Two a penny

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Reuters – Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, on a visit to Paris on Thursday, reiterated her government’s rejection of a French-proposed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to allow in humanitarian aid, her office said.

There is no humanitarian crisis in the Strip, and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce, the Foreign Ministry quoted Livni as saying in a statement. …

Gaza Strip – Israel – Nicolas Sarkozy – Tzipi Livni
. and has even been stepping this up by the day

.French President Nicolas Sarkozy will fly to the Middle East “as of Monday” in a bid to “find a roadmap towards peace” between warring Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers, he said in a televised New Year message.
“France will continue to be active in Africa, in Asia and of course in the Middle East where I will go as of Monday, because it is France’s duty to look everywhere for the roadmap towards peace, as it is its duty to act on behalf of human rights,” Mr Sarkozy said. .
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AFP – French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Saturday for an immediate halt to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, his office said.

The President of the Republic expresses his profound concern at the escalation of violence in the south of Israel and the Gaza Strip. He strongly condemns the irresponsible provocations which led to this situation as well as the disproportionate use of force, the Elysee Palace said.

He demands the immediate end to rocket fire on Israel as well as to Israeli bombardments of Gaza and calls on both sides to show restraint.

It said that Sarkozy deplores the heavy civilian losses and expresses his condolences to the innocent victims and their families.

The Palestinian Hamas group which controls the Gaza Strip said at least 155 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip on Saturday in massive Israeli air strikes. He reminds them that there is no military solution in Gaza and calls for the conclusion of a lasting truce.

Hamas said it had retaliated with rocket fire which Israeli medics said killed at least one person in the southern town of Netivot.

France – Gaza Strip – Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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Man turns blue under car

Thursday, 18 December 2008

MAARTEN HOLL/
HIS SAVIOR: Corey Thompson was saved by his grandmother, Pauline Waddell, who heard his cries for help after he was pinned under his own car and raised the alarm.

Pinned under his car, Kapiti man Corey Thompson did all he could to raise the alarm before passing out. He yelled and kicked the chassis, hoping someone would hear him, as the air was slowly squeezed out of his lungs and he began to turn blue.
Seconds earlier – as he tinkered with his prized Nissan Cefiro – the car rolled off its jack and trapped him."
It was not till Mr Thompson's grandmother Pauline Waddell heard his muffled screams for help about 5.
"My head was a bit squashed but I managed to scream out `help' over and over again, kicking and kneeing the side of the car as hard as I could to get someone's attention, till I had no breath left and passed out.
His grandmother saw just his legs splayed out from under the car, which weighs about 1300kg.30pm on Tuesday that help was called. .
"I rubbed his legs, kept telling him he was going to be all right but when he stopped calling out I realised he was unconscious – I thought he had died," Mrs Waddell said. "I did not think he was going to survive, I thought I had lost him.
When firemen lifted the car off her grandson he was blue and not breathing. The car had been lowered previously, Dr Lane said, and he believed Mr Thompson would have died if left another five minutes as the door sill under the car was crushing his chest, restricting his breathing."
Chris Lane, who attended the accident, said Mr Thompson had been pinned for about five minutes.
"I am amazed I am still here and do not have any broken bones, just have a few cuts, bruises and swelling," Mr Thompson said.
Once the car was lifted off, he started to regain his breathing, was taken by ambulance to Paraparaumu airport, flown by helicopter to Wellington Hospital and was discharged about midnight. "I am so relieved he survived, we are very close, I cannot believe he is with us today.
Mrs Waddell was hugely relieved to have her grandson once again at her side."
The accident had not dimmed Mr Thompson's enthusiasm for working on his pride and joy. I will be able to enjoy Christmas now."

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"My Cefiro almost killed me but I still love it

.French police discovered five sticks of dynamite in a Paris department store, forcing the evacuation of hordes of tourists and shoppers at the height of the Christmas shopping season.
Police cordoned off Printemps Haussmann store and the city’s best known shopping boulevard was blocked as police defused the explosives, but the interior ministry said there was no detonator. .
“If you do not send someone to intervene before Wednesday December 17, they will explode,” said the letter, which was taken by police investigating the explosives.
French anti-terrorism police said that one bomb had been placed in the third-floor toilets at the Printemps store and that others had been hidden elsewhere.
Police used sniffer dogs to locate the explosives found on the third floor of the department store.
“Send the message to your president that he must withdraw his troops from our country before the end of February 2009 or else we will take action in your capitalist department stores and this time, without warning,” the letter said.
Speaking at the scene, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said “From what we know so far, this was not a device that was intended to explode.”
An official described the device as old sticks of dynamite fastened together with a piece of cord. We are investigating to find the perpetrators.
“All we can do is to be prudent and moderate,” Mr Sarkozy told a news conference in the European Parliament.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged caution, saying he was awaiting the results of a police inquiry. The only thing we know is there was no detonator .
“Police at this very moment are analysing the explosives…
Shopper Marie-Christine Soulard said she was told that a suspect package had been found in the store and that she had to leave immediately. no claim attached,” he said. It all took place calmly,” she said. “There was no panic.
An Afghan Taliban leader had warned in a video broadcast on an Arab satellite news network in November of attacks to be carried out in Paris unless France withdrew its soldiers.
Last week, an journalist received a warning from an anonymous caller that a bomb would be set off at the Printemps department store at 11:42am (local time), prompting police to order an evacuation.
– AFP/

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REUTERS – A French court handed down Monday a 17-year prison term to Antonio Nino Ferrara for a spectacular 2003 jail break involving automatic weapons and explosives.

Ferrara, 35, a notorious armoured car robber, was sprung from Fresnes prison outside Paris on March 12, 2003 in a military-style raid by his fellow gang members.

One of his former lawyers, Karim Achoui, was sentenced to seven years in prison for complicity. Two people were acquitted. .

France – justice – prison
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Some 70 police were stationed in the courtroom, where relatives shouted insults and threats as the sentences were handed down

.Two European banks have announced they stand to lose huge sums of money in the scandal surrounding New York investment manager Bernard Madoff.
Spain’s biggest bank Santander says customers of its hedge fund, Optimal, have an exposure of $4.
French bank BNP Paribas says it could lose up to $700 million.7 billion to the alleged fraud.
Prosecutors allege the 70-year-old Wall Street veteran confessed to losing at least $75 billion when the scheme collapsed because of the financial crisis.
Madoff was arrested last week for allegedly defrauding his customers through a giant pyramid scheme.

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A new, 2000-capacity mosque in Cr&eacuteteil, a suburb just south of Paris, opened its doors for the first time earlier this month, just in time for Eid al-Adha. This weekend it hosted an open house for the community.

Two years after the first stones were laid, the huge, new mosque in Cr&eacuteteil opened its doors to the general public this weekend. An official inauguration ceremony is scheduled for the 18th, and both France’s prime minister and minister of the interior are expected to attend. This is nothing new. Today we’re welcoming everyone, whether they’re from Cr&eacuteteil or not, says Moncef Maiz , vice president of the Union of Muslim Associations of Cr&eacuteteil.

The mosque opened in time to host local Muslims for Eid al-Adha, a major feast day. Mosques have always been spaces of openness and exchange between cultures and religions. (Tradition which also requires all visitors to remove their shoes before entering. But at the open house, people of all ages and faiths have come to see the art and architecture, a mix of modernism and tradition.

A local resident, Michel, said he has watched the mosque’s progress over the years, stone by stone.) Once inside, visitors are taken on a tour of frescoes, stained glass, and elaborate editions of the Koran. . I’m a Christian, I attend service at Notre Dame de Cr&eacuteteil, and today I am proud that we have this building for the Muslim community of Cr&eacuteteil, he says.

I think that, especially for the Muslim community, this brings a certain recognition, says Laurent Cathala, mayor of Cr&eacuteteil. The overall bill comes to five million euros, with costs shared by the local muslim faithful and the city government.

Cr&eacuteteil has been welcoming of its new mosque. For the city as a whole, this mosque is important for social cohesion, and to enrich the cultural heritage of the city.

France – Islam – Muslim
. In some European countries physical symbols of Islam, like mosques, still provoque tension and backlash

.China has said that it is entirely up to France to repair relations between the two countries after French President Nicolas Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama at the weekend.
“The …
“We urge the French side to take responsibility and concrete measures to correct its erroneous practice, and create favourable conditions . responsibility is not on the Chinese side, it is fully on the French side,” foreign ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao told reporters. ..”
Mr Jianchao would not specify what sort of measures China wanted France to take to mend ties. for the development of China-France relations.
China is strongly opposed to any foreign leaders meeting the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader whom Beijing accuses of seeking independence for his Himalayan homeland.
“This is precisely the issue for the French side to study and discuss,” he said.
Mr Sarkozy on Monday defended his meeting with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, saying it was his duty as French head of state to meet all winners of the award.
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly denied the charge, insisting he only wants greater autonomy for the region, which has been under Chinese rule since 1951.
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Lawyer on fraud charges

By – Sunday, 07 December 2008

An Aucklandbarrister is facing 29 fraud-related charges, including accessing the Law Society's website to renew his practising certificate and falsifying legal aid applications to earn close toly $3000. .
Police say he also ran up a bill of close to $2200 on a friend's credit card. Lawyers are required to renew their licences each year. There was also a $90 haircut. He allegedly spent up large on TradeMe, Woolworths, Noel Leeming and adult entertainment online shopping websites buying groceries, an iPod, pornography and pizza.
One of the alleged TradeMe victims told the Sunday Star-Times he paid Flewitt for a $350 hand-held computer that never arrived.
He is alleged to have falsified a tenancy agreement, stolen petrol from two service stations and ripped off two users of the online auction site TradeMe.
The barrister told the Star-Times most of the allegations came about because he had used his former partner's credit card and she then told police he was not authorised to do so.
TradeMe's commercial and regulatory head Mike O'Donnell said the company was working closely with police to build a case against Flewitt. The police allegations were misleading, he said. He said he had used his partner's credit card to renew his practising certificate online in the past and it had not previously been a problem.
The charges were "disastrous" and "devastating" for him. The charges would be defended.
A spokesperson for the Legal Services Agency declined to comment on the allegations of fraudulent legal aid applications, saying the matter was before the courts. He said he realised he would not be able to practice law unless he was cleared. The allegations relate to three legal aid payment applications in May and one in June.
However, the agency's records show Flewitt received $7392 in legal aid payments last year.

. Police say the applications earned him at least $2200