Two a penny

.More than 2,000 passengers have been rescued after spending hours trapped in the undersea Channel Tunnel linking France and Britain after four trains broke down due to poor weather conditions.
Angry travellers said they had been left with no power, air conditioning, food or water.
Rail operator Eurostar said the breakdowns had resulted from technical problems caused by the temperature difference inside the tunnel and freezing conditions outside.
“Everyone is suffering from the bad weather.
“It is snowing in northern France, it’s very cold, conditions are very bad,” a spokesperson for Eurostar, operated by French rail operator SNCF, its Belgian counterpart SNCB and British government-owned LCR, said.”
He said a rescue locomotive and a shuttle train were used to move passengers out of the 51-kilometre tunnel, the longest undersea subway in the world which conveys about 40,000 people a day between Britain and continental Europe. The airports are suffering, people on the roads are suffering, and so are our Eurostar trains.
Passengers accused Eurostar of doing little to help them, with some finally reaching their destination more than 12 hours after leaving Paris.
He said passengers had been forced to get off the broken-down train themselves, had moved through the service tunnel in the dark, and then got onto a “filthy” car transport train.
“There was very, very poor communication from the staff,” said Lee Godfree, who was returning to Britain with his family from Disneyland Paris. They’ve been sick.
“We’ve had children asleep on the floor. . We had one loo (toilet). “We had people fainting on the train. “We had people fainting on the train.
Last year, the tunnel, which opened in 1994, was shut for two days after a large fire broke out on a freight train, while a blaze in 1996 fire halted freight traffic for seven months.”
Eurostar said it had cancelled all its trains on Saturday before noon (local time) because of the severe weather and said services over the weekend would be severely disrupted.
London’s Gatwick and Luton Airports were closed for many hours, while flights were cancelled at Heathrow and Stansted, the capital’s two other major airports.
Heavy snowfalls across southeastern England in recent days had already brought chaos to road, rail and air passengers.
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Budget airline EasyJet said it had cancelled more flights on Saturday because of the bad weather, with forecasters at Britain’s Met Office predicting further snow showers on Saturday with temperatures falling as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius

.A French wrestling club has gone to court to defend its age-old practice of awarding a live sheep as a tournament prize.
An animal rights’ group argued that the winner should instead receive a hat, embroidered handkerchief or a packet of cigarettes, as was once the tradition in Brittany.
The champion of Gouren wrestling, a special style that dates back several centuries in Brittany, carries the sheep on their shoulders during a victory lap.
The Stephane Lamart animal rights group argued before the Brest tribunal that the awarding of the sheep violated laws that bar animal prizes other than during farm shows or agricultural fairs. .
“The animal is not mistreated.
The court will render a decision on February 8.
Lamart himself turned up at court with several bodyguards after about a dozen wrestlers showed up in their combat costume for the hearing held in a packed courtroom.
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.European leaders have pledged to provide 7.2 billion euros ($11.
At a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, the funds were pledged to assist poor countries combat rising sea levels, deforestation, water deficits and carbon emissions.5 billion) over the next three years to help developing nations adapt to climate change.
The EU’s decision is expected to prompt other industrialised nations to also pledge many more billions, but it has failed to impress delegates from developing nations.
One of the major divisions at the UN-sponsored climate talks in Copenhagen has been who will pay and how much is needed to help developing nations cope with the effects of global warming.
“The Copenhagen deal must be consistent with a maximum global warming of two degrees,” Mr Brown said. .”
However the G77 bloc of developing countries, including China, has scoffed at the proposal, denouncing it as a short-term political fix.
“Our aim is through an ambitious deal that the European Union commit to reduce its emissions by 30 per cent by 2020.
“Our view is that European leaders are acting as if they were climate sceptics.
“They (the pledged funds) are not only insignificant, they actually breed even more distrust on the intention of European leaders on climate change,” said the group’s spokesman, Lumumba Stanislaus Dia-Ping of Sudan.
The proposal calls on developed countries to cut their emissions by between 25 and 45 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, and that global emissions must be halved by 2050.”
Meanwhile, a draft climate pact unveiled overnight has revived hopes that the talks might be able to pin down an international deal to cut global emissions.
There is still no clear path forward through the division between developed and developing countries on the issue of the legally enforceable cuts.
Analysts say the current pledges from developed nations currently sit at around 18 per cent.
Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said the draft text marked a “step change” in the negotiations.
The United States has said China and other rapidly industrialising nations must also sign up to binding cuts if the summit is to be a success.
Meanwhile, around 40 protesters were detained during a demonstration in Copenhagen aimed at a meeting of company executives who were discussing global warming.
“It’s time to focus on the bigger picture,” he said.
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.FIFA will hold an extraordinary meeting before next month’s World Cup draw to discuss Thierry Henry’s handball in the qualifiers and the discovery of a match-fixing ring by German police. .
“Due to recent events in the world of football, namely incidents at the play-offs for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, match control and irregularities in the football betting market, the FIFA president (Sepp Blatter) has called an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee,” FIFA said in a statement.
FIFA has so far refused to take any action over Henry’s handball in the lead-up to France’s equaliser against Ireland.
The executive committee is already due to meet on December 3 on Robben Island to discuss the draw to be held the following day.
Ireland’s FA formally asked for a replay of the match but FIFA said it had replied saying the request could not be granted.
The goal, scored by William Gallas, gave France a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 aggregate win in the two-leg play-off.
The Irish governing body issued a statement on Monday saying: “Should we be asked to make any contribution, the FAI would be happy to do so for the improvement of the game.
Egypt recalled its ambassador in Algiers after Algeria won the play-off 1-0 to qualify and both games were marred by reports of trouble.”
The Egypt-Algeria qualifiers on November 10 in Cairo and subsequent play-off in Khartoum four days later were also surrounded by controversy.
Police in Germany, Britain, Austria and Switzerland staged simultaneous raids on Thursday, arresting 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland.
On Friday, German police said they had dismantled a match-fixing gang with more than 200 suspected members operating in nine European leagues.
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The gang is suspected of having paid off referees, players and officials to win at least 10 million euros, with officials speculating this was the tip of the iceberg

.Thierry Henry is not a cheat and will get over his handball in France’s controversial World Cup play-off against Ireland, Zinedine Zidane said.
“He is not a cheat, I know him well,” the former France playmaker, who was sent off for headbutting Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final, told French television channel Canal Plus. He made a mistake, like I made a mistake, even if I’m not making any comparisons.
“He will get over this.”
Henry, Zidane said, had apologised by admitting he had handled the ball.
“We all make mistakes.
“I’m not saying it was nothing but it was handball, that’s it.
“The fact he said there was a handball means he has apologised,” Zidane said.
The French Football Federation (FFF) has ruled out a replay, saying world governing body FIFA’s decision that the result should stand is final.”
France captain Henry handled the ball while setting up William Gallas’ extra-time equaliser in the 1-1 draw in Paris which sent France to the World Cup with a 2-1 aggregate win.
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.A marketing company that planned to throw envelopes of cash to passers-by from the top of a bus in Paris had to cancel the publicity stunt for security reasons after thousands of people turned up.
About 5,000 people gathered close to the Eiffel Tower, with groups spilling into neighbouring streets and bursting through crowd barriers before the planned handout of banknotes by the online marketing company.
“Given the serious traffic problems noted in the Champ de Mars area and significant crowd movements, the police requested the organisers not to go ahead with this distribution of money,” a police spokesman said. .
Some people had waited for hours for the cash handout, which had been heavily promoted beforehand.
“We couldn’t anticipate that there would be so many people,” Stephane Boukris, a spokesman for the organisers told France Info radio.
Police in riot gear were called in and there were about 10 arrests.
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.France and Brazil have adopted a common policy ahead of key UN global warming talks and vowed to launch a worldwide push to convince other powers to back their “climate bible”.
A joint text was unveiled after talks between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, which gave an outline of an agreement they want at the Copenhagen summit this December..
“We are making public . a French-Brazilian text because Brazil and France, we want Copenhagen to be a success, not a cut-price agreement,” Mr Sarkozy said..
“I hope that it will be a paradigm to frame the talks,” he added.
Mr Lula hailed it as a “climate bible” and a “historic document”.
It recalls only that the final objective is a “global reduction of at least 50 per cent by 2050 compared with 1990″ of damaging greenhouse gases worldwide.
The document does not go into great detail, notably on figures, which have been a sticking point for the United States and China.
Developing countries must “actively contribute to the global effort” to cut their harmful emissions, but in a “fair, global and robust framework” which should include “new and substantial financial support” for the poorest.
For developed countries, there must also be “ambitious objectives for reduction in the medium term,” the text said.
The announcement came after Brazil on Friday said it would offer a “voluntary” cut of between 36 and 39 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions at the Copenhagen summit.
France and Brazil also agreed on the creation of a global environmental organisation, which could be set up in 2012.
The heads of state said they would launch an international drive to get other countries to back their text.
Brazil is the fourth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, largely because of carbon released through deforestation of its vast Amazon forest by ranchers and farmers.
The president said he would then visit Brazil, and would also attend the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad at the end of the month, as well as visiting Africa.
Mr Sarkozy said that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would be meeting Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, the host of the summit, next week.
The Copenhagen talks aim to seal a new climate accord to replace the Kyoto Protocol which is due to expire at the end of 2012.
Mr Lula said he planned to phone US President Barack Obama, probably on Monday. .
The summit is open to the 192 members of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto’s parent treaty

.Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has praised his “perfect” performance after outclassing world number two Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-3 to set up a Paris Masters final against local hope Gael Monfils.
World number three Djokovic, who beat world number one Roger Federer in the Basel final last week, extended a brilliant run of form and will start favourite against Monfils, having won their three previous encounters.
Monfils, seeded 15th, thrilled the 14,000 fans packing the Bercy hall when he knocked out 13th Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the other semi-final, which was a lot tighter and could have gone either way.
“I was hitting winners from all over the court and really trying to keep that momentum going during the whole match,” he added, summing up a spectacular performance.
“There’s not much to say about today’s performance except it was perfect, you know, exactly the way I wanted it,” Djokovic said. .
Djokovic will play his fifth final and chase a first title this year in a Masters 1000 event, while Monfils will feature in a final in the showcase series for the first time.
“I didn’t play badly but he played unbelievable,” said Nadal, who leads 14-6 against Djokovic but has now lost their last two meetings.
The 22-year-old Serb was on top throughout the match, displaying his confidence in the second set when he won the first two games to love and broke Nadal in the second with a forehand winner.
“It’s very difficult for me to beat him when he’s playing that level, especially on a fast indoor court”.
Showman Monfils then alternated amazing winners and clumsy errors before taming Stepanek in a close contest that lasted over two and a half hours.
Nadal, who won the French Open four times on the other side but never this indoor event, could not recover and Djokovic remained in charge until sealing victory with a another superb forehand on the first match point after just 76 minutes.
A third set was needed, in which the pair traded breaks before Monfils managed the telling one in the ninth game to serve for the match.
The acrobatic Frenchman had the crowd on his side but showed signs of nerves, notably when he served for the match, leading 5-4 in the second set, only to be broken.
The fans went wild when Stepanek hit a return long on the first match point.
The fans went wild when Stepanek hit a return long on the first match point. Now I have to live up to it.
“Playing a final in France is a special occasion.”
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.A French magistrate has ordered former president Jacques Chirac to stand trial on embezzlement charges dating back to his time as mayor of Paris, in an unprecedented move against a former French head of state.
A statement from Chirac’s office says he and nine others have been charged with a role in awarding 21 contracts for non-existent jobs.
The statement describes the former president as “serene”.
Mr Marin is likely to appeal the decision by Xaviere Simeoni, a magistrate whose role is to investigate cases and decide whether suspects should face trial.
The retired Chirac, 76, who was mayor from 1977 until 1995 when he was elected president, is not certain to go on trial, as Paris public prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin had previously said there was no case against him.
The charges investigated by Judge Simeoni related to 35 work contracts allegedly awarded by Paris city hall as favours to friends or associates of Mr Chirac’s political camp. .
She concluded that 21 out of the 35 were for non-existent jobs.
Judge Simeoni’s decision is a blow to Chirac, who enjoyed constitutional immunity during his 12 years as president only to be hit by a flurry of legal problems after he stepped down in 2007.
The statement from Chirac’s office says he is “determined to demonstrate to the tribunal that none of the contracts that are still in debate were for non-existent jobs”.
In retirement from political life, Chirac has gained in popularity and has devoted his time to writing his memoirs and launching a charitable foundation.
No former French head of state has faced prosecution for corruption and a trial would be a public humiliation for a man who was a central figure in French politics for four decades.
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Although he has avoided direct involvement in any trial, a number of his former allies and associates have been convicted of corruption, leaving a bitter aftertaste of “the Chirac years”

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REUTERS – The body of Mehdi ben Barka, an opponent of Morocco King Hassan II who was abducted in Paris in 1965, was burnt in Essonne, south of the French capital, author Georges Fleury told the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

Fleury was given secret police documents on the Mehdi ben Barka affair 25 years ago, the former marine commando told the paper in an interview to be published on Sunday.

In any case, for me, that is what happened, I believe a lot in this lead.

The person who handed over the dossier was convinced that his body was incinerated in Essonne, Fleury said.

Mehdi ben Barka, a hero for the international left, was kidnapped in broad daylight in front of the smart Lipp restaurant in the heart of Paris and his fate remains unknown. Was it looked into at the time? Can it be verified today? I ask myself the question, Fleury was quoted as saying.

The case has been a cause celebre for Moroccan advocates of greater political freedom in the kingdom, but it remains politically sensitive in Rabat, where Hassan son Mohammed succeeded him as king in 1999. French investigators believe he was tortured and killed. .

France issued international arrest warrants on Oct.

Fleury said he had since lost contact with his source and was ready to had over the documents in his possession to prosecutors if they asked him.

France – Morocco