.At least 50 people have been killed in violent storms that have caused chaos in Europe.
Most were killed in France, but Spain, Germany and Portugal have all recorded fatalities.
Packing winds just under 150 kilometres an hour, the intense low caused havoc in many countries.
In the French Vendee region, houses were inundated and people had to be rescued by helicopter from their roofs.
Flooding was most serious in France and Spain and a 10-year-old boy was one of a number of people killed by falling trees.
Up to a million people were without power.
At least a dozen people in France remain unaccounted for and there have been at least 60 injuries.
The UK is on flood alert and authorities in Denmark are on standby as the storm continues to track north.
.France has left itself with a ‘home run’ to a Six Nations Grand Slam after the tournament leader held its nerve to beat Wales 26-20 at the Millennium Stadium.
Victory appeared all but assured at half-time with France 20-0 in front following two interception tries.
But Wales, just as it did in its dramatic come-from-behind 31-24 win over Scotland last time out, rallied and cut France’s lead to 20-13 heading into the final quarter under the Millennium’s closed retractable roof.
Replacement fly half Frederic Michalak scored a penalty nine minutes from time that, importantly, put France two scores in front.
However, against a team of France’s all-round quality Wales left itself with just too much of a mountain to climb on this occasion.
There was still time for wing Shane Williams, on his 33rd birthday, to become the first Wales player to score 50 tries after a typical jinking run.
And with just two minutes left, scrum half Morgan Parra kicked his third penalty after Wales was caught offside in front of its posts.
Fly half Stephen Jones converted and Wales, who had been 14-24 behind against Scotland with minutes remaining, had hopes of another great escape. .
But France, unlike Scotland, booted the ensuing kick-off ‘dead’ through Michalak, belying his reputation for recklessness, and with that South African referee Jonathan Kaplan blew for full-time.”
France, which has now won three games in a row for the first time under coach Marc Lievremont, can look forward to wrapping up the Championship with matches in Paris against Italy and England on March 13 and 20 respectively.
“We’ve just got to stop pushing the self-destruct button.
“It was like watching the ghost of the Wales-Scotland match appear before us.
“We lost all coherence, you could feel that at half-time even,” Lievremont said.
“I’m very happy to win three in a row, but my emotions are divided between happiness and relief.
“I’m very happy to win three in a row, but my emotions are divided between happiness and relief.
France: 26 (Palisson, Trinh-Duc tries; Parra 2 conversions, 3 penalties, Michalak penalty)
Wales: 20 (Halfpenny, S Williams tries; S Jones 2 conversions, 2 penalties)
-
.A move by a French fast-food chain to offer halal menus at a handful of restaurants has some politicians fuming, in the latest row over France’s increasingly visible Muslim minority.
The Quick chain has taken pork off its menu in eateries in Roubaix, northern France, as well as in Marseille and in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil, to try to tap into the growing market of Muslim customers.
But politicians have complained that the switch to no-bacon hamburgers, launched three months ago, is depriving non-Muslims of their right to the standard menu.
“I’m not bothered by the fact that there is a halal menu,” he said.
Roubaix Mayor Rene Vandierendonck plans to file a complaint for discrimination, arguing that non-Muslims now have to trek to the suburbs to get a bacon burger, as Quick is the only fast-food place in the city centre.”
French far-right politician Marine Le Pen suggested the Halal menus were providing a financial boost to Muslim organisations that certify meat as having been slaughtered in accordance with Islamic practices.
“But this is going too far because it is the only menu on offer and it has become discrimination.
Ms Le Pen condemned the menu switch as “unacceptable” and denounced a form of “Islamisation”.
But in eight of Quick’s 350 restaurants, the “Strong Bacon” double cheese hamburger is not on offer, replaced by a halal version with smoked turkey.
In cities and towns across France, Quick’s red-and-white signs are as familiar a sight as McDonald’s golden arches, offering the usual array of hamburgers, french fries and soft drinks.
The government has frowned on Quick’s decision, suggesting that it was a form of “communautarisme”, a pejorative term suggesting that a group is exhibiting a ghetto attitude.
One customer was quoted in Le Parisien daily as saying that “it’s just not the same”.
President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government is drafting legislation to ban the wearing of the full Islamic veil and is sponsoring a debate on national identity that has exposed fears about immigration.
- Series of controversies -
Home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, estimated at between 5 and 6 million, France has been caught up in a series of controversies that have highlighted its unease with Islam in a strictly secular society.
Responding to the hubbub over the halal hamburgers, the head of France’s Muslim Council called for reason to prevail and announced that he planned to meet with Quick’s owners.
Responding to the hubbub over the halal hamburgers, the head of France’s Muslim Council called for reason to prevail and announced that he planned to meet with Quick’s owners.
“There are plenty of restaurants that do not offer halal meals and Muslims are not complaining of discrimination. .
Lionnel Lucca, a deputy from Sarkozy’s right-wing UMP party, has called for a boycott of Quick to press for “freedom of choice to be restored” at the fast-food outlets.”
Quick manager Luc Demain, who runs the outlet in Roubaix among others, said there had been a slight increase in business since the new halal menus had been introduced and that he had not received complaints from customers.
-
.A rare manuscript by the 18th-century libertine Casanova, recalling his sexual conquests and many adventures, has entered the collection of France’s National Library.
The French manuscript of The Story Of My Life forms the core of 3,700 precious pages acquired by the state library, an official said.
The official called the manuscript the collection’s “biggest heritage acquisition” ever. .
Specialists say it is the only surviving manuscript by Casanova, a Venetian adventurer and womaniser whose name has become synonymous with seduction due to his own accounts of his affairs, written in French from the 1780s.
-
.5 million) to help the library acquire the manuscripts from the heirs of a German publisher who acquired them in the 19th century
.France shattered Ireland’s dreams of a repeat of its Six Nations Grand Slam in Paris overnight beating them 33-10 with scrum half Morgan Parra, who had accused the Irish of being cheats earlier in the week, masterminding the defeat.
First-half tries by William Servat and Yannick Jauzion and a second-half one from Clement Poitrenaud with Parra chipping in with 15 points saw France easily see off a rather flat Irish team.
“It’s a great start for us but it’s too early to start talking about Grand Slams,” he added.
Toulouse winger Vincent Clerc described the win as a “great performance”.”
Ireland - winless here since 2000 - managed one try through David Wallace while Ronan O’Gara kicked the rest of its points.
“I was surprised how easily we beat the Irish but we played the perfect match.
The French were not faring very well in the line-outs as they lost three in a row on their throw and it was from the third one the Irish came desperately close to scoring the opening try as Brian O’Driscoll broke through, chipped over Poitrenaud and raced for the line.
The Irish camped themselves in the French half for the first 10 minutes but some sterling defence by France kept them at bay.
That led to two disastrous minutes for the Irish as Imanol Harinordoquy set up a great move that culminated in Cian Healy tackling Parra who did not have the ball and referee Wayne Barnes flourished the yellow card without hesitation - Parra slotted over the penalty to give the hosts a barely-deserved lead.
However, 31-year-old O’Driscoll having outpaced Poitrenaud didn’t get the bounce of the ball and it was ruled a dead ball when it hit the post.
Palisson, though, had played to limp off clutching his right thigh to be replaced by Julien Malzieu.
Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery was fortunate not to join Healy on the sidelines as his leg connected with Six Nations debutant Alexis Palisson laying him out - Barnes opted to give him the benefit of the doubt and just awarded a penalty to France.
However, the French now well and truly had their tails up and in the 31st minute Jauzion went over, after Mathieu Bastareaud had made the initial break, leaving the Irish to get a talking to by O’Driscoll - Parra converted to make it 17-3.
The French finally made the Irish pay properly for being one man down as with Healy preparing to return to the fray Servat crashed over while Parra converted to make it 10-0 - O’Gara reduced the deficit with a penalty just before the half-hour mark.
The pressure told as Keith Earls - who had moved from wing to replace the injured Rob Kearney at full-back - caught the ball in the 22 for a fair catch but in taking the quick kick he fumbled it and knocked it on.
The Irish were really under the hammer from the start of the second-half as the French pierced their defence at will highlighted when O’Driscoll failed to intercept a pass and Trinh-Duc ran 30 metres only to knock on close to the line when he was tackled.
Ireland showed some spirit in grabbing effectively a consolation try through David Wallace, which was converted by O’Gara, but the peerless Parra was to make it 30-10 with just over 10 minutes remaining with a long range penalty.
France took full advantage from the ensuing scrum as they fed it out to the left and Poitrenaud eased into the corner to touch it down - Parra added an impressive conversion followed minutes later by a wonderful drop goal.
-
.
The mercurially-gifted Frederic Michalak was to rub salt even deeper into the wounds close to the final whistle with a drop goal to end a miserable day for the Irish
.The first of 250 unknown British and Australian soldiers who died during World War I will be reburied later this evening in France with full military honours.
A special ceremony will take place in the village of Fromelles close to the battlefield where more than 7,000 allied soldiers, most of them Australian, were killed in July 1916. .
“These men have laid at rest since that time in an unmarked grave.
Federal Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin says the battle was the first major engagement involving Australian troops on the Western Front in WWI
“The circumstances were it was also the bloodiest 24 hours in Australia’s military history before or since,” he said.”
He says there will also be a ceremony marking the anniversary of the battle later this year. Their remains have recently been discovered and are now in a process of receiving a dignified burial that they so richly deserve.
“There will be a full ceremony today to inter the first of those soldiers,” he said.”
.
“Over the next month most of the remaining remains will be interred, and then there will be a final ceremony at the anniversary of the battle in July of this year, where the last of those men will be interred with full military honours
.The World Health Organisation and the pharmaceutical industry have been criticised for their handling of last year’s swine flu pandemic.
At a hearing of the Council of Europe - the European Union’s human rights body - the WHO faced accusations that it exaggerated the danger of the virus under pressure from drug companies.
When a pandemic was declared last June, most European countries changed their health priorities to accommodate thousands of expected patients. .
A number of European governments had signed contracts with the drug companies to buy back vaccines, believing a flu pandemic long predicted by health experts would be a virus-like bird flu with a very high death rate.
- BBC
.
The organisation denies any conflict of interest
.The Federal Government has ramped up warnings about Microsoft’s web browser Internet Explorer, which has come under attack from hackers.
The Government is warning that people risk having their computers infiltrated and passwords stolen unless they install temporary fixes from Microsoft or use alternative browsers.
The Government says Microsoft has acknowledged all recent versions of the program are vulnerable.
The French and German governments have warned internet users in Europe to avoid Microsoft’s popular web browser.
It also says people should remember to regularly update their security software and change passwords oftenly.
Senior lecturer in network engineering at Melbourne’s RMIT University, Mark Gregory, says industry and governments are not prepared for the changing threats to cyberspace.
The concern follows revelations that hackers used a crack in Internet Explorer to mount an attack on Google and a number of other companies.
“The digital network is like the wild west.
“It is being used in ways that it wasn’t meant to be used and we need to get organisations, companies and governments . It is unregulated,” he said…”
Bill Caelli, from the Information Security Institute at the Queensland University of Technology, says the Government and regulators must step in to protect internet users. focused on taking action to make the digital network more secure for the general public.
“How many builders have put smoke detectors in the new homes and houses? How many people have put fences around their pools to protect children?” he said.
“How many builders have put smoke detectors in the new homes and houses? How many people have put fences around their pools to protect children?” he said.”
The Government says Microsoft has not solved the security glitch and Australians should use alternative browsers. It’s always been driven by regulatory [sic], by society itself, and that’s the role of government.
“There are other browsers that are available that appear to be being targeted less by the hackers and by these organisations than what Internet Explorer is being targeted,” he said. .
“On that basis you’d have to argue that if security was a principal concern then using another browser would be wise until the incidence is reduced.
“I don’t think there was any inference in what they said that Internet Explorer was any more deficient in terms of security than any of the other browsers, just that it was being targeted more.
.”
Editor’s note (19 January 2010): This story has been amended to reflect the fact that web users can install temporary fixes from Microsoft to reduce their risk
.Services have returned almost to normal after three days of chaos on the Eurostar rail link between the UK and France.
But many parts of Europe continue to face severe transport disruptions and there have been more deaths as a severe cold snap sweeps the continent.
More than 80 people have died across Europe, including 42 in Poland and another 27 in Ukraine who have frozen to death.
Air, rail and road transport has been severely disrupted across northern Europe where as much as 50 centimetres of snow has fallen with more expected in the coming days.
Another 13 people died in car accidents in Austria, Finland and Germany, where temperatures dropped well below zero.
More freezing fog was expected at Stansted, north of London, and forecasters from Britain’s Met Office also issued severe weather warnings across the country, warning of icy roads and thick snow in eastern Scotland.
But after three days of cancelled services, Eurostar trains began running again between Brussels, Paris and London: an investigation has been launched into the disruption of services.
Britain’s Automobile Association said Monday was their busiest night for 25 years, with about 700 calls received every hour.
“There was no way that I was going to throw customers out into that,” said store managing director Deborah Strazza.
In Buckinghamshire, west of London, about 100 people, including 20 children, spent the night in the John Lewis department store after being snowed in.”
.
.France will follow the United Kingdom by imposing a new super tax on bonuses paid to its country’s bankers.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said world leaders must impose tougher limits on remuneration, particularly given that bonuses for 2009 have only been made possible through government support for the banking system.
Britain announced on Wednesday it was slapping a one-off 50 per cent tax rate on bonuses above 25,000 pounds ($43,000) to recoup cash spent saving the financial sector during the global financial crisis.
“We propose a long-term global compact that will encapsulate both the responsibilities of the banking system and the risk they pose to the economy as a whole,” they wrote.
France and Germany have for months been united in their attacks on excessive pay in the financial sector.
Mr Sarkozy has now also committed France to a similar tax.
Meanwhile, US investment giant Goldman Sachs says it will pay its 2009 bonuses for top executives in stock instead of cash under a policy adopted amid a growing furore over banker pay. .
In 2007, despite a looming mortgage crisis, the company’s chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, received a Wall Street record-setting $US68 million ($74 million) bonus payment on top of his annual salary of $US600,000.
The firm’s 30-member management committee will receive the shares, which cannot be sold for five years, under a new policy aimed at discouraging excessive risk-taking and to ensure employees are accountable for the impact of their decisions.
Goldman Sachs, an investment bank which became a bank holding company during the financial crisis, has already repaid the US government for a $US25 billion capital injection.