Eurosceptics argue bailouts are contrary to German constitution’s protection of property Germany’s constitutional court has begun hearing a case that will decide whether Angela Merkel’s government was right to agree to last year’s multimillion-euro bailout of Greece and the accompanying rescue package for other faltering EU countries. In the unlikely event that the complainants win, the payments will be blocked, an outcome experts say would shake the foundations of the European Union. “If the court were to restrict the government’s leeway to act, the consequences for the EU and the financial markets could be extremely serious,” said Commerzbank analyst Eckart Tuchtfeld. Plaintiffs include MP Peter Gauweiler, a renegade member of Chancellor Merkel’s conservative bloc. He has a history of challenging European Union initiatives and in 2009 he brought a complaint against the integration measures dictated by the Treaty of Lisbon, with limited success. Gauweiler, along with a group of professors, argues the measures violate EU no-bailout provisions and German constitutional clauses protecting property and democracy. They have the support of the majority of ordinary Germans, who were fiercely opposed to “their money” being used to bail out less prudent countries. The case is so crucial that Merkel dispatched her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, to give evidence at Tuesday’s hearing in Karlsruhe. Inside the court, he defended the rescue packages for Greece and other eurozone countries, arguing that “the stability of the euro is of paramount significance”. He pointed to the risk of financial instability across Europe and beyond at the time when the government signed on to the initial Greek rescue of May 2010 and also the wider eurozone fund created shortly afterward. Those plans foresee Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, guaranteeing loans up to €22.4bn for Greece and €147.6bn (£20.1bn) for other countries. The constitutional court’s president Andreas Vosskuhle said the court did not want to hear a debate on the measures’ economic merits, and that the right economic strategy was a matter for politicians and not judges. But, he said, his court “has to consider the limits that the constitution sets for politicians.” Eurosceptic law professor Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider insisted that “what is economically wrong can’t be legally right”. He argued that the rescue measures violated a no-bailout provision in the European Union’s Lisbon treaty without sufficient justification. He also contended that they violated German constitutional clauses protecting property and democracy, the latter by restricting the German parliament’s control over its own budget. “A union of liability and debt favouring other states has been created,” he said. Gauweiler’s representative, Prof Dietrich Murswiek, pointed to current efforts to set up a second Greek rescue package, arguing that loans would sink into a “bottomless pit”. “It’s like trying to repair water damage by blowing up the house,” he said. Murswiek contended: “The rescue fund serves in reality to take risks away from certain big banks,” which would be unconstitutional. Schäuble said the government was on solid legal ground, and argued that “we Germans benefit even more than other Europeans from the currency union”. A ruling is expected this year. Most analysts expect the court to rule the bailouts were legal but to attach strings to the deals. Last month, Vosskuhle, the chief judge hearing the case, seemed to hint at this, when said there were instances in which the European Union could violate the core of Germany’s constitutional identity. Such a “sensitive constellation” was indeed conceivable, he said, adding that he believed that this would “not necessarily happen in the near future”. European debt crisis European banks Germany Europe Greece European Union Financial crisis Global recession Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media When Michael Solomon reads the words of Sarah Palin he sees poetry. Solomon’s searched through 24,000 emails Palin sent while governor of Alaska to create ” I Hope Like Heck ,” a newly published book of poetry. Current’s Keith Olbermann celebrated the Fourth of July holiday by offering a dramatic reading of some of those poems. “I did not change a word,” Solomon told Olbermann. “You know, I left in all of her misspellings because I wanted to be true to the source material.”
Continue reading …It’s about damn time. “Implementation delays”? Doesn’t sound like it was enough of a priority. Think of all the pain that could have been avoided: Sandra Allwine has been pleading with her bank for more than two years to modify the mortgage on her Arlington County home. Despite exhausting all her savings and having her daughter move in to help with her $3,000 mortgage payment, Allwine, 65 and unable to find work, is struggling to save her home from foreclosure. In June, a potential lifeline opened up. The newly launched $1 billion Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program, or EHLP, is targeting homeowners who are among the most difficult to help: those who fell behind on their payments because of job loss or unexpected medical bills. For many of them, it might be the last chance to save their homes. “We were normal middle-class Americans who had saved and lived very carefully and frugally . . . and still wound up getting kicked in the teeth,” Allwine said. She applied as soon as she heard about the program. If she is approved, the government will subsidize Allwine’s mortgage payments for a maximum of $50,000 over two years. After that, the interest-free loan will be forgiven over five years if she stays in her home and stays current on her payments. EHLP is the latest government program targeting the nearly 1.8 million homeowners like Allwine facing foreclosure. It is going to have to move fast: The program was supposed to start last year, but implementation delays mean that the Department of Housing and Urban Development must spend all its $1 billion by the end of the federal government’s fiscal year, Sept. 30. That gives homeowners in 27 states, including Virginia, until July 22 to complete their applications . If demand outstrips available funds, HUD will run a lottery to pick successful applicants. Five additional states, including Maryland, are subject to slightly different rules, which gave them more time to spend the funds, because they started taking EHLP applications earlier under similar state-run programs.
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• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below • Watch all the video highlights of this year’s race so far • Interactive: check out the stage four route and analysis • Email your thoughts to barry.glendenning@guardian.co.uk 1.37pm: Asked for his thoughts on today’s finish at the Mûr-de-Bretagne, Eurosport analyst and Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly declares that “it will be horrible today”. He says the slippery conditions coupled with every single rider’s determination to get up near the front as the peloton enters the town means the potential for carnage is high. He goes on to describe the three ramps that make up the wall, stressing that it’s vital that anyone with serious notions of doing well in this year’s Tour is near the front of the bunch when the peloton hits town. “There’s a lot of little small drags which are energy-sapping in the final stages,” he says. “When you see the wall stretching out in front of you it’s a very impressive sight. There’s no three-kilometre rule today so it’s vital that the main contenders get up the front. Philippe Gilbert is going to have go for this one on the steep section, so calculation is going to be very important.” 1.32pm: “Don’t know if you remember that last year there was a Google maps thingymajig that tracked the live progress of Cav and his team?” writes Kim H. “It occasionally had a strop and refused to display particular riders, but was quite a fun way of following Le Tour and understanding the terrain/distances etc. I haven’t seen any mention of anything similar this year and was wondering whether it has been abandoned?” I do remember the gizmo you speak of, Kim, but don’t know if they’re using it again this year. If they are, you’ll almost certainly find it here ; unfortunately I don’t have time to look for it at the moment. 1.27pm: According to the official Tour website, Jurgen van de Walle from the Omega Paharma-Lotto team has abandoned the race, leaving 197 riders in the race. 1.25pm: After 51km in driving rain, the five-man breakaway are 3min 06sec clear of the peloton, although that gap might close a bit shortly, as one of the escapees has just shooed away the motorcycle camera man in a manner that suggests he’d like some privacy because he needs to take a pee. 1:20pm: “Today’s intermediate sprint is massive for Cavendish,” writes Shriram Jambunathan. “Jose Joaquin Rojas can attempt to get some points at the end of the stage today as well while Farrar and Cavendish shouldn’t get anything. Rojas, if he sprints like yesterday needn’t even win a single stage to be challenging the top favourites for the Green Jersey. Great to see Rojas doing well, Movistar have unfortunately had a traumatic year. The climb resembles a flatter version Mur de Huy, so we should see Gilbert, Evans and Cunego do well. The final 800 metres are pretty flat (I think at 2%).” Weather report: Eurosport’s coverage of today’s stage has just begun, although they’re broadcasting the pre-stage niceties and have yet to cut to my podcasting chum James Richardson, who is once again anchoring their coverage. His chin was decidedly unshaven yesterday – I’m very concerned that he’s letting himself go during the Football Weekly off-season. But I digress … the weather – it’s a horrible day on the Tour, with rain sleeting downwhen the riders set off this morning, rendering the roads so greasy that several riders came a cropper in the neutral zone even before race director Christian Prudhomme had waved the white flag to declare the start of racing. All were able to remount and continue and less than 10km into the stage, Frenchman Jeremy Roy launched his second breakaway of this year’s Tour before the 10-kilometre mark, jumping off the front with Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Euskatel), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and Blel Kadri (AG2R). After 45km, they lead the pack by 3min 05sec. Erviti is the virtual race-leader on the road, having started the day less than three minutes down on yellow jersey wearer Thor Hushovd. An email: “Can we all be nice to one another today?” pleads David Moore. “The emails on yesterday’s pedal-by-pedal coverage got so unfriendly I felt like a domestique in the 2009 Astana team.” I must confess that I haven’t read yesterday’s report, so I don’t know what unpleasantness you’re alluding to, David. But rest assured that the spirit of this afternoon’s equivalent will be ultra-jovial … for a while at least. Standings Yellow jersey: Thor Hushovd (Team Garmin-Cervelo) Green jersey: Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team) Polka dot jersey: Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) White jersey: Geraint Thomas (Sky Procycling) Click this link to see the full overall standings Today’s stage favourite With Tyler Farrar having won yesterday’s stage for Uncle Sam on Independence Day, today’s uphill finish means stage one winner and Omega Pharma-Lotto rider Philippe Gilbert is the odds-on favourite to win his second stage of the Tour, which would be a very nice present for him today on his 29th birthday. According to the good people at Infostrada Sports , the last rider to celebrate his birthday with a stage win in Le Tour was Erik Zabel, on 7 July 1995. “Since the start of this Tour I’ve worn almost all the jerseys and tomorrow I’ll race with the polka-dot jersey,” said Gilbert yesterday. “It’s a rather beautiful collection. The stage to the Mûr-de-Bretagne is one that I’ve waited a long time for because I think it’s a great stage for me. I hope to win again. It’s likely to be different to the day to Mont des Alouettes because the situation has changed since then … Alberto Contador, for example, has lost some time and he could attempt to make up for that in stage four. He can be an ally for me and it’s possible that I could follow his wheel for a while.” Good afternoon everybody and welcome to our rolling report of Stage 4 of this year’s Tour, in which the riders will themselves roll the 172.5km from Lorient to Mur de Bretagne. According to the indispensable pocket race guide that accompanies the current issue of Cycling Weekly , we can “expect fireworks” on a stage that boasts a stiff uphill finish on the third-category Mur de Bretagne (Breton Wall). “Another uphill finish, but harder than day one,” writes our own William Fotheringham in the Guardian’s marvellous interactive guide to this year’s Tour . “The ‘Wall’ is brutal, one mile long and dead straight. The overall contenders will have to show their strength to ensure they don’t lose seconds that could prove vital in the long term. The fight to hit the climb at the front of the bunch will be hectic and dangerous and a crash or two is inevitable.” You can click on this link to read Will’s report on Stage Three , which was won by Garmin’s American sprinter Tyler Farrar on a day that ended badly for Mark Cavendish – the Manx Missile was stripped of the points he won in the intermediate sprint after clashing with his rival Thor Hushovd in the lead-out. “Just heard that Thor’s offered to take the punishment solely,” Cavendish tweeted yesterday afternoon. “What a true gentleman. I reckon it won’t change fuck-all though. But thank you.” Tour de France 2011 Tour de France Barry Glendenning guardian.co.uk
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Justices refuse to suspend ruling that triggered crisis over use of police bail, pointing to emergency legislation before parliament The supreme court has dismissed an application from the police to suspend a ruling that triggered a bail crisis, leaving the legal position of 85,000 suspects in doubt. The justices said the situation was unusual and they were not even sure that they had the power to suspend the ruling but they felt the decision by ministers to bring forward emergency legislation meant they should refuse the application. “This application is unusual and it is questionable whether it would be open to the court to grant this relief,” said the supreme court statement. “In any event, however, the judgment was given on 19 May and an application for permission to appeal was made on 21 June. The government has announced its intention to introduce emergency legislation this Thursday, 7 July. In these circumstances, the court has decided that the application should be dismissed.” MPs are expected to approve the emergency legislation then and peers early next week to become law on 12 July. The bill will make clear that time spent on bail will not count towards the 96-hour time limit on pre-charge detention. The Metropolitan police said on Tuesday morning that it had 14,029 people on bail including 5,024 with conditions it could no longer enforce by detaining them. Police House of Commons Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Rebekah Brooks says it is ‘inconceivable’ she knew of Milly Dowler phone hacking
July 5, 2011 No Comment
News International chief executive determined to lead newspaper group despite calls for her to resign Rebekah Brooks has told employees it is “inconceivable” she knew that the News of the World hacked into Milly Dowler’s mobile phone . The News International chief executive said she was “sickened” by the events, but insisted she was “determined to lead the company” – despite calls for her to resign. Ed Miliband said Brooks should “consider her position” and has called for a public inquiry after the Guardian revealed the News of the World illegally accessed Dowler’s voicemail messages under Brooks’s editorship. David Cameron earlier described the hacking as a “truly dreadful act” and urged police to “pursue this in the most vigorous way”. Brooks, who was editing the paper at the time, emailed employees today to tell them: “It is inconceivable that I knew or worse, sanctioned these appalling allegations. I am aware of the speculation about my position. Therefore it is important you all know that as chief executive, I am determined to lead the company to ensure we do the right thing and resolve these serious issues.” Brooks said she has written to Milly Dowler’s parents on Tuesday morning “to assure them News International will vigorously pursue the truth and that they will be the first to be informed of the outcome of our investigation”. She added: “I am sickened that these events are alleged to have happened. Not just because I was editor of the News of the World at the time, but if the accusations are true, the devastating effect on Milly Dowler’s family is unforgivable”. Senior executives at News International discussed the Dowler revelations at a meeting with police this morning to talk about Scotland Yard’s ongoing investigation into phone hacking. News International said Rebekah Brooks was not present at the meeting. A senior source at the News of the World’s owner said it was a pre-arranged meeting with officers from Operation Weeting, the Met’s investigation into phone hacking that began at the start of the year. Brooks said in her email: “This morning, in our regular Operation Weeting meeting, we have offered the MPS our full co-operation to establish the veracity of these fresh allegations.” Miliband had earlier called for a public inquiry and said Brooks should “consider her conscience and consider her position”, as pressure mounts on the chief executive. Miliband said the latest revelations in the News of the World phone-hacking saga were a “stain” on news reporting in the country. He added that the hacking “represents one of the darkest days in British journalism”. Earlier Cameron, currently in Afghanistan, said of the Guardian’s revelation that the News of the World illegally targeted Milly Dowler and her family: “If they are true this is a truly dreadful act and a truly dreadful situation. What I’ve read in the papers is quite shocking, that someone could do this knowing that the police were trying to find this person and find out what happened. “There is a police investigation into hacking allegations … they should investigate this without any fear, without any favour, without any worry about where the evidence should lead them. “They should pursue this in the most vigorous way that they can in order to get to the truth of what happened. That is the absolute priority as a police investigation.” The home secretary, Theresa May, said news of the hacking was “truly shocking”, and said it “should be investigated with great vigour”. Keith Vaz told the BBC the home affairs select committee would ask May whether there is any evidence of hacking in the Soham murders or any other cases. The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, whose force is accused of not investigating phone hacking properly in the first place, said on Tuesday: “My heart goes out to the Dowler family.” He told BBC London: “I have to be very careful to say nothing that could prejudice our live investigation but if it is proved to be true, then irrespective of the legality or illegality of it, I’m not sure there is anyone who wouldn’t be appalled and repulsed by such behaviour.” Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott said on Twitter that he would write to the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, demanding he block News Corp’s bid to take full control of pay-TV company BSkyB following the revelations about Dowler. However, John Whittingdale, the chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that phone hacking at the News of the World should not taint the rest of Rupert Murdoch’s empire. “You cannot necessarily condemn the entire of News Corp just because of the actions of some individuals in another part of the organisation,” he said. “News International is a part of News Corp but it’s a different part. News Corp is a global enterprise and I don’t think one should condemn the entire organisation because something very clearly was going wrong in the News of the World.” Detectives from Operation Weeting are believed to have found evidence of the targeting of the Dowlers in a collection of 11,000 pages of notes kept by Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for phone hacking on behalf of the News of the World. In the past four weeks, Met officers have approached Surrey police and taken formal statements from some of those involved in the original inquiry, who were concerned about how News of the World journalists intercepted – and deleted – the voicemail messages of Milly Dowler. The messages were deleted by journalists in the first few days after Milly’s disappearance to create space for more messages. As a result friends and relatives of Milly concluded wrongly she might still be alive. Police also feared evidence may have been destroyed. Milly Dowler Phone hacking News of the World Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers James Robinson Adam Gabbatt Sandra Laville Nick Davies Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk
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Bercow to spend time in Kabul as part of parliamentary exchange programme designed to help foster democracy in Afghanistan The Speaker, John Bercow, is to be dispatched to Kabul in a unique parliamentary exchange scheme to help impart his knowledge of managing the British House of Commons to his Afghan counterpart. British MPs and peers will also twin up with Afghan parliamentarians in a new scheme to help foster democracy in Afghanistan. Bercow and Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, speaker of the Afghan parliament, have been lined up for the parliamentary support programme exchange scheme agreed between the two countries. Asked if Bercow had been approached to participate in the exchange, a Downing Street spokesman said: “I am sure he is fully supportive of our efforts.” It comes a week after David Cameron was clearly irritated by twice being cut short by the Speaker at prime minister’s questions . The moves to increase inter-parliamentary co-operation come amid concern in the British government at recent efforts by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to overturn the results of 25% of Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections, which has further inflamed international concern about democratic progress in Afghanistan. Cameron raised the matter with Karzai in his bilateral meeting on Tuesday morning. Cameron had reminded journalists on Monday that his aspirations for Afghanistan were even more modest than previous prime ministers, telling a gathering of US and UK troops that they were not fighting to “create a perfect democracy” nor “create a perfect country” but to build up the Afghan troops so that they could take the reins themselves. Speaking in Kabul, Cameron said he had raised the issue of the relationship between the Afghan “executive and parliament”. In June, Karzai set up a special court, which overturned the results in a quarter of parliamentary seats from last year’s elections, effectively making null and void 62 MPs’ results. John Bercow Commons Speaker House of Commons David Cameron Afghanistan Hamid Karzai Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
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Single shipment most likely source of deadly epidemic in Germany, France and US, says food safety watchdog A single shipment of fenugreek seeds from Egypt is the most likely source of an E coli epidemic in Germany that has killed 49 people. It is also thought to be behind a smaller outbreak in France, European investigators said on Tuesday. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has urged the European commission to make “all efforts” to prevent any further consumer exposure to suspect seeds and advised consumers not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they are cooked thoroughly. More than 4,100 people in Europe and the US have been infected in two outbreaks of E coli infection – one centred in northern Germany; the other around the French city of Bordeaux. Almost all of those affected in the first outbreak – the deadliest on record – lived in Germany or had recently travelled there. The infection has killed 48 people in Germany and one person in Sweden. “The analysis of information from the French and German outbreaks leads to the conclusion that an imported lot of fenugreek seeds which was used to grow sprouts imported from Egypt by a German importer is the most common likely link,” the EFSA said. It added that “other lots of fenugreek imported from Egypt during the period 2009 to 2011 may be implicated” and said forward-tracing investigations should be carried out in all countries that might have received seeds from the lots concerned. The strain of E coli infections identified in the outbreaks – known as Stec O104:H4 – can cause serious diarrhoea and, in severe cases, kidney failure and death. E coli Egypt Health Middle East Africa Food safety Food & drink Germany Europe France United States guardian.co.uk
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Dutch court rules troops should not have allowed men to leave safe area or fall into the hands of Bosnian Serb forces Appeal court judges in the Netherlands have ruled that the Dutch state was responsible for the deaths of three Muslim men after the fall of Srebrenica during the Bosnian war, in a verdict that opens the door to compensation claims. Dutch troops were in charge of the UN-declared “safe area” in Srebrenica in July 1995 when Bosnian Serb forces overran the enclave and killed about 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys . Relatives of a local electrician who assisted the Dutch but was killed in Srebrenica, and the troops’ local interpreter, whose father and brother are also believed to have died, lodged legal action against the Dutch state seeking damages. In its ruling, the court said the Dutch state was responsible for the death of these men because the Dutch UN troops, known as Dutchbat, should not have allowed the men to leave the safe area or fall into the hands of the Bosnian Serb forces. “The Dutchbat had been witness to multiple incidents in which the Bosnian Serbs mistreated or killed male refugees outside the compound. The Dutch therefore knew that … the men were at great risk if they were to leave the compound,” the court said in its ruling. The Dutch government, which has faced several lawsuits in recent years over the massacre, has always insisted that its troops were abandoned by the UN, which provided them no air support. A case launched by the group Mothers of Srebrenica against the Dutch state is now before the Dutch supreme court, where lawyers are seeking a referral of the case to the European court of justice to also challenge the immunity of the UN. In its ruling on Tuesday, the appeal court said its decision only applied to the specific case of the three Muslim men and no ruling had been made over the situation of the other refugees in Srebrenica. However, the court said that Dutch troops were initially operating under UN orders and that an “exceptional situation” developed after the fall of Srebrenica. Since the Dutch government tried to intervene in the situation, it could be held responsible for the deaths of three men, the court said. The Srebrenica massacre remains a sensitive issue in the Netherlands , where the government fell in 2002 after a damning report by the Dutch Institute for War Documentation into the events surroundings the killings. Srebrenica massacre Netherlands Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia United Nations guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Christie Upsets PBS Types by Suggesting State-Owned Broadcasting Seems ‘Soviet’
July 5, 2011 No Comment
Liberals who love public broadcasting are angry at Gov. Chris Christie for moving to fold the state’s public broadcaster, but let its operations be taken over by other public TV and radio entities in the area. Christie told interviewer Bob Hennelly on WNYC public radio that “state-owned operation of media ended with the Soviet Union,” even if that’s not really an end to public broadcasting in New Jersey: BOB HENNELLY: You had a big win yesterday [Thursday]. But you did have one setback. The Assembly rejected your proposal to have WNET Channel 13 takeover the state's public broadcaster NJN. Critics of the deal say they are concerned WNET won't deliver the quality news product Michael Aron with NJN has been putting out. What's at stake with this deal? CHRIS CHRISTIE: What’s at stake is, I really believed that the state-owned operation of media ended with the Soviet Union , and I don’t think we should be in the television business. I think its an inherent conflict of interest for us to be in the television business and for reporters to be state employees and I also think that the expense at this time is not justified into the budget. Christie is streamlining funds for taxpayer-funded broadcasting. Other Republican governors, like Bob McDonnell in Virginia and Rick Scott in Florida, have cut state funding for public broadcasting, even as federal subsidies keep increasing. Christie quickly defended his decision to let New York PBS superstation WNET take over: CHRISTIE: The Senate now has to consider this, and I hope that the Senate will decide, I hope, that this is a good deal, you know, and WNET, led by Neil Shapiro [a former NBC News producer who oversaw the Dateline GM truck fiasco], is a premiere organization and they have made promises to us contractually, in writing, about the amount of New Jersey programming and the type of New Jersey programming that is going to be on the air. So I don’t think that anyone can validly say, given if they look at the NET deal, that it’s anything but a really good deal for the people of New Jersey. They’re going to establish not only the outlets they have now but also a studio at Rowan University, put permanent cameras in the Senate and the Assembly so that people can watch that more frequently, as to what’s going on, on the floor of the legislature. And so, I just think this is much ado about nothing in the sense that these folks going forward are going to understand that everyone has to share the sacrifice. HENNELLY: As you know, WNYC's parent New York Public Radio and WHYY in Philadelphia [also a public radio station] are set to acquire the nine NJN radio stations. Is that part of your proposal affected by a negative vote from the legislature? CHRISTIE: No, it doesn’t have an impact. The only aspect of the veto on the deal is they’re just taking up the portion of the NET takeover of NJN. As I understand it, regardless of what happens, the purchase of the radio stations will continue to go forward. This phaseout of NJN, however, didn't begin under Christie: it began under Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine .
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