Air France Flight 447 captain not in the cockpit

The flight recorders from Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic in June 2009, reveal that the captain was not in the cockpit when the aircraft began its fateful descent. Instead, the plane’s two co-pilots were at the controls. Pilots on long flights often take turns at the controls to rest and remain alert. The revelation comes as part of the ongoing crash investigation being conducted by the French agency, BEA. The flight recording devices were recently recovered from the bottom of the ocean. They also indicated that the plane had stalled numerous times as the co-pilots were maneuvering through heavy clouds. The Air France flight was travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 people onboard were killed.

 

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The Serbian president has confirmed that alleged war criminal Ratko Mladic has been arrested following an anonymous tip-off.

Mladic, now 68, is accused of masterminding the 44-month siege of Sarajevo that left 10,000 people dead in 1995 and the massacre in July of the same year of around 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.
He was the most prominent Bosnian war crimes suspect at large since the arrest of Radovan Karadzic in 2008.

Mladic had managed to evade capture for sixteen years
Serbian President Boris Tadic confirmed that Mladic had been arrested and said that "all war criminals must face justice."
He said: "This is the result of cooperation of Serbia with the Hague Tribunal.
"I have always believed in our strategy and the work of everyone involved in this process.
"Today we close one chapter of our recent history that will bring us one step closer to full reconciliation in the region.
DAVID CAMERON REACTION TO RATKO MLADIC ARREST

"I believe that all countries must be responsible for closing their own chapters.
"All crimes have to be fully investigated and all war criminals must face justice."
Sky's Alex Rossi said the question in many people's minds is why it has taken so long to arrest Mladic - who went on the run in 1995.
"He has managed to evade capture for sixteen years. Serbia, where he was arrested, is not a large place.
"How did he hide? Who was sponsoring him? Who was helping him? Where parts of the state's apparatus shielding him from justice?
MOST WANTED: PROFILE OF GENERAL RATKO MLADIC

"Those questions remain unanswered but nevertheless this is a major step from the Serbian government in its rehabilitation."
Speaking at the G8 Summit in Deauville, France, Prime Minister David Cameron said we must not forget the crimes Mladic is alleged to have carried out.
"He (Mladic) is accussed of the most appalling war crimes - both in terms of what happened not only in Srebrenica but also in Sarajevo.
All crimes have to be fully investigated and all war criminals must face justice.
Serbian President Boris Tadic

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The tycoons of Europe's troubled southern periphery are buying up homes in London's billionaire enclaves and shifting cash to the City's banks as they flee the euro zone's debt crisis.

Estate agents report buyers from Spain, Italy and Greece are muscling in on the residential market in London's elite neighbourhoods such as Mayfair and Belgravia, joining established colonies of rich Russians, Indians and Gulf Arabs.

Data from upmarket British property consultant Savills (SVS.L) shows that buyers from Spain, Italy and Greece have increased their share of property purchases in central London's smartest neighbourhoods since the start of the year.

"Southern European numbers seem to have increased," said Yolande Barnes, head of Savills Research.

"In 2011, I suspect the lure of a 'safe', sterling denominated asset once again looks attractive as the financial markets in those countries... look particularly precarious."

The proportion of non-British western Europeans buying prime residential property in London has risen to 14 percent this year from 11 percent in 2010. Within this, buyers from Spain, Italy and Greece grew to 36 percent in 2011, from 25 percent.

Buyers from these three countries also make up half of all western European buyers of properties worth more than 15 million pounds ($24.17 million), and 43 percent in the 5 million to 15 million pounds range, the research shows.

And London's private bankers -- specialising in clients whose wealth is measured in tens of millions of pounds -- also report they are booking more business in Europe's so-called sun belt, belying the region's financial crisis.

BANKER SEEKS TYCOON

Banks have invested in the region and hired more local staff because of the conspicuous wealth generation seen during the boom years, when the new rich started to look for opportunities beyond their own markets and local banks.

"The youngest wealthy entrepreneurs, wealthy families, are looking outside of Spain... They are giving global banks more of a play in that arena," said Roberto Islas, head of Latin America and Iberia at HSBC's (HSBA.L) private bank. The region has some high profile tycoons - Greece has its shipping families while Spain boasts figures such as Amancio Ortega, founder of retailer Inditex (ITX.MC), and Real Madrid president and construction magnate Florentino Perez.

And southern Europe's rich appear to have resisted the worst of the financial crisis when the region first lurched into the economic downturn, with the millionaire population in both Spain and Italy continuing to grow from 2008 to 2009.

"Private banks are trying to capture these clients who were originally with Spanish commercial and savings banks," said Lorenzo Goldberg, a Madrid-based partner at London wealth manager AlphaOne Partners.

Citi's (C.N) private banking arm has added to its team in Spain as clients are putting more money to work, partly in response to a need to protect wealth against rising inflation and this often involves banking through London.

"The really large customers want the best the market has to offer and the best is not sitting in Lisbon or Madrid. A lot of the best ideas -- the best solutions, the best products and people are sitting in London," said Luigi Pigorini at Citi, who, as head of Citi Private Bank in EMEA, is responsible for the unit.

And some see tentative signs that the good times may yet return to Europe's Mediterranean countries with a resumption of windfalls coming to families who sell or list their businesses.

"We are beginning to see again a pickup in M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity in these countries," said Pablo Garnica, head of private banking for EMEA at JP Morgan (JPM.N).

"It's not like there's great momentum around that, but we are beginning to see some signs of pickup in activity... When illiquid wealth becomes more liquid."

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Spanish police have foiled the sale of combat helicopters and other military materials to Iran and Venezuela

Spanish police have foiled the sale of combat helicopters and other military materials to Iran and Venezuela, police said Thursday.
Police detained five Spanish businessmen, who operated under the cover of an aircraft repair company, and three Iranians.
The Iranians had travelled to Spain apparently to seal the sale of nine US-made Bell-212 combat helicopters, which are used for transporting troops and weapons. Their sale to Iran would have violated United Nations' sanctions against the country.
The helicopters were kept at warehouses near Madrid and Barcelona, where they would have been dismantled for transport to Iran, police said.
The ring was also suspected of preparing to sell spare parts of combat helicopters to Venezuela.
Police confiscated the helicopters and other war materials for the total worth of 100 million euros (140 million dollars).

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New York police have denied reports of finding DNA traces from Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief, on a maid's clothes.

Investigators had so far given "no result and no information" about the DNA test results, they said on Tuesday, following news reports earlier that the DNA tests had given a positive result.

A spokesman from the New York Police Department denied that the results from the genetic testing had been released.

On Monday a spokeswoman from the prosecutor's office would not comment on the report saying there would be "nothing until the trial."

Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, faces sexual assault charges over the alleged attack on the 32-year-old maid at a New York hotel earlier this month.

He denies all charges and is currently on bail at a New York safe house.

The Wall Street Journal and France 2 television channel had reported that Strauss-Kahn's DNA matched traces of semen found on the collar of the maid's shirt, quoting sources close to the investigation.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have not commented on the reports.

Garo Ghazarian, a criminal defence attorney based in Los Angeles, California, cautioned that the DNA match in itself does not prove guilt.


Strauss-Kahn with his legal team, which has hired private investigators to help prepare his defence [EPA]
He noted that there are various explanations that could explain the presence of Strauss-Kahn's body fluids on the clothing, including a secondary transfer or a consensual sexual act.

"He [was] a guest in the room, and she is an employee of the facility.  DNA is bound to be present in that room belonging to both of these individuals, but to take that and assume that there [was] a non-consensual encounter – if there was an encounter, to begin with - is a rush to judgment, in my opinion, and a mistake," he told Al Jazeera.

Ghazarian also noted what he said was the exceptional speed with which the DNA results had been delivered.

"There is doubt in the [legal] defence community as to the quick turnaround of the so-called DNA evidence and the match that they've made in just a few short days," he said.

Strauss-Kahn, who is currently seeking a new home in New York while he awaits trial, has told his former staff how he is confronting a "personal nightmare."

He has been rejected by one luxury residence because of his newfound notoriety and must soon leave his temporary apartment.

Strauss-Kahn is currently staying at the Empire Building at 71 Broadway, where management has apologised to residents and said the new arrival would be gone by "early" this week.

Charges that he attempted to rape and sexually assault the chambermaid on May 14 forced him to resign as head of the International Monetary Fund last week.

They have also wrecked his chances of standing in next year's French presidential election, in which he was expected to be the Socialist Party's candidate.

Strauss-Kahn again denied the accusations in an email message sent to IMF staff on Sunday in which he expressed "profound sadness" at the way he left his $450,000-a-year tax-free post.

"I deny in the strongest possible terms the allegations which I now face; I am confident that the truth will come out and I will be exonerated," he wrote.

"In the meantime, I cannot accept that the Fund - and you dear colleagues - should in any way have to share my own personal nightmare. So, I had to go."

Strauss-Kahn's next court appearance is scheduled for June 6, when he is expected to enter a formal plea.

On Monday his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said his client would plead not guilty and that he was confident  Strauss-Kahn would go free.

The defence team has hired a posse of private investigators who, according to media reports, are already sifting through the 32-year-old accuser's personal history in New York and her native Guinea in West Africa.

Prosecutors told Strauss-Kahn's bail hearing last week that they were also building a "strong" case in support of the accusations.

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Cannes film festival organisers have banned Lars von Trier from their event

Cannes film festival organisers have banned Lars von Trier from their event after he caused a furore by joking about being a Nazi at a press conference to promote his new film, Melancholia.


The Cannes board of directors declared the Danish director, formerly a festival favourite as much for his outspoken persona as his taboo-breaking films, "persona non grata, with effect immediately" following a bizarre performance in front of the media on Wednesday when he declared he had sympathy for Adolf Hitler.

"Cannes provides artists with an exceptional forum to present their works and defend freedom of expression and creation," the board said in a statement. "We profoundly regret[s] that this forum has been used by Lars von Trier to express comments that are unacceptable, intolerable, and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the festival."

Von Trier's offending words came in response to a question about his German roots. Seemingly joking, Von Trier announced himself to be a Nazi, after expressing sadness that he hadn't been born Jewish. As the atmosphere became increasingly tense, and Melancholia stars such as Kirsten Dunst sought to staunch his flow, Von Trier continued: "What can I say? I understand Hitler. He did some wrong things, absolutely, but I can see him sitting there in his bunker at the end ... I sympathise with him, yes, a little bit."

The festival organisers subsequently issued a statement saying they had asked the director for an explanation. This followed an hour later, when Von Trier said: "If I have hurt someone this morning by the words I said at the press conference, I sincerely apologise. I am not antisemitic or racially prejudiced in any way, nor am I a Nazi." But his contrition does not appear to have been sufficient for the board, headed by president Gilles Jacob, to whom the matter was referred.

The ban appears to be a personal one: Melancholia is still in contention for all awards, including the festival's most prestigious, the Palme d'Or, which Von Trier won in 2000 with his film Dancer in the Dark. But should Von Trier triumph, he will not be welcome at Sunday's ceremony to pick it up. All press engagements to promote Melancholia have been cancelled, and it remains uncertain whether the cast and crew would boycott the rest of the festival in protest.

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Good Cannes – a festival with confidence, glamour, conspicuous wealth and a spring in its step.

No matter by what criteria you choose to judge it, this has been a good Cannes – a festival with confidence, glamour, conspicuous wealth and a spring in its step. Some years the sunshine, the enthusiasm of the crowds and the glamour of the red carpet processions can seduce you into thinking that everything seems fine; yet those elements can mask problems behind the scenes, and an industry gritting its teeth against hard times.
No one can say that about Cannes 2011. In the market, below stairs in the imposing Palais, where the festival’s most important films are screened, the dealing was frantic. Films have been bought and sold with a zest not seen on the Croisette in three years or more. If we’re still in the midst of a global recession, clearly a lot of people in Cannes have failed to receive that memo.
More likely, the global film industry has learned to re-position itself as an affordable form of entertainment for a recession era. Whatever the truth, there’s been an awful lot of product on offer in Cannes, and it’s been snapped up greedily.
Tellingly, Cannes 2011 was the arena in which two eminent (and related) film companies chose to proclaim their renaissance. The Weinstein Company, headed by brothers Harvey and Bob, was in bullish mood, announcing a dazzling array of upcoming movies by important filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Harvey Weinstein, buoyed by his success distributing The King’s Speech in the States, has been bidding like a gambler on a lucky streak; he reportedly snagged US distribution rights to The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep, after seeing just five minutes of footage.

Meanwhile, the brothers’ former company Miramax has rebooted itself. It hired a flotilla of speedboats to shuttle 150 international distribution executives to a brunch on a private beach at Cap d’Antibes, 10 miles from Cannes, to hear chief executive Mike Lang’s optimistic plans for the future. But it’s not just Miramax and the Weinsteins – several other companies were demonstrably in a buying mood.
By the same token, every luxury yacht in Cannes harbour has been leased by a film company. And the hospitality in Cannes seemed more lavish than in years. Several films, even modestly budgeted ones, were launched with a splashy beach party.
I can’t recall a Cannes where alcohol flowed quite so freely. I’m not talking routine rosé, but expensive champagnes, drinks with high-end brand names: Moët, Chivas, Martini. One imagines the Roaring Twenties felt a bit like this.
The films themselves lived up to the Croisette’s expansive, confident mood. No two critics will ever agree completely about any one film, but a festival competition that annually attracts filmmakers of the calibre of Terrence Malick, Pedro Almodóvar and Lars von Trier is doing something right.
There are those who feel Cannes gives a free pass to a small number of world-class directors such as these, inviting them to compete for the Palme d’Or irrespective of an individual film’s quality. And some of these filmmakers aren’t getting any younger. Is Cannes a closed shop that stifles advancement for younger talents?
I put this to Gilles Jacob, the festival’s veteran president. “We look at the new works of these filmmakers like the latest chapters in their books,” he said. “We see their work as a whole. And, anyway, even a lesser work by a great director is more interesting than the best work of a lesser one.” Of all the world’s film festivals, only this one can afford to think like that.
Yet Cannes 2011 also worked on a frivolous level. With such glamorous stars as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz tripping down the red carpet, there was enough top-drawer eye candy to suit all tastes .
People came out to see them, in droves. Last weekend it was impossible to move on that part of the Croisette near the Palais. And they didn’t just come to gawp: admissions for films to which the public are admitted were relatively high.
Finally, praise be, Cannes remains a world-class epicentre of sheer daftness. It manifests itself in various ways. Lars von Trier’s press conference observation that he “understands” Hitler caused eyes to roll at this man’s sheer perversity – and appalling lack of judgment.
The appearance of Cheryl Cole (you know, the left-back’s ex) on the red carpet in a plunging dress prompted a tabloid story that she had been offered three film roles. We shall see.
But the supreme moment of daftness was when a journalist (who should have known better) asked Angelina Jolie for her reaction to Osama bin Laden’s death. She replied, with commendable restraint, that maybe a press conference for Kung Fu Panda 2 wasn’t the ideal forum for such a discussion. Only at Cannes.

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Strauss-Kahn believes he was victim of Russian plot to have him sacked as head of IMF, French politician reveals

An author linked to Dominique Strauss-Kahn today claimed he 'loved sex', but dismissed the sexual assault allegations against him.

Spanish-born writer Carmen Llera, 58, is said to have had a two-year relationship with Strauss-Kahn between 2003 and 2005 and a picture has been circulated of the two of them walking in Paris.

In 2008 she published a book of poems in French and Italian called Gaston, which is said to have hinted at the relationship she had with the former IMF chief.


Scapegoat: Carmen Llera, pictured with her then husband Alberto Moravia in 1987, claims Dominque Strauss-Kahn is being made a scapegoat for anti-French feeling


Allegations: Strauss-Kahn was granted bail yesterday on charges of sexual assault against a hotel maid

Since Strauss-Kahn's arrest Ms Llera has gone to ground and has not been seen at her Rome apartment and she has also switched off her mobile and not returned messages.

Aides to the former IMF chief had expressed concerns of potential revelations about their relationship if Ms Llera decided to publish a book.

But today, a letter from her was published in Italy's leading Corriere Della Sera newspaper, in which she appeared to defend him.

It said: 'After days of silence I am writing to you, it is a mistake to use my book Gaston, which is pure fiction, to illustrate a real event, Gaston has nothing to do with Dominique Strauss-Kahn who I have known for many years.

'I have never been one of his victims as has been written, he is not a primitive, cruel, sadistic man, violence is not part of his culture, he likes sex (so what?) that is not a crime, sometimes bodies can express more than words.

'But I do not wish to be literary at this moment because literature does not save anyone, it won't save him and it won't save me.

'I have no idea what happened in the suite at the Sofitel, probably there was a consensual relationship, but I would exclude sexual violence, I would not want Dominique Strauss-Kahn to be a made a scapegoat for American, anti-European, or anti-French puritanism.

'I would not want him to pay for the failed extradition of (Roman) Polanski or for dirty political and economic games.

Strauss-Kahn believes he was victim of Russian plot to have him sacked as head of IMF, French politician reveals
Out, thanks to his wife: 'Rape' banker released on $6m bail deal - and his loyal missus is picking up the massive bill
'I would just like that his innocence be demonstrated and that he will return to the be the free and smiling man that I saw days ago.'

A source close to Ms Llera said: 'She has had a pretty colourful love life and has been linked to several powerful men in Italy and elsewhere.

'She is a bit of a free spirit and she did have a soft spot for Dominique.


Complaints: French socialist deputy Aurelie Filippetti, left, described Strauss-Kahn's 'very, very insistent' attempts to chat her up while Piroska Nagy said 'he has a problem' after having a one night stand

'They were lovers very briefly and she visited him in Paris a few times and she told me that he did have a very active and imaginative sex life which she found very exciting.'

Ms Llera married Italian author Alberto Moravia four years before his death in 1990, when she was 33 and he was 79.

It comes after a book by a member of Strauss-Kahn's inner circle suggested his dealings with Rome-based Ms Llera could be damaging if revealed.

DSK: Secrets Of A Presidential Contender, published last year under the pseudonym Cassandre, said: 'Our worst nightmare would be if she wanted to write a book.'

The woman, named in the book as Carmen, is believed to be Ms Llera.

The methods Strauss-Kahn employed to carry out his alleged philandering were underlined in the 'DSK' book, which described him identifying his 'prey' with an 'eye for women (as) sharp as a laser'.

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France is ‘by far’ the leading foreign location with British buyers looking overseas,

France is ‘by far’ the leading foreign location with British buyers looking overseas, according to a leading property expert.  Charles Weston-Baker, the head of international property at high net worth agents Savills, has identified France as the leading location in ‘a new world order of property ownership’.


The most recent Global Residential Review from Savills reported that property prices in France doubled between 2000 and 2007 before falling by 11 per cent and then stabilising.  Mr Weston-Baker told Country Life: “Most of our enquiries are for France...the Saint-Tropez end of the Côte d'Azur continues to attract cash-rich lifestyle buyers, as it offers lower prices than the old [eastern] Riviera.”

Many Brits buying in France are reaching retirement and many have friends who already live in some of France’s most popular areas.  Paddy Dring, head of Knight Frank’s international department said: “Buyers tend to be people coming towards retirement.  They have enough funds to fulfil the dream of owning a house abroad, and want to enjoy more time with family. They have friends in these areas already.”

The pace of life is slower in mid-France and the property market is also quieter.  Ian Purslow from Knight Frank believes it is an excellent time to buy in central France.  He said: “The market remains saturated with properties that have little chance of selling if they're overpriced, because they have to compete with new instructions.”

Italy also popular with British buyers

Demand from Brits looking to buy Property In Italy is also strong, particularly in popular areas such as Tuscany.  Mr Weston-Baker said: “The country has resisted the high mortgage culture that has landed so many others in trouble, so the housing market has been relatively strong.”

Rupert Fawcett, head of Knight Frank in Italy agrees.  “Buyers are comforted by the knowledge that the market is more stable and feel they're making a sound investment.”

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Angela Merkel’s words about Portugal, Spain and Greece can only be understood in the context of the customary frivolity of election campaigns.

We’re going to pay a very high price for this populist and xenophobic drift that is spreading through the European Union. We are destroying more than five decades of peace and development. And the rich nations of Europe have a special responsibility.

Angela Merkel’s words about Portugal, Spain and Greece can only be understood in the context of the customary frivolity of election campaigns. The German Chancellor threw some wood on the fire that is already burning far too enthusiastically and dangerously.

The German Chancellor’s message on Tuesday was frightening. Merkel said that people in countries like Portugal, Spain and Greece couldn’t have more holidays, work less and retire earlier than Germans. Even if what she said were true, she shouldn’t have said it. Because this is not what matters for the success of the single currency [euro] and because it only fuels the unwillingness that is growing in some countries to help countries in the euro zone that are in financial difficulties.

Weakening the euro
When we go and check the statistics to see if what Merkel says corresponds to reality, we find that, in fact, nothing she said is true. The Germans are the European champions of holidays. The Greeks work the longest hours. And the Dutch are the ones who retire latest, but the Portuguese are not far behind: they are fourth.

To say that a monetary union requires everyone to have the same number of days’ holiday, the same number of working hours and the same retirement age is to add to ignorance, the best friend of populism and xenophobia. These equalities are consequences, not conditions, for the success of the euro.

What weakens the euro are decisions such as suspending the Schengen agreement, which guarantees freedom of movement of people in the single currency area, or the lack of common resources, a budget, fund or mechanism that can tackle the asymmetric shocks that we’re experiencing.

Suspending Schengen because of immigration from North Africa does more harm to the single currency than the debt of Portugal, Greece, Spain and Ireland combined, and it helps to delay even further the equalities in the labour market that Merkel is so worried about. 

There is no agreement to provide credible support to the euro countries in financial difficulties – in the language of economics, “affected by an asymmetric shock” – is more of a threat to the euro than those questions that are the delight of populist talk.

Feeding the populist monster
The cold facts are that countries like Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain are the victims of an asymmetric shock within a monetary union. The reasons why these countries, rather than other, are in this situation are many and varied, since it is the responsibility of all the members of the euro for what has happened. If it were Holland, for instance, facing an asymmetric shock, it would be like this, with this rationality and without Merkel’s populism, that the issue would be being discussed.

We don’t want to believe that there are countries in the euro that would like to salvage that old theory of a Dutch minister who, at the end of the 1990s, did not want the southern European nations – the Club Med, as he called them – to join the euro.  We don’t want to believe that the aid programmes in fact amount to expulsion from the euro.  Angela Merkel has to honour the memory of Konrad Adenauer and the legacy of Helmut Kohl, who just this week offered some serious advice.

Feeding the populist monster that is growing in the Europe of the euro is a Pandora’s box, it is provoking the most dangerous spectres of the European past. The Germans know that the European project is worth far more than populist impulses. Angela Merkel knows that an election is worth less than the life of the euro.

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Banderas, Almodovar reunite in Cannes hit

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Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned Wednesday as head of the International Monetary Fund

Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned Wednesday as head of the International Monetary Fund after explosive accusations that he had sexually attacked a housekeeper in a Midtown Manhattan hotel room.

“It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation from my post of managing director of the I.M.F.,” he said in a statement dated Wednesday and issued shortly after midnight by the I.M.F. “I think at this time first of my wife — whom I love more than anything — of my children, of my family, of my friends.”

His resignation comes four days after Mr. Strauss-Kahn was taken off an Air France plane at Kennedy International Airport and arrested in connection with the accusations, and a day after Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, called for his resignation.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, had been expected to declare his candidacy for the French presidency soon. He was seen as one of the people figure most likely to oust President Nicolas Sarkozy.

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New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended his city's police for parading a handcuffed Dominique Strauss-Kahn before the media after some French politicians voiced outrage over the IMF chief's "perp walk."

The International Monetary Fund managing director, considered a front-runner for the French presidency, was arrested over the weekend and charged with attempting to rape a hotel maid in New York.

Police transporting him from a jail cell to the courthouse walked him briefly in front of a battery of cameras on Sunday night with his hands cuffed behind the back.

"I think it is humiliating, but if you don't want to do the perp walk, don't do the crime," Bloomberg told reporters in the state capital, Albany, on Tuesday.

"I don't have a lot of sympathy for that. Our judicial system works where the public can see the alleged perpetrators," Bloomberg said.

Former French Culture Minister Jack Lang described the treatment of Strauss-Kahn as a "lynching" that had "provoked horror and aroused disgust." Others considered it degrading and offensive.

Bloomberg also defended a judge's decision to deny bail for Strauss-Kahn and keep him in jail pending further court proceedings.

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The arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges of sexually assaulting a hotel cleaning woman in New York City is a personal humiliation for the French politician

The arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges of sexually assaulting a hotel cleaning woman in New York City is a personal humiliation for the French politician, but it is also a black mark on the International Monetary Fund that chose to overlook his previous sexual behavior. It will be fascinating to see how the grandees of French and international financial politics handle this one.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and his attorney says he will plead not guilty. Some in the French press and even a French government minister are suggesting that the 62-year-old Socialist Party panjandrum may have been set up by his rivals. The charges are stunning enough—and French politics is strange enough—that we suppose anything is possible, but such a conspiracy would have to include a large number of players.


WSJ Europe editorial page editor Brian Carney explains the policy impact of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest.

The facts of the case as reported by New York police so far do not look promising for the IMF managing director. The woman who entered to clean the Frenchman's $3,000-a-night Sofitel suite at midday on Saturday reported the incident immediately. She told police that Mr. Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from the bathroom, pursued her down a hallway and pulled her into the bedroom. She escaped and he then chased her again and dragged her into a bathroom.

In other words, this is not a case in which misunderstandings about mutual consent are at issue. The charge is the unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape of a vulnerable hotel employee trying to do her job. Police also say that Mr. Strauss-Kahn fled the hotel in a rush, leaving behind his cellphone and other personal items. Police were impressed enough with the facts to take Mr. Strauss-Kahn from the first-class section of an Air France aircraft lest he leave U.S. jurisdiction.

The IMF declined to comment yesterday, but its board should do some soul-searching about the pass it previously gave Mr. Strauss-Kahn. The married Frenchman pursued and had an affair with a senior fund economist not long after taking the top job in 2007. After her husband blew the whistle, the fund board let Mr. Strauss-Kahn off with a wrist slap that he had committed a "serious error of judgment."

The IMF board's forbearance contrasts with the way the World Bank pushed out American Paul Wolfowitz as bank president on the pretext that he had secured a raise for his girl friend, though Mr. Wolfowitz had kept bank officials informed from start to finish and had not violated bank policy. The boards of both institutions are dominated by Europeans, who deployed a double standard for Mr. Strauss-Kahn as one of their own.



Especially pungent in retrospect is the report by a consultant to the board at the time that "going forward" the IMF should consider whether its managing director should be held to a "higher standard of conduct" than the staff. A. Shakour Shaalan, the longest-serving member of the board, announced at the time that he had personally told Mr. Strauss-Kahn that "this should not happen again."

We'll see if those tolerant IMF officials consider the New York charges to be consistent with their admonitions. Yesterday the fund named its number two official, the capable U.S. economist John Lipsky, as acting managing director. Under Mr. Strauss-Kahn, the IMF promoted multiple European bailouts and we doubt that will change.

The charges are roiling France, where Mr. Strauss-Kahn was the favorite to be the Socialist nominee for President next year and was even leading in the polls against Nicolas Sarkozy. The French are legendary for nonchalance toward the sexual appetites of their politicians, and they sniffed at Americans who disapproved of Bill Clinton when he lied under oath about sex. But we doubt even the French will be blasé about assaulting a hotel chamber maid.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn's humiliation would leave the Socialists without a presidential front-runner. It could help Martine Aubry, the party chief and godmother of the 35-hour work week, who remains as hardcore a Socialist as there is these days. That is not a winning platform. Mr. Sarkozy, who supported Mr. Strauss-Kahn's candidacy for the top IMF job in part to get him out of the country, would appear again to be the favorite.

As we neared our deadline Sunday, we heard different views on whether Mr. Strauss-Kahn has diplomatic immunity because he works for an international organization headquartered in Washington. The New York police say he does not. If Mr. Strauss-Kahn is innocent, we assume he'd rather clear his name in court than escape accountability by returning to France. For his sake, for the sake of his accuser, and for the integrity of American justice, the world needs to see that this case is prosecuted transparently and well.

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Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s alliance with his key Northern League ally suffered a setback after losses in Italian local voting

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s alliance with his key Northern League ally suffered a setback after losses in Italian local voting, raising the chances of an early national election.

Milan Mayor Letizia Moratti, Berlusconi’s candidate, trailed rival Giuliano Pisapia 41.6 percent to 48 percent in the race to control city hall in the premier’s hometown, preliminary results showed. The two will face a runoff May 29-30. Piero Fassino, of the opposition Democratic Party, was poised to win the mayoral seat in Turin, a manufacturing center that is home to Fiat SpA, while the opposition also won in Bologna. The ruling bloc failed to avoid a runoff in Naples.

The outcome is “a crushing defeat for Berlusconi and a clear sign of the rising discontent,” Lavinia Santovetti, an economist at Nomura International in London, said in an e-mail. The League “has implicitly lost along with Berlusconi,” making it hard for their ruling alliance to “continue as if nothing has happened” and keep governing until the parliamentary term expires in 2013.

As Berlusconi grapples with the fallout from corruption charges and allegations he paid for sex with a minor, the outcome was seen as a bellwether of his support in battleground cities such as Bologna, Naples, Turin and his base, Milan. He staked his personal reputation on the Milan race, putting himself at the head of his party’s ticket to bolster support for Moratti.

Runoffs

Pisapia fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff election. Virginio Merola, the Democratic Party candidate, had almost 51 percent of the vote in Bologna, a center-left stronghold. A Berlusconi-backed candidate fared better in Naples, where Gianni Lettieri won almost 39 percent of the vote and will face a runoff against Luigi De Magistris of the Italian Values party, led by former anti-corruption prosecutor Antonio di Pietro.

“Turning this into a referendum was a mistake because at the local level people vote for issues like trash collection and traffic and don’t appreciate pressure about national issues,” said Federigo Argentieri, professor of political science at John Cabot University in Rome. “If he loses Milan and Naples, it’s a hard blow because he’s head of the ticket in both cities.”

Popularity Polls

Berlusconi’s popularity has been hurt by allegations that he paid an underage nightclub dancer for sex. He also faces bribery, fraud and tax-evasion charges in three other trials related to his management of broadcaster Mediaset SpA before he entered politics. The voting also opened two days after Italy’s national statistics office said the economy expanded just 0.1 percent in the first quarter, one of the slowest paces of any euro country.

The prime minister’s rating among voters has slipped to the lowest since his re-election in 2008 as the scandals and the economy sap support. For the first time, more Italians would vote against his coalition if general elections were held now, with 41.5 percent backing the opposition and 41 percent the ruling group, Rome-based IPR Marketing said in a survey of 1,000 voters conducted April 14-16.

The League failed to win mayoral seats in the first round ballot across its northern base including Varese, a party stronghold. Leader Umberto Bossi told supporters last night that Berlusconi is costing the party votes, Italian newspapers including la Repubblica said, citing people close to the matter.

League Voters

“Berlusconi’s making us lose and it’s just the beginning if we don’t split from him,” an unidentified reader commented today on the website of La Padania, the League’s newspaper. “Politically, he’s sinking like the Titanic and if we don’t ditch him, we’ll be going down as well.”

Berlusconi, owner of the Italian soccer team AC Milan, had sought to tap his hometown popularity to boost support for incumbent Moratti. She campaigned to turn the northern city into a European financial center, while critics including Pisapia say its glut of offices dooms the plan to failure.

“These results also reflect disaffection toward the government on the part of the business class of the north,” Robert Leonardi, a senior lecturer in European politics at the London School of Economics, said by phone.

In the closing moments of a televised debate on May 11, Moratti accused Pisapia, an attorney, of having been convicted of stealing a car 26 years ago. Pisapia, who was acquitted of the charge on appeal, has said he will sue Moratti for slander.

Moratti, in comments carried on Sky TG24 last night, acknowledged that her campaign may have failed to talk enough about “concrete issues” that local voters care about, such as jobs, education and the economy.

Almost 72 percent of the 13 million Italians eligible voted in the municipal elections and turnout for provincial balloting was almost 60 percent, the Interior Ministry said on its website. Those levels were slightly below the previous local elections in 2010.

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Carla Bruni's father-in-law has revealed that France's First Lady is indeed pregnant.

The statement ends weeks of speculation in which the 43-year-old wife of Nicolas Sarkozy has kept the public guessing whether her long-awaited baby was on the way.

Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Pal Sarkozy, 82, said: 'I'm glad to be having a grandchild.'

According to the interview Sarko senior added that neither the president nor his wife 'want to know the sex the child, but I'm sure it's a girl who'll be as beautiful as Carla'.

Spilling the beans: Nicolas Sarkozy's father, Pal, revealed that his daughter-in-law is indeed pregnant in a German newspaper

In a television interview yesterday Bruni-Sarkozy refused to deny she was expecting President Sarkozy's child, where the presenter 'congratulated' her on her rumoured pregnancy.

The former supermodel, who has fiercely guarded her privacy, avoided confirming anything and without saying what for, she smiled and replied: 'I congratulate you too,' before the interview ended.

Bruni, who was interviewed by TF1 presenter Jean-Pierre Pernaut on her charity work against child illiteracy before he swooped in on the much-debated pregnancy issue, was dressed in a simple black suit and blue shirt which did little to reveal any possible 'bump.'


She was widely expected to announce news of her pregnancy on the top lunch time news show and many Twitter fans watching took her response as tacit confirmation. The 43-year-old is rumoured to be three months pregnant, possibly with twins, due in October.

In 2008, soon after she married the 55-year-old President, Bruni revealed they would try for a baby. but claimed she would never resort to fertility treatment.





Carla was due to appear at the Cannes Film Festival to promote her film Midnight in Paris last week but pulled out citing 'personal and professional reasons'

She was due to appear at the Cannes Film Festival last week where her film Midnight in Paris opened the event, but cited 'personal and professional' for not attending.

She has a cameo role as a museum guide in the film directed by Woody Allen, appearing alongside Owen Wilson and Marion Cotillard.

Earlier this month she avoided confirming the rumours again in an interview with leading French newspaper Le Parisien where she was directly asked if she was expecting a baby.

But rather than issue a straight denial, she teasingly said that she would ‘remain tight-lipped about that to protect something’.

She then launched into a convoluted explanation about why she would not discuss whether she was pregnant, referring continually to her husband's career.
Bruni is already a mother to Aurelien, born in 2001. His father was her then lover, the Paris philosopher Raphael Enthoven.

Nicolas Sarkozy has three sons, Pierre, 26, and Jean, 24, from his first marriage to Marie-Dominique Culioli, and Louis, 14, with his second wife, Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz

If the first couple are expecting a child, the pregnancy would be perfectly timed to make them look more down to earth in time for next year's Presidential election in France.

A recent poll showed that Sarkozy’s approval rating is at an all-time low of 23 per cent — making him easily the most unpopular president in the 52-year history of the Fifth Republic.

French headlines were today dominated by the arrest of IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sexual assault charges instead.

He was Sarkozy's top potential rival in next year's presidential election before his arrest, although it appears Bruni was not asked about this issue during the interview

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The owner of a superyacht worth more than £7 million watched as his vessel was destroyed by fire.

The Mexican multi-millionaire had been preparing to take delivery of the 111.5ft Sunseeker yacht from the luxury boatyard where it was being worked on.
More than 50 firefighters battled through the night to control the blaze in Poole Quay, Dorset.
The 111.5ft (34-metre) Sunseeker is believed to be owned by an unnamed Mexican business magnate who had taken it to the luxury boatbuilding yard to have work done.
The cause of the fire is unknown and the fire service has launched an investigation. One theory is that a lightning strike could have set it alight.
Other multimillion pound yachts had to be moved from the boatyard as the fire ripped through the vessel's fibreglass cabin and flames leapt almost 70 feet into the air.

The unnamed Mexican owner is understood to have flown to Britain last week, with a full crew.
Hundreds of people gathered at the marina as six fire engines tackled the blaze after being called out just after 11pm on Friday.
Two lifeboats were called to move the other yachts in the marina to safety amid fears that the blaze would spread and cause hundreds of millions of pounds of damage.
Peter James, an eyewitness said: "I've never seen anything like it. It started off as just a few flames but in minutes the whole boat was alight.
"At one point the flames were about 20 metres high."
Mike Cox, Dorset fire and rescue service's station manager, said: "The fire took hold of the yacht very quickly due to its structure being made of fibreglass.
"It's not thought to be arson as there were 24-hour security guards at the boatyard and they hadn't seen anyone."
A Portland Coastguard spokesman said the Mexican businessman owner was getting ready to take delivery of the yacht and was a helpless bystander as firefighters battled to extinguish the blaze.
The spokesman said: "The owner was present and witnessed the action taking place."
The three-deck yacht, which is said to be worth at least £7.1m, can take up to 10 guests and five crew.
The Sunseeker is the yacht of choice for many rich people, including Simon Cowell, the music mogul, Theo Paphitis, the Dragons Den tycoon, and Roger Moore, the former James Bond star.
Stewart McIntyre, the chief operating officer of Sunseeker International, said the insurers had been notified of the incident and a surveyor had been appointed.

 

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Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo's apartment in Alcochete, near Lisbon, was raided by armed police after he unwittingly rented it out to an alleged violent criminal.

Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo's apartment in Alcochete, near Lisbon, was raided by armed police after he unwittingly rented it out to an alleged violent criminal.

According to The Sun, the pre-dawn swoop was part of an investigation into a series of carjackings and cash machine raids.

"The police brought out a guy in handcuffs and black bags and took things from the garage," a neighbour said.

"Three guys lived there. They were always driving different, powerful cars," he added.

The 26-year-old had bought the two-storey flat in 2008 while still playing for Manchester United.

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