000 from taxpayer, court told The disgraced former Conservative peer Lord Taylor of Warwick has been jailed for 12 months over false parliamentary expense claims. Taylor falsely filed for travel and overnight subsistence to claim more than £11,000 from the taxpayer, Southwark crown court, in London, heard. The 58-year-old told the House of Lords members’ expenses office that his main residence was a house in Oxford, when in fact he lived in west London. The peer never stayed at, and only twice visited, the Oxford property, which was owned by his half-nephew’s partner. He was therefore not entitled to claim money for travelling from Oxford to London and staying overnight in the capital. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Saunders said Taylor had lied to journalists investigating his expenses and lied while giving evidence to the jury on oath during his trial. He said: “The expenses scheme in the House of Lords was based on trust. Peers certified that their claims were accurate. They were not required to provide proof. It was considered that people who achieved a peerage could be relied on to be honest. “Making false claims involved a breach of a high degree of trust. The expenses scandal has affected the standing not just of the House of Commons but also the House of Lords.” MPs’ expenses House of Lords Crime guardian.co.uk
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Former police chief whose conviction for corruption was quashed says he will sue News of the World if his phone was hacked Ali Dizaei, the controversial former senior Scotland Yard officer whose conviction for corruption was quashed earlier this month, has been told by Metropolitan police detectives that he could have been a victim of phone hacking by the News of the World. Dizaei was sacked from the force after he was found guilty of corruption and served nearly a year in prison, but his conviction was quashed a fortnight ago and he was released pending a retrial. He has said he wants to rejoin the Met . It is understood that Dizaei will sue the paper’s publisher, News International subsidiary News Group Newspapers, if it can be shown his phone was hacked. If so he would becoming the latest of more than two dozen public figures to do so. Scotland Yard is currently investigating the full extent of phone hacking at the paper after reopening its inquiry at the start of the year. Detectives are in the process of contacting everyone whose name and contact details are listed in the pages of notebooks seized in 2006 in a raid on the home of Glenn Mulcaire, the former private investigator who was working for the News of the World at the time. Dizaei said he was “shocked and appalled” after detectives told him his police phone may have been hacked. He said the phone that may have been targeted was used for police business, according to a BBC report . The relationship between the police and the News of the World has come under intense scrutiny in recent months after it emerged that some of the Met’s most senior officers have regularly met senior executives at the paper, sometimes socially. An apparent admission by former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, who told MPs in 2003 the paper had paid police officers for information in the past, has also been placed under the spotlight once more as part of an investigation by the Commons home affairs select committee into the legal ramifications of phone hacking. Brooks, who is now chief executive of News International, the UK arm of Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper business, wrote to the committee in March this year clarifying her 2003 comment. She said she had been “responding to a specific line of questioning on how newspapers get information”. She added: “If, in doing so, I gave the impression that I had knowledge of any specific cases, I can assure you that this was not my intention.” The home affairs select committee is expected to publish its report on phone hacking early next month. •
Continue reading …Former police chief whose conviction for corruption was quashed says he will sue News of the World if his phone was hacked Ali Dizaei, the controversial former senior Scotland Yard officer whose conviction for corruption was quashed earlier this month, has been told by Metropolitan police detectives that he could have been a victim of phone hacking by the News of the World. Dizaei was sacked from the force after he was found guilty of corruption and served nearly a year in prison, but his conviction was quashed a fortnight ago and he was released pending a retrial. He has said he wants to rejoin the Met . It is understood that Dizaei will sue the paper’s publisher, News International subsidiary News Group Newspapers, if it can be shown his phone was hacked. If so he would becoming the latest of more than two dozen public figures to do so. Scotland Yard is currently investigating the full extent of phone hacking at the paper after reopening its inquiry at the start of the year. Detectives are in the process of contacting everyone whose name and contact details are listed in the pages of notebooks seized in 2006 in a raid on the home of Glenn Mulcaire, the former private investigator who was working for the News of the World at the time. Dizaei said he was “shocked and appalled” after detectives told him his police phone may have been hacked. He said the phone that may have been targeted was used for police business, according to a BBC report . The relationship between the police and the News of the World has come under intense scrutiny in recent months after it emerged that some of the Met’s most senior officers have regularly met senior executives at the paper, sometimes socially. An apparent admission by former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, who told MPs in 2003 the paper had paid police officers for information in the past, has also been placed under the spotlight once more as part of an investigation by the Commons home affairs select committee into the legal ramifications of phone hacking. Brooks, who is now chief executive of News International, the UK arm of Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper business, wrote to the committee in March this year clarifying her 2003 comment. She said she had been “responding to a specific line of questioning on how newspapers get information”. She added: “If, in doing so, I gave the impression that I had knowledge of any specific cases, I can assure you that this was not my intention.” The home affairs select committee is expected to publish its report on phone hacking early next month. •
Continue reading …Former police chief whose conviction for corruption was quashed says he will sue News of the World if his phone was hacked Ali Dizaei, the controversial former senior Scotland Yard officer whose conviction for corruption was quashed earlier this month, has been told by Metropolitan police detectives that he could have been a victim of phone hacking by the News of the World. Dizaei was sacked from the force after he was found guilty of corruption and served nearly a year in prison, but his conviction was quashed a fortnight ago and he was released pending a retrial. He has said he wants to rejoin the Met . It is understood that Dizaei will sue the paper’s publisher, News International subsidiary News Group Newspapers, if it can be shown his phone was hacked. If so he would becoming the latest of more than two dozen public figures to do so. Scotland Yard is currently investigating the full extent of phone hacking at the paper after reopening its inquiry at the start of the year. Detectives are in the process of contacting everyone whose name and contact details are listed in the pages of notebooks seized in 2006 in a raid on the home of Glenn Mulcaire, the former private investigator who was working for the News of the World at the time. Dizaei said he was “shocked and appalled” after detectives told him his police phone may have been hacked. He said the phone that may have been targeted was used for police business, according to a BBC report . The relationship between the police and the News of the World has come under intense scrutiny in recent months after it emerged that some of the Met’s most senior officers have regularly met senior executives at the paper, sometimes socially. An apparent admission by former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, who told MPs in 2003 the paper had paid police officers for information in the past, has also been placed under the spotlight once more as part of an investigation by the Commons home affairs select committee into the legal ramifications of phone hacking. Brooks, who is now chief executive of News International, the UK arm of Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper business, wrote to the committee in March this year clarifying her 2003 comment. She said she had been “responding to a specific line of questioning on how newspapers get information”. She added: “If, in doing so, I gave the impression that I had knowledge of any specific cases, I can assure you that this was not my intention.” The home affairs select committee is expected to publish its report on phone hacking early next month. •
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Serbian judges rules former Bosnian Serb commander will be extradited to The Hague ‘as soon as possible’ Judges have rejected an appeal by war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic seeking to stop his extradition to a UN tribunal, a prosecutor said. The former Bosnian Serb commander will be extradited to The Hague “as soon as possible”, Serbia’s deputy war crimes prosecutor, Bruno Vekaric, told the Associated Press. The timing depends on when the Serbian justice minister signs an extradition order, but that is expected to be done quickly, paving the way for Mladic’s immediate handover. Mladic is charged at the tribunal for atrocities committed by his Serb troops during Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war, including the notorious Srebrenica massacre that left 8,000 Muslim men and boys dead. Earlier on Tuesday, he was briefly released from the jail cell, travelling in a secret high-security convoy to a suburban cemetery where he left a lone candle for his daughter, Ana, who killed herself during Bosnia’s bloody ethnic war. Mladic, 69, was accompanied by a convoy of armoured vehicles, Vekaric said. “We didn’t announce his visit to the grave because it is his private thing and because it represented a security risk. The whole operation lasted for exactly 22 minutes and passed without a glitch. He was at the grave for a few minutes.” Europe’s most-wanted war crimes suspect could be handed over to the tribunal in The Hague as soon as late Tuesday or early Wednesday, officials said. A defence extradition appeal sent by mail arguing he is not mentally and physically fit to stand trial arrived at the Belgrade court on Tuesday. Mladic was arrested on Thursday in a village north of the Serbian capital after 16 years on the run. His 23-year-old daughter Ana, a medical student, killed herself in 1994 with her father’s gun. She reportedly did not leave a note, but reports at the time said she ended her life at Mladic’s Belgrade family house because of depression caused by his role in the war. Mladic has rejected the official investigation into his case and claimed she was killed by his wartime enemies, saying the gun was found in her left hand, although she was right-handed. Kadira Gabeljic, whose husband and two sons were killed in the Srebrenica massacre, condemned Mladic’s grave-side visit, saying she almost fainted at the news. So far, experts have managed to exhume only parts of her sons, Mesud and Meho, who were 16 and 21 when killed. “He [Mladic] was allowed to do it, and I am still searching for my children for the past 16 years, ever since Srebrenica happened,” she said. “My husband had been found, but what about my children?” She asked. “I will wait for years. I might even die before their complete remains are found.” In addition to the appeal, Mladic’s lawyer, Milos Saljic, had asked for a team of doctors to examine his client, who is said to have had at least two strokes. Vekaric accused Mladic of using delaying tactics and said nothing should prevent his extradition to tribunal. “Doctors are saying he’s capable of standing trial,” Vekaric said, adding that Mladic will get medical checkups once he arrives at the UN tribunal’s detention unit in The Hague. The prosecutor said no one would be informed when Mladic will be transported from his prison to the Netherlands “because of security risks”. On Monday, the Serbian president, Boris Tadic, rejected speculation that authorities had known of Mladic’s hiding place and delayed his arrest to coincide with a visit by EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. The rumours have persisted because Mladic was found living not far from Belgrade with relatives who share his last name. “Any such comment makes no sense,” Tadic said. “The truth is that we arrested Ratko Mladic the moment we discovered him.” The president also said it was time for the EU to do its part by boosting his country’s efforts to join the bloc, arguing the arrest of Mladic proves it is serious about rejoining the international fold. “I simply ask the EU to fulfil its part,” he said. “We fulfilled our part and we will continue to do so.” The EU had repeatedly said Serbia could begin pre-membership talks only after it arrested the wartime Bosnian Serb commander. Some EU countries have said Serbia needs to do more, including arresting its last fugitive, Goran Hadzic, who led Croatian Serb rebels during the 1991-1995 war. Tadic said Hadzic would be arrested as soon as possible. Ratko Mladic Serbia Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina European Union United Nations War crimes guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Good morning, NBers. We hope everyone's Memorial Day was a thoughtful and restful one. And what better way to start one's week than an all-new episode of NewsBusted! Check it out below the break, and make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel . Topics in today's show: — Does Obama know which year it is? — President auto-signs Patriot Act extension — Barack O'Bama — Do Israelis support Obama's border plan? — DNC chair, who drives an Infiniti, says GOP wants everyone driving imports — Romney sends leftover pizza to Obama — Lech Walesa won't meet with Obama — Carla Bruni's pregnant Starring: Jodi Miller Production: Dialog New Media
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Joerg Kachelmann denied charges but country was captivated by tales of his promiscuous lifestyle and many women A celebrity weatherman has been acquitted of rape charges , judges said, after a high-profile trial that captivated the attention of the German media and public over the last year. Joerg Kachelmann, a 52-year-old public TV network weatherman, had denied the charges by state prosecutors that he raped his ex-girlfriend, 37, at knifepoint in February 2010 just before flying to Canada to work at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Kachelmann, a Swiss national, was arrested at Frankfurt airport, leading to a case that stunned Germany. Details of Kachelmann’s private life have filled newspaper columns and TV news broadcasts since. Prosecutors had demanded a prison term for Kachelmann of four years and three months . His defence attorney argued it was consensual sex. “There was no other verdict that this court could reach,” Kachelmann’s lawyer Johann Schwenn told reporters afterwards. “Herr Kachelmann has been treated in a most shabby fashion.” The rape trial of Kachelmann, Germany’s top weatherman and famed for his rumpled appearance and entertaining reports, had dominated the media for the last nine months as it published salacious details of his tangled love life. Kachelmann admitted he was not monogamous but denied charges he raped the 37-year-old radio host. But that failed to dampen the interest of the German papers and public over reports of his many girlfriends and his celebrity lifestyle. Kachelmann said he had consensual sex just before the girlfriend discovered he was having an affair and ended their relationship. Prosecutors said Kachelmann raped her at knifepoint after she learned of the affair. Newspapers and broadcasters published stories about Kachelmann’s double life and girlfriends – with some reports saying he was seeing 14 different women simultaneously. Kachelmann became the country’s favourite weatherman in the last decade thanks to his light-hearted forecasts, ostentatious ties and unshaven appearance. Germany guardian.co.uk
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Moody’s places Japan’s Aa2 rating under review while jobless rate rises for first time in six months Japan’s hopes of bouncing back from the economic turmoil caused by March’s earthquake and tsunami have been knocked by the threat of a credit rating downgrade from Moody’s, and a rise in unemployment. Moody’s warned on Tuesday that the devastation that struck Japan seven weeks ago is making it even harder for the country to recover from the financial crisis. It put Japan’s Aa2 rating – the rating agency’s third-highest rating – on review for a possible downgrade, adding that there was a “low chance” of a multi-notch downgrade. “The much larger than initially expected economic and fiscal costs of the 11 March earthquake are magnifying the adverse effects imparted by the global financial crisis from which Japan’s economy has not completely recovered,” Moody’s said. Tom Byrne, the ratings agency’s senior vice president and regional credit officer, added that a downgrade was likely even if Japan’s government manages to agree a new fiscal plan. The move was greeted pragmatically by the Japanese government. Economy minister Kaoru Yosano said Moody’s move was “not a happy story to hear”, admitting that it piled more pressure on Japan to improve its finances. “This should be interpreted to mean the market is urging the Japanese government to bring its fiscal condition back to health,” said Yosano. Moody’s credit review was announced just hours after the Japan’s unemployment rate rose for the first time in six months, to 4.7%. This data excluded the three areas most badly affected by the earthquake, suggesting that the actual increase in joblessness could be higher. Japan has already been dragged back into recession by March’s earthquake , with GDP shrinking by 0.9% in the first quarter of 2011. Economists had hoped that the country would stage a V-shaped recovery, but other data released on Tuesday cast doubt on this. Factory output rose by 1% in April, half the 2% increase predicted after the 15.5% plunge in output recorded in March. Exporters have been badly hit, with shipments of new vehicles down by 67% last month. Tax reforms awaited The earthquake reconstruction bill was last estimated at 15tr yen (£111bn), which could add to a national debt that is already double Japan’s GDP. Prime minister Naoto Kan is attempting to persuade Japan’s parliament to approve budget measures to pay for the rebuilding work. However, Kan is facing a no-confidence vote on Wednesday, with some members of his own party calling for a new leader who could push the necessary measures though. Japan is due to announce an overhaul of its tax and social security systems in June. The International Monetary Fund has urged the country to raise its sales tax, currently pegged at 5%, while other bodies have warned that spending on medical care and pensions must be cut back. Under its existing fiscal consolidation plan, Japan was aiming to eliminate its annual budget deficit by 2020. Rating agency Fitch criticised this plan last Friday , calling it “too leisurely”, as it lowered its outlook on Japan from stable to negative. On Tuesday the yen fell against other major currencies to a three-week low. But Moody’s threatened downgrade had no obvious impact on the cost of insuring Japan’s debt, which was unchanged. The five-year credit default swap on Japanese debt remained at 86 basis points, according to Markit. Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio is widely seen as sustainable, at least in the short-term, as so much of its bonds are bought up by domestic investors. Global economy Ratings agencies Financial sector Economics Japan disaster Japan Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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Visitors will be able to listen to Stephen Fry, Miranda Hart and John Sergeant while touring historic homes and gardens A beautiful day out, a tramp round a stately home, a walk in the gardens, and then relax to take in the view from a handy bench. But what’s this? The sound of Stephen Fry coming from the woodwork? The National Trust is ambushing visitors to its tranquil properties with “talking benches”, which are meant to widen the appeal of its historic gardens and homes. Gambling on the lure of celebrity status, the trust has commissioned Fry, Strictly Come Dancing’s John Sergeant and other luminaries to temporarily add to the punter’s “visitor experience”. Flopping on to one of the benches will activate either Fry’s languid drawl or a range of other reminiscences through speakers hidden in the woodwork. The five-minute recordings will “keep the listener entertained”, says the trust. Those who prefer to eat their sandwiches undisturbed can wander off to an ordinary seat instead. The idea draws on variable experience overseas including eroding concrete benches in the Estonian resort of Haapsalu, where Tchaikovsky composed his Pathétique symphony. Gazing out over forlorn reedbeds and marsh, the visitor is briefly serenaded by mournful passages from the work. The trust is aiming at a more cheerful effect, with cricketer David Gower chatting about Calke Abbey in Derbyshire and the TV comedian Miranda Hart extolling the grandeur of Northumberland’s Cragside. Hart said the notion of “being someone’s benchmate and chatting to them while they admire Lord Armstrong’s mighty pile is a lovely, nay tremendous idea”. Piles of a different sort were evoked by Fry, who said he hoped that his bench at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk would provide “comfort, balm and solace for many a weary bottom”. The trust hopes that the famous voices will make inroads into the half of the UK’s population that doesn’t currently visit, without being a pain in the bottom for its established clientele. The benches have been individually carved to reflect their voice’s career and personality and will be joined by others, in the manner of celebrity TV shows, if the first eight catch on. Other stars in the trial run are TV presenter Claudia Winkleman at Quarry Bank mill in Styal, Cheshire, and naturalist Nick Baker at Cotehele in Cornwall. A second naturalist and broadcaster, Iolo Williams, takes on Dinefwr park in Carmarthenshire while philosopher Alain de Botton meditates at Castle Ward in Northern Ireland. The curious mansion in County Down symbolises the trust’s hope of being all things to all men: Viscount Bangor and his wife could not agree on architectural styles, so the front facade is classical Georgian and the rear Strawberry Hill Gothic. Heritage Homes Gardens Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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