Two a penny

.A man jailed in France for plotting to bomb an Australian nuclear power reactor could come up for early release next year, his lawyer said.
Convicted in 2007, Willie Brigitte received a nine-year jail sentence, of which six years was a fixed term. . With three years served before his conviction, the fixed part expires in November 2010.
Mr Durimel said that for early release, Brigitte would have to have a record of good behaviour and a guarantee of work in France, where he would have to remain for a probationary period.
But he stressed that “nothing was decided”, playing down Australian media reports that Brigitte, 41, could be freed next year for good behaviour.
Brigitte, a Muslim convert from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was jailed in France for plotting to blow up a nuclear power plant in Australia and other possible targets.
During his jail term so far, “to my knowledge he has had no disciplinary incidents, so he is behaving quite correctly”, the lawyer said.
Mr Durimel argued at the time that there was a lack of proof to convict Brigitte, who was jailed on charges of “criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise”.
He was accused of setting up a terrorist cell in Australia on the orders of a Pakistani extremist group.
This catch-all offence, used in almost all terrorism cases in France, gives judges wide-ranging powers of arrest and detention without the need to prove that an attack was imminent.
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.France’s first lady, ex-supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has agreed to star in Woody Allen’s next movie.
“He suggested I appear in his next film. I don’t know what the role would be, but I said yes,” the 41-year-old Italian-born singer-songwriter told the main evening entertainment show on the Canal+ network.
“I’m not an actress at all.
“I go into everything blindly or I’d never do anything at all,” she added, apparently referring to her showbiz career rather than to her sudden marriage last year to President Nicolas Sarkozy. When I’m a grandmother I’d like to be able to say I made a film with Woody Allen. Perhaps I’ll be completely hopeless, but I can’t miss an opportunity like this one.
“Woody Allen kindly asked me not to do a film with anyone else before him.”
New York filmmaker Allen visited the French first couple in June this year during a trip to Paris to promote his last movie, Whatever Works.
“If anything concrete ever comes of it, it’ll be a great experience for me. She has charisma and she performs, so she’s not a stranger to an audience. .”
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.French star Thierry Henry considered ending his international career following the furore that surrounded his handball against Ireland in the World Cup play-off in Paris last Wednesday.
Speaking to the L’Equipe newspaper, the Barcelona striker says that he felt abandoned and alone in the days after the match, which saw the French qualify for South Africa on the back of a goal set up by Henry’s sleight of hand.
Asked if he had considered calling time on his international career Henry replied: “Oh yes.
“I was really upset, and not for the first time. On Friday when everything had gone too far.
“After Euro 2008 also but it was not the right moment. After the World Cup in 2006, I considered that but it was too early. There was a new generation who needed me.
“Despite everything that happened last week, the way I felt abandoned, I will never let my country down. It just wasn’t possible.
That led to calls from Ireland and from some sectors in France for the fixture to be replayed, but world governing body FIFA ruled out any such eventuality ahead of the World Cup draw, which takes place in Cape Town on December 4.”
Henry freely admitted at the end of the Ireland clash that he had used his hand in setting up the French equaliser for William Gallas, which was enough to send the Irish crashing out of the tournament in extra-time.
He did regret having celebrated the goal but says that he had been taken up by the emotion of the moment in what had been a tense encounter.
Henry, who himself stated it would be best to replay the match, says he feels great sympathy for the Irish having suffered a similar fate when playing for Arsenal against Liverpool in 2001 FA Cup final.
“I shouldn’t have done that, but quite honestly it was just out of my control,” he said. .”
Asked if he thought the incident would leave a lasting stain on his career, Henry said. After that we did not celebrate, not even in the dressing rooms. I don’t think that all I have achieved in my career up until now will be be spoiled by this. “Quite honestly no.”
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.The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has ruled out any connection between an incident on a Qantas jet last year, which left over 100 passengers injured, and the crash of an Air France Airbus into the Atlantic Ocean.
The ATSB has released its second interim report into what may have caused the Qantas jet to nosedive twice on its way from Singapore to Perth.
Investigators say they are yet to determine what caused sensors on the plane to fail, but they say interference from cosmic rays is among the issues being investigated.
“We verified .
The ATSB’s Martin Dolan says the cause of the incident has not been found, although the plane was tested in a flight over a radio transmitting station in Western Australia to see if cosmic waves were to blame… that the station was transmitting and there were no anomalous effects, so it was an interesting idea but not relevant to what happened here,” he said.
The bureau says international aviation authorities have worked out a protocol to override the problem, which is now part of general procedure. .

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The bureau says although the Qantas plane and an Air France jet were similar aircraft, the sequence of events leading up to each failure was different, and the sensors involved were different models from different manufacturers

.Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco have moved closer to spots at the World Tour Finals in London with contrasting second-round wins at the Paris Masters.
World number seven Davydenko, who would make sure of entering the November 22-29 season finale with a semi-final appearance, brushed aside German Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-1.
The Spaniard’s win meant Czech Radek Stepanek and Croatia’s Marin Cilic dropped out of the race, leaving just five players fighting for the two remaining tickets to the London event featuring the world’s top eight players, with Davydenko and Verdasco first in line.
Verdasco, the world number eight, who will a book a trip to London if he wins the title but could qualify earlier depending on how other contenders fare, needed over two hours to move past Italian Andreas Seppi 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
World number nine Tsonga, who retired from his first-round match against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in Valencia last week because of a wrist injury, looked as fit as ever, outclassing Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-1, 7-5 in a second-round match.
The other three are Swede Robin Soderling, Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the defending champion in Paris.
“I love it here.
“I felt really good from the start,” Tsonga said.”
Eighth seed Tonga, who had a first-round bye like all seeded players, will next face compatriot Gilles Simon, who ousted Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 in dramatic fashion in the day’s last match. I feel light, I feel there are no constraints and I’m just happy to go to the stadium every morning.
After receiving treatment, he appeared unable to move properly but still managed to force a tiebreak which he took 7-4 when Ljubicic hit a return long on the second match point.
Simon, seeded 11th, was leading 3-2 in the decisive set when he hurt his right knee.
“Every year it’s the same, whether I’m in (the World Tour Finals) or not depends on how I play in Paris, and I’m always in,” Davydenko said.
Davydenko, 28, who won in Paris in 2006 and is seeded sixth this year, will now meet Soderling or Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic.
“Making the World Tour finals is a big motivation,” the Spaniard said.
Seventh seed Verdasco, 25, next faces Cilic or Poland’s Lukasz Kubot. .
“I know if I win all my matches, I’ll qualify, whatever the others do, so that’s my goal.
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World number one Roger Federer and number two Rafael Nadal will get started on Wednesday, against Frenchman Julien Benneteau and Spaniard Nicolas Almagro respectively

.Kangaroos stalwart Petero Civoniceva admits the Australian pack needs to step up if it is to walk away with the silverware from the Four Nations final on November 14.
While the Kangaroos still need to beat winless France in Paris this weekend to confirm a spot in the Elland Road decider, Civoniceva says the tournament favourites have failed to impose themselves up front against either New Zealand or England.
New Zealand intimidated the Australian forwards with some brutal defence in their drawn tournament opener, while the Kangaroos struggled to contain the much bigger English pack when they started to get a bit of ball in the second half of Saturday’s 26-16 win in Wigan.
Those two sides will battle it out on Saturday for the other final berth.
“They had all the momentum and probably if the game went a little bit longer it could have got a bit scary.
“Those latter stages it started to get a bit hairy, but full credit to the boys for hanging in,” he said of the England game, when the hosts came back from 26-0 down at half-time.
“To a man we all knew we probably let ourselves down with what happened against the Kiwis. .”
The match was only the second Civoniceva has played since late June after damaging his toe in Queensland’s Origin II win in Sydney.
“We weren’t too far off the mark, but physically they certainly set the standard and we had to come out and match England up front where they’re very strong.
The France game would normally be one where the elder statesman of the Kangaroos pack would be expected to get the night off.
The 33-year-old admitted to struggling with his fitness late in the game, a factor which will probably see him get another run against France in Toulouse before the final.
“I’ll definitely put my hand up [to play against France] – if the results were a bit more dominant I might have got a rest,” he said.
But the need for match fitness is likely to be the deciding factor – plus the fact the 38-Test veteran needs to play to be able to break Johnny Raper’s record for most appearances in the green and gold by a forward.
“We were on the back foot, we were defending back to back sets but overall I was pretty happy.
“I probably hit the wall a little bit [against England].”
– AAP

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National and ACT have struck a deal over ACC reform that will see the Government investigate opening the work account to competition.

A press conference was expected at about 4pm to release details of the deal which clears the way for ACC Minister Nick Smith to introduce his stalled Bill to increase levies and reduce some entitlements.

“I am pleased the Government has secured support for this critical legislation from both the Maori Party and from ACT that will see ACC’s proposed levies reduced by half,” Dr Smith said.

ACC Minister Nick Smith confirmed the ACC Reform Bill will now be introduced next week.

“Today the National and ACT Parties reached an agreement that will ensure the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Amendment Bill will be passed through all stages,” Dr Smith said.

The Maori Party earlier this week said it would support the Bill as far as a select committee hearing.

“I think it’s clear that both ACT and National have made up their minds that they think parts of ACC should be privatised, notwithstanding the fact that its cheaper than Australian equivalents and notwithstanding it’s the best compensation system in the world,” Labour’s ACC spokesman David Parker said.

Labour said the deal was inevitable but was not good for taxpayers.”

The account was opened to competition between 1998 and 2000 until a Labour government re-nationalised it.

“In the end New Zealanders will end up paying more themselves to fund the profit margins of private insurers and getting less cover..

“We’ve been through this before and it ended in a muddle – people didn’t know who was covering them . the private insurers were a lot tougher when it came to people getting treatment and long term costs were projected to go up..

“People should have a choice of insurance provider for work-related accidents in the same way that they have a choice for their home and car insurance,” Mr Hide said.”

However, ACT Leader Rodney Hide said greater competition would provide more choice, quality of service and reduce costs. .

Dr Smith said National intended to work with ACT to open the ACC work account to competition subject only to the Government receiving a report from the steering group currently considering the stocktake of ACC accounts.”

The group will provide an interim report on the competition issue no later than 1 February 2010.

The ACC Stocktake Group will also explore other areas in which the private and non-government sectors (including Iwi) can be involved in accident management and compensation.

.Former rugby league full-back turned AFL convert Karmichael Hunt has agreed terms to play with a French rugby union side for six months.
The 22-year-old left Brisbane earlier today and will link up with club Biarritz Olympique Pays Basques (BOPB) to play in the French Top 14 competition.
He will return to start his AFL career with the fledging Gold Coast side, entering the competition in 2011, in May next year.
Hunt, who played six seasons with the Brisbane Broncos and represented Australia and Queensland, made headlines earlier this year when he defected from rugby league and signed a three-year deal with the new Gold Coast AFL team. The cultural side of things will be fantastic and the challenge of elite rugby is exciting,” Hunt said in a statement.
“I am really examining forward to the experience of playing and living overseas.
Hunt was given the opportunity to have a stint in French rugby as part of his contract with the new Gold Coast franchise. .
The short-term arrangement was reportedly close toly foiled after Hunt was ineligible to play as an emerging nation player from Cook Islands rather than an “import”.
His six-month contract with BOPB, based in the luxurious sea-side town of Biarritz close to the Spanish border, is reportedly worth $300,000.

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A former French spymaster denied Monday taking part in a plot to smear President Nicolas Sarkozy during his much-awaited testimony at the trial of ex-prime minister Dominique de Villepin.

Yves Bertrand, the former head of the RG police intelligence service, said he had never heard of the Clearstream dirty tricks scandal before the media began reporting on it in July 2004.

Villepin and four other defendants are on trial on charges of conspiring to slander Sarkozy in 2004 by implicating him in corruption at a time when the two men were jostling to succeed president Jacques Chirac. .

The case centres on a fake list of account holders from the Clearstream financial clearing house who were said to have received kickbacks from the sale of French frigates to Taiwan.

This is a completely fantastic tale, Bertrand told judges at the Paris criminal court.

Bertrand’s testimony was crucial after another defendant, Imad Lahoud, admitted in court to adding Sarkozy’s name to the list in the ex-spy chief’s office.

I never met Lahoud in my office nor anywhere else and I state that emphatically, said the ex-spy chief, who was at the helm of police intelligence for 12 years.

But Gergorin testified that he had never laid eyes on Bertrand before their face-to-face encounter in court.

Lahoud, a former employee with Franco-German aerospace giant EADS, said the meeting with Bertrand took place in March 2004 in the presence of another defendant, EADS vice president Jean-Louis Gergorin.

Three weeks of testimony have however failed to clear up questions about the bogus list and how Sarkozy’s name along with those of more than 100 prominent people ended up on it.

Dubbed the trial of the decade, the Clearstream case features a Who’s Who of big names in French politics, industry and intelligence circles, beginning with Sarkozy, who is a civil plaintiff in the case.

Judges were to wrap up testimony on Monday and begin hearing submissions from lawyers representing Sarkozy and some of the 38 other civil plaintiffs in the case.

Villepin took the stand last week to deny that he had leaked the fake list to investigators and ordered a special probe to focus on Sarkozy as one of the alleged Clearstream account holders.

The trial ends on October 23 after the defence and the prosecution make their final submissions, but a verdict is not expected before several months.

The trial ends on October 23 after the defence and the prosecution make their final submissions, but a verdict is not expected before several months.

Clearstream trial – Dominique de Villepin – France – Nicolas Sarkozy

.France is ready to hand back five fragments of ancient Egyptian tomb wall paintings acquired by the Louvre museum between 2000 and 2003.
Egypt’s chief archaeologist and head of antiquities, Zahi Hawass, has accused the Louvre of buying the pieces knowing they were stolen.
The Pharaonic steles are reported to be from a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor.
Subject to a decision by France’s national museum scientific committee, Mr Mitterrand said he was ready to order the frescoes be handed back.
Mr Hawass asked France to return the murals after extensive discussions between the two sides, according to French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand. .
Under the UNESCO convention of 1970, member countries agreed measures to prevent the illegal export of national treasures.
Mr Hawass was quoted by the MENA news agency as saying the council had ceased cooperation with the Louvre until the murals were returned.
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