Two a penny

.The violent eruption of a Patagonian volcano last year has shown the high speed with which magma can burst through the earth’s crust, according to a European study.
The finding has prompted warnings for closer monitoring of potentially active volcanoes around the world.
The unexpected explosive eruption of the Chaiteìn volcano in Chile on 1 May 2008, occurred less than 24 hours after residents in the nearby town of Chaiteìn first began feeling earth tremors.
An examination of the forces behind the eruption published in the journal Nature , shows that the magma travelled at up to one-metre per second.
The force of the eruption resulted in ash being deposited across Chile and large parts of southern Argentina. This compares with the months to years of seismic unrest that precedes most eruptions.
It shot from a depth of more than five kilometres to the surface in about four hours. .
Depending on the nature of the eruption it can form pumice or obsidian on the surface.
Rhyolite is a volcanic material high in silica, which tends to make it very viscous or sticky and prone to explosive eruptions caused by trapped gasses.
Australian geologist, Dr Wally Johnson from Australian National University in Canberra is currently studying a rhyolitic eruption that occurred thousands of years ago at the Rabaul volcano in Papua New Guinea.
– Rare events –
The violent and unexpected nature of the blasts, together with their rarity, means the Chaiteìn eruption is the first rhyolite event to have been scientifically assessed in this way.
Dr Johnson says the last explosive rhyolitic eruption occurred in 1912 when the Novarupta volcano spewed 30 cubic kilometres of magma in 60 hours.
He says the analysis of the Chaiteìn eruption is strong.
“But when they do take place, they’re highly explosive and for anyone living nearby they’re certainly dangerous.
“But when they do take place, they’re highly explosive and for anyone living nearby they’re certainly dangerous.
“They put up a very, very good case for rhyolitic magma ascending very quickly through the crust,” Dr Johnsonsaid.
By documenting the speed with which the magma reached the surface, the researchers have now provided a measure for comparing the activity of other rhyolite volcanoes.”
Dr Johnson says that while rhyolite volcanoes are rare, there should be increased monitoring of potentially active volcanoes, in particular in developing countries, regardless of the magma involved.
“Basically once it starts, it’s on its way and there’s not much chance of getting a reasonably early warning.

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AFP – Somali pirates attempted to storm the flagship commanding French military forces in a night attack in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the military said here Wednesday.

French sailors saw off the attack and captured five pirates in the incident while no-one was injured, military spokesperson Admiral Christophe Prazuck said.

The pirates had tried to storm the 160-metre (525-foot) 18,000-tonne La Somme, a fuel supply ship used as the command centre for all French forces — ground, sea and air — in the Indian Ocean region.

The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs, he said.

On it they found five men but no weapons, the spokesperson said, adding that the pirates had apparently thrown all of the boat’s contents overboard.

The pirates tried to escape when they realised their mistake but were pursued by La Somme, which after an hour-long chase managed to catch one of the skiffs, Prazuck said. .

The world’s naval powers have deployed dozens of warships to the lawless waters off Somalia over the past year to curb attacks by pirates threatening one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes

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The French capital stayed up until the wee hours of Sunday as Parisians marked Nuit Blanche &ndash literally sleepless night &ndash an annual nocturnal celebration of contemporary art.

© Marie-Sophie JoubertA giant screen outside the magnificently illuminated City Hall building drew crowds. © Marie-Sophie JoubertAt a metro station: art in transition © Marie-Sophie JoubertCutting-edge art at the new &#039104&#039 contemporary art and culture centre in eastern Paris © Marie-Sophie JoubertHamming it up or simply interacting with the art © Marie-Sophie JoubertAn artist working on a giant meringue screen takes a break at the landmark Pompidou Centre. © Marie-Sophie JoubertMusic, dancing, art and a touch of romance at a Nuit Blanche gathering.. © Marie-Sophie JoubertA heartbeat away from the heart of the city © Marie-Sophie JoubertInside the historic Notre Dame cathedral © Marie-Sophie JoubertBlending the old with the avant-garde © Marie-Sophie JoubertA giant screen in a church displays images of an airport arrivals terminal © Marie-Sophie JoubertEdible chocolate mannequins © Marie-Sophie JoubertIt&#039s all in the detail: up close with a chocolate mannequin © Marie-Sophie JoubertThe art party continued into the wee hours of SundayStart the slideshow
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The eighth annual Nuit Blanche festival was expected to attract about 1.5 million people, according to Christophe Girard, deputy mayor of Paris.

If the current trend continues, we should have slightly more people this year than the previous year, Girard told the news service shortly before midnight.

While public viewings of art installations across the city began Saturday around 7pm, most visitors on this special night opt to view the installations toward midnight.

Giant green laser beam

Shortly after sundown on Saturday, queues of visitors were snaking at the entrance of the Luxembourg gardens in the historic Latin Quarter as well as the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont in eastern Paris.

The Latin Quarter and the central Chatelet-Marais areas have traditionally showcased contemporary art installations on this special night. This year Nuit Blanche also featured a number of showings in the north-eastern 19th arondissement, which houses a number of contemporary art studios.

The highlight of the eighth annual Nuit Blanche was a giant green laser beam launched by composer Jean Michel Jarre from the 14th arondissement in southern Paris, which was visible for around 5.5 kilometres right up to the heights of the Montmartre area in northern Paris.

Every year, the all-night art party winds down at around 7am on Sunday.

contemporary art – culture – France – Paris

.The French government has dropped its public support for Roman Polanski, saying the Oscar-winning director held in Switzerland over a three-decade-old child sex case is not “above the law.”
“Roman Polanski is neither above nor beneath the law,” government spokesperson Luc Chatel said.
“We have a judicial procedure under way for a serious affair – the rape of a minor – on which the American and Swiss legal systems are doing their job,” he said, adding: “One can understand the emotion that this belated arrest, more than 30 years after the incident, and the method of the arrest have caused.
He was arrested at the weekend as he arrived in Zurich to collect a film festival award. .
Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand called the arrest of the Franco-Polish filmmaker, who lives in Paris, “absolutely horrifying” and said it showed “a side of America which is frightening.
The French government had earlier this week expressed outrage over the arrest, with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner calling on US authorities to allow Polanski to be freed.”
Mr Chatel, asked by reporters to comment on the Culture Minister’s reaction, said: “Frederic Mitterrand was speaking from the heart.
Polanski can launch several appeals, so a final extradition decision could take weeks or months.”
Switzerland says Polanski is being held under an international alert issued by the United States in 2005.
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AFP – French banking giant BNP Paribas announced on Tuesday that it will raise 4.3 billion euros (6.

The bank, which is repaying the support several months earlier than expected, said that it no longer needed the state aid because the landscape for banking and profits had improved, and revealed that the state will earn a significant return on its money.3 billion dollars) of new capital to repay state rescue funding from October.2 billion euros.

For the first half of the year, the bank had reported a net profit of 3.1 billion euros at the height of the banking crisis early this year.

BNP Paribas said that it intended to free itself from October from preference shares provided by the state to inject 5.

This works out at a gross return for the state of about five percent over seven months.

In repaying the help, the bank would also pay the French state a fee of 226 million euros calculated on seven months use of the money, the bank said.1 billion euros of preference shares underwritten on March 31 by the French state and will reward it with 226 million euros calculated over seven months, it said in a statement.

BNP Paribas will repay from October the 5.

The charge for the use of the money was calculated to rise with time to encourage quick repayment, the bank explained.

At the time of the support, the bank had agreed with the state and with European Union competition authorities that the funds would be repayed as soon as possible. This would amount to 750 million euros.

The aid would be repayed with money raised from the capital increase together with the creation of shareholders’ funds established mainly through the payment of dividend in the form of shares.

BNP Paribas said that given the way the environment had changed and a strong performance by the group, the state aid was no longer needed.

In addition, there would be an increase in the capital allocated to employees, amounting to 260 million euros, the bank said.4 billion euros under the so-called Tier One calculation of the highest quality capital. .0 percent, the bank said.

The ratio of this capital to the weighted risk carried by the bank would then be more than 9.1 billion euros preference shares without voting rights.

The French state became the biggest single shareholder in the bank on buying for 5.

banking – BNP Paribas – financial crisis – French economy
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banking – BNP Paribas – financial crisis – French economy

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Nearly 60 people have been killed, Manila was blacked out and airline flights were suspended as a powerful typhoon battered the main Philippines island of Luzon.

Television showed houses swept away by swollen rivers, people on rooftops waving for help and throngs stranded along Manila’s submerged main thoroughfares as the storm packing winds of 100 kph (60 mph) dumped 341 mm (13.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appealed for donations of clothes, blankets, food and water as hundreds of families, perched on rooftops or were trapped in submerged areas, waiting for rescue.5 inches) of rain in six hours. At least 47 people were killed, mostly by drowning, in Rizal province, east of Manila, radio reports quoted the local governor as saying. . Authorities shut down operations at international and domestic airports, stranding thousands of passengers. Eleven more people were killed by collapsing walls and rising floodwaters in the capital area, disaster officials said. Disaster officials declared a “state of calamity” for the capital region and 25 other areas on the main island of Luzon, in order to speed up rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts. An advisory said operations would not resume until Sunday. The typhoon was moving west-northwest and was expected to head towards the South China Sea by Sunday evening or Monday morning, chief weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz told a local radio station. Businesses and commercial shops closed early and local hotels were packed by weary commuters. An average of about 20 typhoons strike the Southeast Asian nation every year. He said the typhoon brought the heaviest rainfall in the country since 1967 after its weather station collected 341 mm of rainfall in six hours on Saturday.

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AFP – France’s top banks are demanding billions of dollars (euros) from the administrator of failed Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers, official documents issued on Friday showed.

BNP Paribas is claiming around 1.3 billion dollars, Societe Generale 800 million dollars and Dexia 400 million dollars, according to AFP’s calculations based on documents for the administrator published on the site Epiq Systems. The deadline for claims set by the US bankruptcy court was September 22, more than a year after the shock failure of Lehman Brothers. .

Like other creditors, we are engaged in a procedure to recover our debts, said a spokesman for Dexia who did not however confirm the amount sought.

Lehman’s collapse on September 15, 2008 sowed panic in boardrooms, government offices and households around the world and has come to symbolise the beginning of a steep slump that plunged the global economy into recession.

A spokesman for French insurer Axa, which is seeking 186 million dollars according to the documents issued Friday, said: We suffered a loss.

BNP Paribas – financial crisis – Lehman Brothers – Societe Generale
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BNP Paribas and Societe Generale decline to comment on their own claims

.The French parliament has approved a piracy bill that has drawn attention from around the world with its provision to cut illegal downloaders off from the internet.
The bill, which was opposed by consumer groups but had the backing of the music and film industry, is one of the toughest ever drafted in the global fight against the illegal downloading of films, music and computer games.
“The penalties will probably be quite rare, for I believe in the effectiveness of this deterrent,” said culture minister Frederic Mitterrand.
The bill was approved by 258 votes to 131.
Championed by Mr Sarkozy and singer-turned-first lady Carla Bruni, the original anti-piracy law was adopted in May after a stormy parliament battle, but was blocked in June by France’s top legal authority.
An official of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing UMP party, Franck Riester, said the first warnings to users falling foul of the new law would be sent at the beginning of next year.
Opponents said it failed to give alleged pirates enough recourse to challenge accusations and argued that web innovations would make it possible for illegal downloaders to avoid detection.
The Constitutional Council objected to a key provision which gave a new state agency the power to shut down web access for up to a year for those who download music and films illegally.
On the third strike, a judge would hand down an internet ban or, as was possible under existing but rarely applied legislation, impose a fine of up to 300,000 euros ($507,000) or a two-year jail sentence.
The new bill shifts the final decision on cutting off web users away from the state agency to the courts.
In Sweden, a similar law, which was closely monitored by France, has led to a sharp drop in illegal downloading although critics predict the effects will be short-lived and argue it is an excessive breach of personal privacy.
Account holders found guilty of “negligence” for allowing a third party to pirate music or films using their web connection would risk a 1,500-euro fine and a month-long suspension.

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The International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague has convicted French national Florence Hartmann, and a previous employee of the ICTY, for being in contempt of the Tribunal by disclosing confidential information in knowing violation of a court order.

Hartmann, who previously worked for Le Monde as a journalist, will not receive a jail term, but must pay a fine of 7,000 euros to her long-term employer.

The confidential information Hartmann disclosed was in a 2007 book she wrote about the working of the ICTY called Peace and Punishment: The Secret Wars of Politics and International Justice and several articles she wrote, notably for Paris Match magazine..

In passing judgement, presiding Judge Bakone Justice Moloto said, The chamber finds the accused guilty of [.] knowingly and wilfully interfering with the tribunal’s administration of justice&hellip.. This&hellip impacts upon the tribunal ability to exercise its jurisdiction to prosecute and punish serious violations of humanitarian law as prescribed by its mandate. He was uncertain about their next step, saying, It very likely that we will appeal, but we have not made a final decision yet.

Appeal

them spoke to Hartmann’s lawyer, Guenael Mettraux, shortly after the conviction.

When discussing the verdict, Mettraux was bullish but somewhat resigned. We have 15 days to decide according to court procedure. We were hoping and expecting an acquittal, but I have to say, we are not completely surprised. He said, We are disappointed.

Mettraux reported that Hartman herself has suffered a lot of disappointment, but she is strongly of the view that our case has merit [&hellip] and that it is for the betterment of journalists.

Mettraux reported that Hartman herself has suffered a lot of disappointment, but she is strongly of the view that our case has merit [&hellip] and that it is for the betterment of journalists.

Previous prosecutions

them also spoke to a spokesperson for the ICTY, Nerma Jeliacic, who said, This case is attracting the international media&hellip but there has been a precedent of other journalists and even lawyers being convicted for similar transgressions. The ICTY acknowledged that some information included in her work was in the public domain but said that a decision remains confidential until a Chamber explicitly decides otherwise.

However, human rights organisations, journalist groups and advocacy groups have been up in arms, arguing that Hartmann indeed did stay within the public domain. This key issue of precedent is quite clearly the crucial point for the ICTY and why it feels justified in its ruling.

The trial could not come at a worse time for the Hague or for the ICTY itself, as they attempt to assert their relevance and increase their clout.

Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based media advocacy group, went so far as to say before the verdict that, The right to free expression about cases handled by international courts depends on the ICTY verdict. . It could be argued that cases such as this just serve as a distraction to the true nature of the bodies&rsquo work.

ICTY – international justice

.A French couple went on trial facing a possible life sentence for allegedly murdering two children with a dish of poisoned cannelloni in their Marseilles apartment.
Marie-Helene Martinez and her husband Jean-Paul Steijns allegedly decided in 2005 to poison eight-year-old Melissa and seven-year-old Jason, believing they would be better able to pull themselves out of debt without them.
As Martinez arrived at court in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence, a brief scuffle broke out with members of her first husband’s family and police were forced to intervene.
The couple also risked losing custody of the youngsters to Martinez’s first husband, who is the children’s biological father.
He alleges his wife persuaded him to carry out the crime when the couple risked losing their apartment after several months of defaulting on rent.
Martinez denies any wrongdoing, but Steijns has admitted to the murders.
They died that night and the bodies, hidden in a car boot, were discovered a month later when Steijns confessed to police.
On the night of September 18, 2005, Melissa and Jason complained that the meat-stuffed cannelloni served by their parents tasted bitter and they went to bed that night without finishing their plates, Le Parisien newspaper reported. A verdict is expected probably on Friday.
The couple are accused of premeditated murder by administrating lethal substances and face a life sentence if convicted.
Investigators have been unable to establish the circumstances of the death, given the advanced stage of the body’s decomposition.
Police also found the decomposed body of a newborn baby lying on the balcony of their Marseilles apartment but the couple is not on trial in that case.
But lawyers for Martinez say Steijns was behind the plot to kill the children and that he had a reputation as a con artist. .
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