Chelsea au centre des rumeurs

Pas un jour ne passe sans qu'une grande star internationale soit annoncée du côté de Chelsea la saison prochaine. Entre Kakà, Pato, Ibrahimovic ou Torres, pour ne citer qu'eux, les rumeurs vont bon train concernant le club londonien.

Le mercato n'a pas encore commencé, mais on a déjà l'impression que tous les chemins mènent à Chelsea. La semaine passée, le Corriere dello Sport était le premier à se jeter dans la brèche. Le quotidien italien annonçait notamment une offre de 80 millions d'euros à venir du club londonien pour débaucher le duo Pato-Thiago Silva au Milan AC. D'après lui, les Blues disposeraient d'une enveloppe supérieure à 100 millions d'euros pour son recrutement estival, une somme qui autorise les plus folles rumeurs. Le Corriere dello Sport annonçait également que Carlo Ancelotti aimerait rapatrier Kakà du côté de Stamford Bridge.

Depuis, d'autres médias ont emboîté le pas du quotidien italien. Le Daily Mail s'est saisi du cas de Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Barcelone souhaite manifestement s'en séparer, seulement un an après l'avoir recruté, afin de laisser place à David Villa, probable première recrue du Barça. Et Chelsea ferait partie des destinations privilégiées pour l'ancien joueur de l'Inter, même si le tabloïd l'annonce aussi du côté de Manchester City ou de la Juventus Turin.

Drogba et le cas Torres

Stamford Bridge n'est jamais bien loin quand il s'agit de lancer une rumeur de transfert concernant une grande star internationale. Au tour de Fernando Torres. Après la décevante septième place de Liverpool en championnat, El Niño pourrait quitter les Reds cet été. Pourrait seulement, car les paramètres sont extrêmement nombreux dans le cas d'un éventuel départ du buteur espagnol, entre l'arrivée de nouveaux propriétaires ou un changement de coach. Pourtant, il ne passe quasiment pas un jour sans une rumeur l'annonçant à Chelsea. Aujourd'hui, le site internet de Sky Sports affirme ainsi que Didier Drogba se verrait bien associé à Torres à la pointe de l'attaque des Blues l'an prochain.

L'avant-centre ivoirien du club londonien est cité : "J'ai entendu ce qui se disait au sujet de la possible arrivée de Torres et évidemment, cela me plairait. Chaque fois qu'un nouveau joueur arrive ici, cela rend le club plus grand et cela nous donne beaucoup de force". Le site anglais annonce une offre à venir de 58 millions d'euros des Blues. Seule certitude à ce stade, on va beaucoup entendre parler de Chelsea ces prochaines semaines. Mais d'ici l'annonce d'un transfert ferme, la presse européenne aura sûrement le temps de s'étendre sur le sujet.

Clotilde Reiss, la fin du calvaire iranien

Arrêtée le 1er juillet 2009 pour espionnage, l'universitaire française va enfin pouvoir quitter l'Iran. Elle a d'abord connu la prison, puis la résidence surveillée à l'ambassade. Chronologie.

L'annonce d'une décision judiciaire permettant à Clotilde Reiss de quitter l'Iran intervient dix mois et demi après l'arrestation la jeune Française pour avoir participé en juin 2009 à des manifestations contre la réélection contestée du président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

1er juillet 2009: Arrestation de l'universitaire, lectrice à l'Université d'Ispahan (centre), sous accusation d'espionnage.

8 août: Devant le tribunal révolutionnaire de Téhéran, Clotilde Reiss reconnaît avoir participé à des manifestations, pris des photos et vidéos. Selon l'agence officielle Irna, elle reconnaît avoir rédigé un rapport pour un institut dépendant de l'ambassade de France. Paris demande sa libération immédiate.

12 août: Le procureur de Téhéran annonce la fin du procès et le maintien en prison dans l'attente du verdict.

16 août: Libération sous caution de Mlle Reiss, placée en résidence surveillée à l'ambassade de France.

22/23 septembre: Le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demande à Paris des gestes en faveur de détenus iraniens. Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy qualifie de "chantage" l'attitude iranienne, assurant qu'il "n'y aura pas d'échange".

18 décembre: M. Ahmadinejad déclare que la libération de Mlle Reiss dépend de "l'attitude des dirigeants français".

16 janvier 2010: Quatrième et dernière audience de Mlle Reiss au tribunal de Téhéran.

5 mai: La justice française rejette une demande d'extradition vers les Etats-Unis de l'ingénieur iranien Majid Kakavand, retenu en France depuis mars 2009 à la demande de Washington et dont Téhéran réclamait la libération. M. Kakavand rentre en Iran le 7 mai.

15 mai: L'avocat de Mlle Reiss annonce qu'elle va pouvoir quitter l'Iran à la suite d'un jugement rendu le jour même. La jeune Française a été condamnée à deux peines de cinq ans de prison pour atteinte à la sécurité nationale et avoir remis des informations et des photos de manifestations de l'opposition à des étrangers, mais cette double peine a été immédiatement commuée en simple amende de 285.000 USD par "une décision de clémence" du régime

Renforts militaires à Bangkok, le Premier ministre reste ferme

Le Premier ministre Abhisit Vejjajiva a affirmé que l'armée ne reculerait pas. "Le gouvernement doit aller de l'avant. Nous ne pouvons pas reculer. Nous agissons pour le bien du pays. Nous ne pouvons pas le laisser aux mains de bandes armées", a-t-il déclaré lors d'une allocution télévisée.

Selon un dernier bilan du ministère de la Santé, 24 personnes ont été tuées et 179 autres blessées depuis la reprise des troubles, jeudi soir, après la tentative d'assassinat du "conseiller" militaire des manifestants.

Les "chemises rouges", partisans de l'ancien Premier ministre Thaksin Shinawatra, renversé par un coup d'Etat en 2006, continuent de réclamer le départ d'Abhisit Vejjajiva et la tenue d'élections anticipées.

CHANGEMENT POSSIBLE DE LIEU D'OCCUPATION

Les autorités militaires ont annoncé l'envoi de renforts dans la zone d'affrontements.

"Je ne peux pas dire, pour des raisons de sécurité, le nombre de soldats qui y seront déployés, mais il y aura des renforts pour aider les soldats sur place à encercler la zone et accentuer la pression sur les manifestants", a déclaré aux journalistes un porte-parole de l'armée, Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

Tapis derrière des sacs de sable ou perchés sur des toits d'immeuble, des soldats ont tiré à balles réelles sur des manifestants qui ripostaient avec des cocktails Molotov et des roquettes artisanales dans deux secteurs de la ville.

Des contestataires ont incendié des véhicules, dont un camion militaire, et lancé des pierres sur les soldats. A une intersection, un panneau annonçait une "zone de tirs à balles réelles". Ailleurs, un autre signalait une "zone de tirs à balles de caoutchouc". Tous deux ont été démantelés ensuite.

A la tombée de la nuit, des milliers de chemises rouges s'étaient massés aux abords d'un carrefour du quartier ouvrier de Klong Toey, utilisant un camion en guise de podium pour leurs dirigeants, ce qui pourrait annoncer leur déplacement vers un autre lieu d'occupation.

Des militaires ont ouvert le feu sur quatre personnes, dont un secouriste que l'on croit mort, dans ce secteur situé à deux kilomètres environ du quartier d'affaires de la capitale. Les combats se sont poursuivis dans la nuit dans deux quartiers.

L'OPPOSITION RESTE DÉTERMINÉE

Le quartier d'affaires a été le théâtre d'explosions de grenades et d'échanges de coups de feu, l'armée tentant d'établir un périmètre de sécurité autour du camp occupé par les manifestants depuis près de six semaines.

"Nous continuerons à nous battre", a déclaré Kwanchai Praipana, un responsable des chemises rouges, appelant le Premier ministre à prendre ses responsabilités. Les réserves de vivres, d'eau et de carburant commencent à s'amenuiser, a-t-il ajouté, mais devraient permettre de tenir plusieurs jours.

"Les soldats font peut-être quelques progrès en ce qui concerne l'isolement de la zone, mais le prix à payer est élevé", a déclaré Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professeur de sciences politiques à l'université de Chulalongkorn.

"Est-ce que le gouvernement va réussir à disperser la foule et s'engager vers une sortie de crise? La réponse est non (...) il y a encore un long chemin à parcourir."

Les affrontements ont éclaté jeudi soir après un tir qui a coûté la vie à l'ex-général Khattiya Sawasdipol, dit le "commandant rouge". Trois journalistes, deux Thaïlandais et un Canadien correspondant à Bangkok de France 24, ont été blessés.

Vendredi, le gouvernement misait sur un retour à la normale "dans les prochains jours". Un porte-parole de l'armée déclarait qu'environ 500 "terroristes" étaient réfugiés parmi les milliers de manifestants retranchés dans un camp de trois kilomètres carrés entouré de barricades faites de pneus, de bambous aspergés d'essence et de fils barbelés.

"Il est peu probable que cela se termine rapidement. Il va y avoir des escarmouches dans les prochains jours, mais nous restons confiants quant à notre capacité à faire diminuer le nombre (des manifestants) et à reprendre la zone", a dit un membre de l'entourage du chef de l'armée Anupong Paochinda.

Le secrétaire général de l'Onu, Ban Ki-moon, a appelé vendredi à un arrêt des violences.

Cette escalade fait suite à l'échec d'un plan de réconciliation présenté par le Premier ministre. Ce dernier a retiré mercredi son offre d'organiser des élections législatives le 14 novembre, soit un an avant la date prévue.

L'ambassade des Etats-Unis à proposé d'évacuer familles et associés de son personnel s'ils le souhaitaient, et elle a recommandé aux ressortissants américains d'éviter tout voyage à Bangkok.

Football: Drogba offre le doublé coupe-championnat à Chelsea

Un but de Didier Drogba a permis samedi à Chelsea de battre Portsmouth 1-0 en finale de la Cup et de réaliser ainsi son premier doublé coupe-championnat en Angleterre.

L'attaquant ivoirien a marqué l'unique but de la rencontre juste avant l'heure de jeu alors que les Londoniens, sacrés champions d'Angleterre le week-end dernier, avaient touché cinq fois les montants adverses en première période.

Pour la sixième fois d'affilée, Drogba a marqué à Wembley en FA Cup - trois fois en demi-finale, trois fois en finale.

Sans surprise, Chelsea prenait les choses en mains dès le début de la partie mais le gardien de Portsmouth, David James, était béni.

Drogba, deux fois, puis Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou et John Terry ensuite touchaient du bois avant la pause.

La poisse ne lâchait pas les Blues, tombeurs d'Everton l'année dernière en finale de la compétition.

A la 56e, Juliano Belletti commettait une faute dans la surface sur Aruna Dindane et Portsmouth avait une incroyable occasion d'ouvrir la marque.

Mais Petr Cech repoussait du pied gauche le penalty de Kevin-Prince Boateng et pratiquement dans la foulée, Chelsea concrétisait enfin sa domination.

Juste avant l'heure de jeu, Drogba transformait un coup franc pour offrir à Chelsea un avantage largement mérité.

Lampard avait l'occasion de doubler la mise à deux minutes de la fin mais le penalty du milieu de terrain de l'équipe d'Angleterre passait à côté du but de James.

Les Blues ont perdu Michael Ballack, capitaine de l'équipe d'Allemagne, juste avant la mi-temps.

On the scene: Bangkok at boiling point

We arrive with camera in tow on the back on motorcycles -- the fastest way into the protest zone.

There is no traffic but the street named for a Thai King, Rama 4, isn't empty. Several piles of tires have been strewn about and set on fire. We watch thick black smoke billowing upwards.

At one end of the street protesters stand behind barricades made built from barbed wire, tires and sharpened bamboo sticks. At the other end Thai troops stand underneath an overpass. In the middle a few young men wheel huge tires into the road.

Les défis de David Cameron

londres) David Cameron a démontré ses talents de négociateur en se faisant couronner premier ministre de la Grande Bretagne cette semaine. Mais le plus dur reste à faire. Il devra sortir le pays du gouffre financier tout en tenant la barre d'une coalition périlleuse avec les libéraux-démocrates.

Il devra aussi reconquérir les électeurs, désabusés par les scandales politiques. Enfin, l'épineuse question des réformes électorales pourrait faire éclater son gouvernement.



Voici quelques-uns de ses nombreux défis.

La confiance

Un fossé se creuse entre la population et ses élus. Le vote partagé des élections en est le dernier symptôme. Les deux partis traditionnels ont recueilli la plus faible proportion de voix depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Résultat, le moule du bipartisme s'effrite au profit des partis indépendants.

Le scandale des notes de frais des députés l'année dernière a été la goutte de trop. En découvrant qu'ils avaient remboursé, entre autres, un îlot de canards et un film érotique aux élus, les électeurs ont déchanté.

David Cameron serre donc la vis aux députés: les Britanniques auront bientôt le pouvoir de les «congédier» avec des pétitions. La signature de 10% des résidants d'une circonscription suffira pour provoquer une élection partielle.

Il s'agit d'un premier pas pour convaincre les électeurs de sa «nouvelle politique».

La coalition

Un mariage de raison entre les conservateurs et les libéraux-démocrates semblait impossible lors de la campagne électorale. Interrogé sur sa blague préférée, David Cameron avait répondu: «Nick Clegg.»

Or, les voilà premier ministre et vice-premier ministre au prix d'énormes concessions. Les deux partis avaient des politiques contraires sur l'immigration, l'arsenal nucléaire, l'énergie nucléaire et les relations avec l'Europe.

David Cameron aura fort à faire pour maintenir l'ordre dans un cabinet qui comporte d'anciens ennemis. C'est le cas du populaire libéral-démocrate Vince Cable et du jeune conservateur George Osborne, qui devront travailler ensemble sur des dossiers économiques, notamment sur la réglementation des banques.

Un comité spécial de médiation tentera de régler les prises de bec. À la première réunion du cabinet, le premier ministre a imploré ses ministres de garder leurs différends pour eux-mêmes.

Les réformes électorales

C'est la plus grande victoire des libéraux-démocrates: un référendum sur l'adoption du vote préférentiel. Dans ce système, les électeurs votent par ordre de préférence pour les candidats de leur circonscription. Une fois les résultats connus, les voix des perdants sont redistribuées jusqu'à ce qu'un gagnant obtienne une majorité.

Les libéraux-démocrates auraient remporté 20 sièges de plus aux élections avec ce mode de scrutin.

Les ultras du Parti conservateur voient ce référendum comme une trahison de David Cameron. Ils fourbissent déjà leurs armes pour le faire échouer.

David Cameron envisage d'autres réformes ambitieuses: faire élire la Chambre des lords (chambre haute du Parlement), redessiner les circonscriptions pour égaliser leur poids démographique et réduire de 10% le nombre de députés.

Les finances

L'effondrement économique de la Grèce fait encore trembler la Grande-Bretagne. Et pour cause: avec une dette de 1190 milliards de dollars et le troisième plus important déficit budgétaire en Europe évalué à 240 milliards, les Britanniques prêtent le flanc à la spéculation.

David Cameron n'aura pas le choix d'imposer rapidement des mesures impopulaires. Un budget d'urgence sera présenté dans 50 jours.

Pour l'heure, son gouvernement a déjà prévu des coupes budgétaires de 9 milliards. Des économies draconiennes dans la fonction publique, qui pourraient provoquer des milliers de mises à pied, sont à prévoir. David Cameron a montré l'exemple en annonçant pour ses ministres une baisse salariale de 5% qui sera maintenue pendant cinq ans.

Cependant, le pire est à venir: la coalition devra trouver 75 milliards additionnels pour combler le déficit. Une hausse de la taxe de vente est inévitable, selon les économistes.

Le gouvernement de David Cameron marchera sur le fil du rasoir: faire des économies et hausser les taxes et les impôts sans compromettre la reprise économique.

Un caricaturiste suédois visé par une tentative d'incendie

Le domicile du dessinateur suédois Lars Vilks, qui s'est aliéné nombre de musulmans en représentant le prophète Mahomet sous la forme d'un chien, a fait l'objet d'une tentative d'incendie criminel en son absence, ont annoncé le caricaturiste et la police.

Vilks a déclaré à Reuters que l'on avait brisé les fenêtres de sa maison de Nynashamnsvage, dans le sud-ouest de la Suède, avant d'y verser de l'essence et de tenter d'y mettre le feu.

L'agression s'est toutefois soldée par des dégâts limités dans la cuisine et sur la façade de l'habitation.

"Il ne m'est sans doute plus possible de vivre ici", a dit Vilks, qui a caricaturé Mahomet en lui donnant un corps de chien en 2007 et milite pour un élargissement de la liberté d'expression. La plupart des musulmans jugent offensant ou blasphématoire le fait de représenter le fondateur de l'islam.

Des cocktails Molotov ont été découverts sur place.

"L'affaire est traitée comme un incendie criminel", fait savoir la police régionale dans un communiqué.

Durant la semaine, Vilks avait déjà été agressé par un homme au cours d'une conférence où il présentait une vidéo sur le thème de l'homosexualité et des religions, islam compris.

En mars, une Américaine se faisant appeler "DjihadJane" a été inculpée de complot visant à assassiner le dessinateur suédois et de recrutement de complices via internet.

En janvier, un Somalien a été inculpé de terrorisme et de tentative de meurtre pour avoir fait intrusion au domicile du caricaturiste danois Kurt Westergaard et l'avoir menacé avec une hache. En 2005, Westergaard avait représenté Mahomet avec un turban en forme de bombe, ce qui avait déclenché de violentes manifestations au Proche-Orient, en Afrique et en Asie.

Patrick Lannin, Philippe Bas-Rabérin pour le service français

Thai PM defends deadly army crackdown in Bangkok

BANGKOK -- Thailand's prime minister defended Saturday the deadly army crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters besieging the capital, saying there was no turning back as clashes raged in the center of Bangkok.

"The government must move forward. We cannot retreat because we are doing things that will benefit the entire country," Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a national broadcast, striking a defiant tone that made it clear he was in no mood for a compromise.

The spiraling violence has raised concerns that Thailand - a longtime tourism magnet that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles" - was teetering toward instability. The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia's second largest.

The demonstrators Saturday accused government snipers of picking people off with head shots.

The army says it is not shooting to kill, but protesters crawled along sidewalks to slowly drag away bodies of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle in the Ratchaprarop area Saturday. They accused army snipers of shooting all three in the head.

"The situation right now is getting closer to civil war every minute," a protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan, said. "We have to fight on. The leaders shouldn't even think about retreat when our brothers are ready to fight on."

The televised comments were Abhisit's first comments since the latest violence began Thursday after a Red Shirt protest leader was shot and seriously wounded by a sniper's bullet.

Since then explosions and street fighting have killed 22 people and wounded more than 170 as troops tried to seal off the 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) zone where some 10,000 Red Shirt protesters, mostly rural poor, have occupied one of the capital's most upscale areas since March 12.
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They have set up a perimeter of fuel-soaked tires and bamboo stakes, refusing to leave until Abhisit dissolves Parliament and calls new elections.

The Red Shirts claim his coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it is indifferent to the poor.

Abhisit said the government was acting in the interests of the public and the plan is "to return normalcy with minimum loss" to Bangkok.

"We cannot deny that while these protests are taking place, terrorism also is taking place involving the use of war weapons," he said. "I insist that if we want to see an end to the loss of life, the only way is to have the protesters end their protest."

Fed's Hoenig: Low rates can lead to bubbles - WSJ

Thomas Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, said it was "understandable" that the U.S. central bank cut interest rates to near zero during the financial crisis, but it was time to at least start reconsidering that stance.

"We've gotten through the crisis," he said. "We are not out of the woods, the economy isn't booming, but we are now in a position where we ought to be thinking about the long run. That's what central banks should do."

Hoenig has dissented at the past three meetings of the Fed's policy-setting committee because he is uncomfortable with the central bank's pledge to keep rates ultra-low for "an extended period" of time.

He said keeping rates near zero gave Wall Street banks an advantage over Main Street because financial firms could borrow at low rates and lend or invest for bigger returns.

"I can't guarantee the carpenter down the street a margin. I really don't think we should be guaranteeing Wall Street a margin by guaranteeing them a zero or near zero interest rate environment," he said.

The Fed has said that its low-rate pledge will stand as long as the economy is weak, unemployment high, and inflation low. But Hoenig said monetary policy "has to be about more than just targeting inflation.

"It is a more powerful tool than that."

He also said Greece's debt crisis was a lesson for the United States, which has its own massive debt pile that could eventually drive up interest rates if creditors grow uncomfortable with cheaply financing large deficits.

"We shouldn't be so, if I may say, arrogant to think that that couldn't happen to us or others," he said. "We're fortunate, we're a much bigger economy and we're the reserve currency."

He said U.S. deficits were not sustainable, and there could be pressure on the Fed to print money to pay off debts. If that happens, "the outcome of that will be a very strong inflationary bias,

Trois morts en mer dans le Var, dont deux au cours d'une plongée

Trois personnes sont décédées dans le Var au cours d'activités nautiques en moins de 24 heures, dont deux lors d'une plongée sous-marine, a-t-on appris samedi auprès des secours et de la préfecture maritime de la Méditerranée.

Vendredi, en fin d'après-midi, à Saint-Raphaël (Var), un homme âgé d'une soixantaine d'années embarqué sur un bateau de plongée a eu un malaise cardiaque alors qu'il se baignait.

En raison de sa forte corpulence, les sauveteurs ont eu les plus grandes difficultés à l'extraire de l'eau. Il n'a pas pu être ramené à la vie en dépit de l'intervention des sapeurs-pompiers.

Samedi matin vers 10H30, toujours à Saint-Raphaël, une femme de 47 ans, originaire de Normandie, a été victime d'un arrêt cardio-vasculaire dans la zone des 40 mètres. Ramenée au port du Poussaï, à côté de Saint-Raphaël, le médecin du Smur (Service mobile d'urgence et de réanimation) et les pompiers n'ont pu que constater son décès.

Selon la préfecture maritime de la Méditerranée et la procureur de la République de Draguignan, Danielle Drouy-Ayral, elle participait à une plongée "technique" (de préparation aux diplômes, ndlr).

Enfin, samedi en début d'après-midi, un équipier de la Société nationale de sauvetage en mer (SNCM), âgé de 40 ans, est mort à la suite d'un malaise au cours d'une plongée sous-marine à La Seyne-sur-Mer, a indiqué la préfecture de la Méditerranée.

Selon la même source, l'homme intervenait dans "la petite rade pour récupérer une maquette de régate tombée à l'eau".

Le Centre régional opérationnel de surveillance et de sauvetage de la Méditerranée (Crossmed) de La Garde, près de Toulon, a coordonné les secours de ces trois accidents.

Les enquêtes pour établir les circonstances des décès ont été confiées à la gendarmerie maritime par les parquets de Toulon et Draguignan.

What are oil dispersants?

The U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency on Saturday authorized BP to use chemical dispersants underwater to help break up the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.

BP and other authorities have already used more than 436,000 gallons of dispersants on the ocean's surface, but the Coast Guard says using it underwater could be even more effective.

CNN takes a look at what dispersants are, how they work and what other effects they may have on humans and the environment.

What are dispersants?

Dispersants are a common product used to clean and control oil spills in the ocean.

They are special fluid chemicals that bond to the oil molecules and separate them from water molecules, thus breaking up the oil. The result is tiny oil droplets that can biodegrade more quickly than a mass of oil.

Though they are chemicals, they are generally less harmful than the highly toxic oil, the Coast Guard and EPA say.

How are dispersants used?

Dispersants are usually used on the surface of the ocean and distributed by aircraft flying over an oil spill. BP said this week it has made more than 120 such flights to spread dispersant in the Gulf of Mexico.

Using it underwater is a new idea, and BP says it hopes to inject the dispersants directly into the oil flow at a point close to the main leak on the seabed. The technique could help break up and disperse the oil before it reaches the surface, BP says.

Are dispersants harmful to the environment?

Experts say dispersants, while toxic, are much less toxic than oil. Using them on an oil spill produces the "lesser of two difficult environmental outcomes," says EPA administrator Lisa Jackson.

But some experts, including Ken Rosenberg of Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology, say dispersants still pose a problem for the environment.

"Almost certainly it's going to have major effects down in the water to the marine life and, ultimately, this is the same marine life on which the birds and animals on the surface are dependent," Rosenberg told CNN.

Scientists have warned that fish eggs and larvae, shrimp, coral and oysters are potentially most at risk from dispersants. The chemicals can also contaminate the skin of ocean-farmed fish if their cages are near where dispersants are used, according to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, a nonprofit group that offers technical guidance on cleaning up spills.

Do dispersants pose any harm to humans?

The dispersant being used by BP is made by the Nalco Holding Co. based in Naperville, Illinois. The company would not discuss the exact chemical makeup of the dispersant, Corexit 9500, in part because the formula is a trade secret.

Corexit 9500 comes with a warning that it can cause irritation to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract with prolonged contact. Toxicologists and environmental scientists say, however, that dispersants are unlikely to cause immediate harm to people.

Charlie Henry, scientific support coordinator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has said the dispersants being used in the Gulf show "fairly low toxicity."

Economic Crisis Brings Greek-Turkish Thaw

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Athens experienced a minor Turkish invasion Friday, but this one came with an invitation. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan led a more than 300-strong delegation of Turkish officials and businessmen to Greece, for what leaders of the two nations billed as the beginning of an historic new cooperation.

"Those who write history will write that two ancient civilizations, two important actors are now embarking on a path towards peace and friendship," said Erdogan at a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, calling Greeks and Turks two peoples who have "eaten bread together." (See photos of violent protests in Greece.)

Times of economic crisis often stir the drumbeat of nationalism, but Papandreou, who has spent most of his short tenure fending off national bankruptcy, took a break from the unrelenting barrage of bad economic news to announce a "rapprochement" with Greece's historic foe.

During a joint cabinet meeting, which included 10 of the Turkish ministers who accompanied Erdogan, 21 bilateral agreements were signed on issues ranging from tourism to illegal immigration to economic cooperation. Papandreou said the summit would "lay the foundations for peace and cooperation despite the problems and difficulties of the past."

That past weighs heavily on the two neighbors. Greeks chaffed under Ottoman rule for 400 years and the two modern nations that emerged from that empire's disintegration have had a fractious 20th century history, marked by war, ethnic cleansing, and mutual distrust.

Today Greece and Turkey are NATO allies, but still frequently engage in aerial skirmishes over the Aegean, where airspace and territorial waters are disputed. Cyprus, whose Turkish and Greek peoples remain divided, also looms over their relationship, and remains a key sticking point in Turkey's bid to enter the European Union. (Read "How Western is Turkey?")

But Papandreou — who oversaw a previous thaw in relations between the two countries as Greece's foreign minister from 1999 to 2004 — and Erdogan represent a new, more outward looking generation of leaders. Both men also have compelling domestic reasons for wanting to prune back their militaries: Erdogan, and his mildly Islamist Justice and Development Party, are in a domestic battle against Turkey's military and old secular elite; for Greece, it comes down to euros and cents — defending against a Turkish threat is expensive.

A country of just 11 million, Greece spends a higher percentage of its GDP than any other European Union country on its military, according to Eurostat, and is one of the world's biggest buyers of conventional weapons.

Many of those weapons are bought from fellow-EU countries, like Germany and France, the same countries who demanding Greece make deep cuts to state spending as a condition of �110 billion bailout. As part of its austerity program, the country plans to cut its military spending by 25 percent this year, but that savings will come from operating costs not procurement.

"We are afraid that one day Turkey might decide to take away a Greek island," said Papandreou. "Don't laugh," he continued, in response to guffaws from the audience. "This is really what we fear."

In terms of security, the summit Friday was more warm fuzzy feeling than concrete action. But Christos Kollias, a defense expert at the University of Thessaly, says he was impressed by the frankness of the dialogue between the two leaders.

"Both Prime Ministers need our bilateral relations to move forward," he says. "It has the potential to be a very good new beginning." But Kollias added that any savings would come years down the line and that the political progress so far still did not justify drastic cuts to military spending. (Read about Greece vs. Turkey in the Top 10 Eurovision Controversies.)

Not everyone is applauding the new friendliness between the two countries, and the detente may carry a political price for both leaders. Papandreou's only allies outside his own party in parliament when he pushed through an austerity package on May 6 were members of the far-right Popular Orthodox Rally and Greece's former conservative foreign minister, Dora Bakoyannis. Many on both sides still deplore historic wrongs and the continued repression of their ethnic minorities and ordinary Greeks still regard their larger neighbor warily.

"We have talked to Turkey before," says Christos Nikoliades, a Pontic Greek whose grandparents left Turkey during the population exchanges that took place between the two countries in the 1920s and who joined a small protest against the visit outside the Greek parliament. "Nothing changes. Talking to Turkey just makes them look democratic."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1989488,00.html#ixzz0o0YAINDV

Gulf spill oil driven by complex ocean currents and eddies

So far, currents, winds, and a plume of fresh water flowing into the Gulf from the Mississippi River have acted in concert to hold at bay the oil spewing from a damaged well head 5,000 feet below the sea surface some 40 miles off the Louisiana coast.

In anticipation of the oil's arrival, some 13,000 people stand ready to combat the spill if it approaches shore, according to the Obama administration. More than a million feet of boom has been deployed. More than half a million gallons of dispersants has been applied.

IN PICTURES: Louisiana oil spill

For anyone using the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound as a visual reference point, it might look as though the Gulf spill so far is a dodged bullet.

But the differences between the two events are significant, cautions Michelle Wood, a marine biologist who recently became head of the ocean chemistry division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic and Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami. Not the least of those differences is the seascape into which the oil is flowing.
Gulf spill unlike Exxon Valdez

The Exxon Valdez spill involved a large, single, intense pulse of oil into Prince William Sound – "a shallow, near-shore environment with a rocky coast," she explains. The heavy crude had lots to cling to as it came ashore. In the Gulf, "spill" is a so-far continuous infusion of a lighter grade oil, which at least initially forms a foamy mousse rather than tarry blobs. And so far, the oil has remained far at sea.

The apparent gap between preparations for the oil's arrival along the Gulf Coast and its behavior so far testify to the complex marine environment the oil enters as it spews from the broken well head, researchers say.

The system is chaotic enough that given enough time, say 90 days, oil in some form could wind up anywhere from the Mexican Coast to Palm Beach, research suggests.

"We call it a mini ocean," says Steven DiMarco, an oceanographer at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. "Many of the processes that occur in the Gulf of Mexico occur in the much larger basins like the Atlantic and the Pacific."
Atlantic 'conveyer belt'

The main oceanic feature is the so-called loop current, essentially the Gulf's section of a much longer current that forms the Atlantic Ocean's so-called conveyor belt.

The belt, which drives warm tropical waters north toward Greenland, where it sinks and cools, begins in the equatorial Atlantic off Brazil. The current snakes into the Caribbean and then north between Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

The volume of water moving through the Yucatan Straight is so enormous and travels with such speed – essentially at the pace of a brisk walk – that it forms a loop that meanders north of Cuba, then makes a U-turn southward toward the island before heading out through the Florida Straights to form the Gulf Stream.

Below about 1,000 meters (3281 feet), however, the regime shifts.

Circulation runs counterclockwise as seawater spills over a sill spanning the Yucatan Straight. In a kind of watch-your-step plunge, water flows over the sill and into the deepest reaches of the Gulf. It travels east until it reaches the continental shelf off Florida's west coast. But the sill across the Florida Straight is far shallower, forcing the deep flow to ricochet back toward Texas and Mexico. At these depths, the current moves more than 100 times slower than surface currents.

Explosions and gunfire

Amid sporadic gunfire and explosions on Saturday, troops designated areas of the Thai capital as "live firing zones" in a warning to protesters.
An anti-government protester next to the wreckage of an army truck in Bangkok, 15 May
There have been running battles around the barricaded camp

Some 170 people have been injured since the violence broke out.

Despite claims by the Thai government that the situation was under control and its soldiers had only fired in self-defence, army snipers have been accused of targeting protesters, and footage from Bangkok on Saturday showed red-shirts dragging gunshot victims to safety.

The violence escalated on Thursday after a renegade general who supports the protests was shot in the head by an unknown gunman.

Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng (Commander Red), is in a critical condition and doctors believe he is unlikely to survive.

Nigeria and China sign $23bn deal for three refineries

Nigeria's state-run oil firm NNPC and China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) have signed a $23bn (£16bn; 18bn euros) deal.

The two will jointly seek financing and credits from Chinese authorities and banks to build three refineries and a fuel complex in Nigeria.

The project would add 750,000 barrels per day of extra refining capacity.

NNPC hopes the construction of new refineries will stem the flood of imported refined products into Nigeria.
'Deepen relationships'

Nigeria is the world's 12th-largest oil producer and the eighth-largest oil exporter.

But the country imports roughly 85% of its fuel needs because of the disrepair and mismanagement of its four state-owned refineries.

"We are about to deepen the existing technical and commercial relationships between China and Nigeria through the signing of a memorandum of understanding," said Shehu Ladan, head of NNPC.

The three refineries will be built in Bayelsa, Kogi and Lagos states, while a location has to be confirmed for the petrochemicals complex.

The Nigerian government has said that foreign companies must invest in developing Nigeria's infrastructure and economy first, before they can benefit from its oil and gas exports.

Vote to Limit Debit Card Fees Is Surprising Loss for Banks

WASHINGTON — Retailers have begged Congress for years, in vain, to limit the fees they must pay to banks when customers swipe credit or debit cards. Bills never reached a vote. Amendments were left on the table. The Senate didn’t even grant the courtesy of a committee hearing.
Related

*
Senate Amends Financial Overhaul Bill (May 14, 2010)

That long record of futility ended in a landslide Thursday night. Sixty-four senators, including 17 Republicans, agreed to impose price controls on debit transactions over the furious objections of the beleaguered banking industry.

The amendment to the Senate’s sweeping financial legislation could save billions of dollars for family restaurants and dry cleaners, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com, and every other business whose customers increasingly pay with debit cards. It does not address credit card fees directly.

Consumers also could save money, particularly at businesses like grocery stores that compete on price. But some experts warned that lower profit margins could lead banks to curtail bank card reward programs.

The Senate approved a series of amendments unfavorable to the banking industry over the last week, but this one was widely regarded as the most surprising. Meddling in dealings between businesses generally is anathema to Republicans and a relatively low priority for Democrats.

And this was not an easy vote. Lobbyists for the wounded but formidable banking industry made clear to some senators that this decision would affect future campaign donations, according to people who participated in those conversations.

But retailers mounted an unusually effective yearlong campaign to frame the issue as a chance for Congress to help small business. A leading trade group for chain retailers worked with small-business groups to make sure that every time a senator held a town hall meeting back home, a local business owner showed up to ask about card fees.

The industry also rode the support of Senator Richard Durbin, the Democrat whip, who wrote the amendment and pushed the sponsor of the banking overhaul bill, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, to allow a vote on the Senate floor.

The winning margin was provided by several conservative Republicans. Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, called SunTrust, the largest bank in his state, to say that this time he planned to vote against the bank and with Coca-Cola and Home Depot, two other Georgia companies that had lobbied him fiercely.

“This was really a decision between helping out small business or helping out large banks,” said John Emling, a lobbyist for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. “No one wanted to pick between friends and they had friends on both sides, but because of the momentum, we just felt that if Durbin pushed folks to the vote we would win.”

The banking overhaul bill still needs to pass the Senate, and then it must be reconciled with a House bill that does not mention debit card "interchange" fees. Banking industry groups said that they had not given the issue enough attention in recent weeks, focusing instead on other controversial amendments. But they said they would now redouble efforts to convince legislators that the provision would hurt customers by undermining the debit card system.

"Retailers who benefit greatly from the system will pay almost nothing for the costs of maintaining and improving it," said the American Bankers Association.

The Durbin amendment gives the Federal Reserve new authority to regulate and limit the fees that businesses pay to card companies. It specifically addresses payments processed through the Visa and MasterCard networks. American Express and Discover cards are not covered by the bill.

Last year businesses paid Visa and MasterCard $19.71 billion on debit card transactions, according to the Nilson Report, a trade magazine that is the regarded as the best source of data on the industry. Visa and MasterCard in turn passed about 80 percent of the money, roughly $15.8 billion, to the banks that issued the cards.

The legislation directs the Fed to cap those fees at a level that is "reasonable and proportional" to the cost of processing transactions. The Nilson Report estimated that last year, fees averaged 1.63 percent of the transaction amount.

One measure of the magnitude of the cuts that regulators could choose to impose: Visa agreed just last month with European regulators to cap some debit fees at 0.2 percent of the transaction amount pending completion of a study on the costs of various forms of payment.

A second set of provisions applies to both credit and debit card transactions. Visa and MasterCard impose an all-or-nothing requirement on businesses, requiring them to accept cards even on small-change transactions, and prohibiting businesses from offering discounts based on the method of payment. The amendment strikes those rules.

Governor's spending plan cuts welfare, boosts colleges

California would eliminate its welfare program, most state-subsidized child care and make deep cuts to prison spending, health care and human services programs under the governor's revised budget proposal unveiled today.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the budget plan - which he said includes no tax increases - reflects the dearth of options left to the state. He also revised the projected deficit from $20 billion to $19 billion.

But while there were many suggested cuts, the governor also proposed increasing funding for the University of California, California State University system and community colleges, saying the money should help stop tuition hikes. He also plans to fully fund parks.

He said the state has tackled all the "low, middle and high hanging fruit," and must now "take the ladder away from the tree and shake the whole tree."

And he warned that he will not sign a budget unless the Legislature tackles reforms of the state's tax, pension and budget systems that he blamed for the current woes.

"I believe a budget should be a reflection of what we in California value most, and what my administration stands for, in good times and in bad," he said. "It should still provide a safety net for our most vulnerable citizens, but we are not because our budget system is broken. I now have no choice but to stand here today and call for the elimination of some important programs."

In addition to eliminating CalWORKS, the state welfare program that serves 1.4 million people - two-thirds of them children - Schwarzenegger's proposal includes the elimination of all child care programs except after school and preschool programs. That program subsidizes child care for about 142,000 children.

The governor's plan would also shift a number of costs to counties and cities. He is proposing a 60 percent cut to community mental health programs. That $435 million in costs would fall to counties. And he wants to move 15,000 state prisoners to local jails to save $244 million. The budget also includes a $750 million cut to the In Home Supportive Services program, which provides home care to 430,000 elderly, sick or disabled Californians and employs 376,000 people.

CalGrants, the state's popular college assistance program, would be left intact under the proposal. But recipients of many public health programs would see their services shrink and costs increase under the proposal.

The budget was immediately praised by Republicans and anti-tax groups but slammed by Democrats, public unions and those who rely on health and human services.

"With today's revision of the state budget, Gov. Schwarzenegger has accelerated his slash-and-burn cuts to vital services into an all-out scorched earth campaign," said California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski in a written statement. "At a time when joblessness and recession continue to batter California families, the devastating cuts the Governor proposes would choke off any hope of economic recovery."

But Assembly Republican Leader Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad, praised the proposal as a "serious spending plan that prioritizes funding and makes difficult but necessary decisions."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/14/BA2S1DEV6K.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1#ixzz0nx9mnUlX

Obama Rebukes Companies on ‘Spectacle’ of Spill Blame (Update4)

Updates with Transocean declining to comment in 13th paragraph. For more on spill, see {EXT4 }.)

By Nicholas Johnston and Kate Andersen Brower

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama singled out executives from BP Plc, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. for blaming each other in a “ridiculous spectacle” at congressional hearings on the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The American people could not have been impressed with that display,” Obama said at the White House. “It is pretty clear that the system failed, and it failed badly.”

The president said he still views oil exploration and drilling as part of the nation’s energy strategy, while announcing a review of procedures to assess the environmental impact of offshore drilling and vowing to end the “cozy relationship” between oil companies and federal regulators.

He made the remarks after meeting with Cabinet officials and advisers to discuss efforts to cap the damaged well and address the environmental and economic impact of the spreading oil slick. He vowed the government would continue “relentless efforts to stop the leak and contain the damage.”

The well, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off Louisiana’s coast, began spewing oil after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20 and sank two days later, killing 11 workers. Government officials have estimated that the well is spewing about 5,000 barrels a day of crude, or about 210,000 gallons, into the Gulf.

Higher Estimate

Another assessment, reported by National Public Radio, said as many as 70,000 barrels a day may be pumping into the Gulf, one of the country’s largest fishing grounds. Efforts to end or contain the leak by London-based BP so far have failed.

Executives from BP, Transocean, which owned the drilling rig, and Halliburton, the contractor involved in cementing the well on the day of the explosion, testified this week before congressional panels investigating the spill.

BP America Inc. Chairman Lamar McKay blamed Transocean’s blowout preventer for failing, while Transocean’s Chief Executive Officer Stephen Newman said responsibilities for the project “begin and end” with BP.

Halliburton’s president of global business lines, Tim Probert, said his company was following BP’s orders, as it was “contractually bound” to do.

Obama said he “did not appreciate” seeing the executives “falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else.”

“There’s enough responsibility to go around, and all parties should be willing to accept it,” Obama said.

‘Sense of Urgency’

BP CEO Tony Hayward said in a statement that the company shares Obama’s “sense of urgency” about the time it is taking to halt the leak. BP is “participating fully in investigations that will provide valuable lessons about how to prevent future incidents of this nature,” he said.

Cathy Mann, a Halliburton spokeswoman, declined to comment. A spokesman for Transocean, Guy Cantwell, declined to comment.

Obama said the federal government also shares some of the blame. He faulted the Minerals Management Service for having too close a relationship with the industry it regulates. BP got an exclusion from a National Environmental Policy Act review by the agency for its damaged well in the Gulf.

“It seems as if permits were too often issued based on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies,” Obama said. “That cannot and will not happen anymore.”

‘Thorough Investigation’

He ordered Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to “conduct a top-to-bottom reform” of the agency, including a review of its procedures for assessing the environmental impact of an offshore drilling plans.

Salazar said in a statement that will be “an important part of the ongoing comprehensive and thorough investigation of this incident.”

Obama previously announced plans to split the service’s responsibilities, which now include both enforcing rig safety rules and joining with companies such as BP and Exxon Mobil Corp. to develop oil and gas reserves while collecting royalties.

The president has ordered a halt to any new offshore leases until an Interior Department review determines whether more regulation is needed. He also ordered inspections of existing rigs.

The president supports raising the limit on liability for oil companies for economic damages from a spill. Under current law, economic liability is capped at $75 million. A measure that would raise the limit to $10 billion failed to win expedited approval in the Senate yesterday because of objections from Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

In addition, the administration has asked Congress for $118 million of emergency funding to cover costs related to the spill. Most of that expense will be recouped from BP.

--With assistance from Edwin Chen and Lisa Lerer in Washington, Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York and Edward Klump in Houston. Editors: Joe Sobczyk, Mark McQuillan.

Vote to Limit Debit Card Fees Is Unusual Loss for Banks

WASHINGTON — Retailers have begged Congress for years, in vain, to limit the fees they must pay to banks when customers swipe credit or debit cards. Bills never reached a vote. Amendments were left on the table. The Senate didn’t even grant the courtesy of a committee hearing.
Related

*
Senate Amends Financial Overhaul Bill (May 14, 2010)

That long record of futility ended in a landslide Thursday night. Sixty-four senators, including 17 Republicans, agreed to impose price controls on debit transactions over the furious objections of the beleaguered banking industry.

The amendment to the Senate’s sweeping financial legislation could save billions of dollars for family restaurants and dry cleaners, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com, and every other business whose customers increasingly pay with debit cards. It does not address credit card fees directly.

Consumers also could save money, particularly at businesses like grocery stores that compete on price. But some experts warned that lower profit margins could lead banks to curtail bank card reward programs.

The Senate approved a series of amendments unfavorable to the banking industry over the last week, but this one was widely regarded as the most surprising. Meddling in dealings between businesses generally is anathema to Republicans and a relatively low priority for Democrats.

And this was not an easy vote. Lobbyists for the wounded but formidable banking industry made clear to some senators that this decision would affect future campaign donations, according to people who participated in those conversations.

But retailers mounted an unusually effective yearlong campaign to frame the issue as a chance for Congress to help small business. A leading trade group for chain retailers worked with small-business groups to make sure that every time a senator held a town hall meeting back home, a local business owner showed up to ask about card fees.

The industry also rode the support of Senator Richard Durbin, the Democrat whip, who wrote the amendment and pushed the sponsor of the banking overhaul bill, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, to allow a vote on the Senate floor.

The winning margin was provided by several conservative Republicans. Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, called SunTrust, the largest bank in his state, to say that this time he planned to vote against the bank and with Coca-Cola and Home Depot, two other Georgia companies that had lobbied him fiercely.

“This was really a decision between helping out small business or helping out large banks,” said John Emling, a lobbyist for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. “No one wanted to pick between friends and they had friends on both sides, but because of the momentum, we just felt that if Durbin pushed folks to the vote we would win.”

The banking overhaul bill still needs to pass the Senate, and then it must be reconciled with a House bill that does not mention debit card "interchange" fees. Banking industry groups said that they had not given the issue enough attention in recent weeks, focusing instead on other controversial amendments. But they said they would now redouble efforts to convince legislators that the provision would hurt customers by undermining the debit card system.

"Retailers who benefit greatly from the system will pay almost nothing for the costs of maintaining and improving it," said the American Bankers Association.

The Durbin amendment gives the Federal Reserve new authority to regulate and limit the fees that businesses pay to card companies. It specifically addresses payments processed through the Visa and MasterCard networks. American Express and Discover cards are not covered by the bill.

Last year businesses paid Visa and MasterCard $19.71 billion on debit card transactions, according to the Nilson Report, a trade magazine that is the regarded as the best source of data on the industry. Visa and MasterCard in turn passed about 80 percent of the money, roughly $15.8 billion, to the banks that issued the cards.

The legislation directs the Fed to cap those fees at a level that is "reasonable and proportional" to the cost of processing transactions. The Nilson Report estimated that last year, fees averaged 1.63 percent of the transaction amount.

One measure of the magnitude of the cuts that regulators could choose to impose: Visa agreed just last month with European regulators to cap some debit fees at 0.2 percent of the transaction amount pending completion of a study on the costs of various forms of payment.

A second set of provisions applies to both credit and debit card transactions. Visa and MasterCard impose an all-or-nothing requirement on businesses, requiring them to accept cards even on small-change transactions, and prohibiting businesses from offering discounts based on the method of payment. The amendment strikes those rules.

Gary McKinnon: Theresa May urged to block extradition order

Campaigners for the computer hacker Gary McKinnon have called for support from the new coalition government in their latest bid to overturn a decision to allow him to be extradited to the US.

Alan Johnson, the former home secretary, previously ruled that McKinnon, 43, could be removed for trial in the US for hacking into US military computers. He faces up to 60 years in a high security prison if convicted in the US.

Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg have in the past publicly criticised plans to extradite McKinnon. Last year, Cameron said any trial should take place in the UK. He said there was "a clear argument to be made that he should answer [any questions] in a British court."

Lawyers for McKinnon yesterday took the opportunity of a change of government – and the new leaders' previous support – to make an official approach to the new Conservative home secretary, Theresa May.

Three home secretaries, Jacqui Smith, Johnson, and now Theresa May a week into the job – have now had to consider the case.

McKinnon's lawyer, Karen Todner, said she had asked May to intervene and prevent the extradition. "We hope the new Liberal-Conservative government will act upon their previous public statements that it would be unjust to extradite Mr McKinnon," Todner said.

McKinnon admitted to hacking into 97 computers in the US defence department and Nasa from his flat in Wood Green, north London, and said he was looking for evidence of UFOs between 2001-2.

Despite a lengthy legal battle and a strong public support for The Free Gary campaign, McKinnon has so far failed in his seven year fight against extradition. His supporters argue that McKinnon suffers from Asperger's syndrome and was driven only by an obsession with UFOs. The US government argues that his hacking attempts were a deliberate effort to breach American defence systems.

McKinnon's lawyers have also been granted permission for a judicial review - having failed to do so win one last year - into whether Johnson's decision to allow extradition and trial in the US breaches McKinnon's human rights.

Schwarzenegger calls for $12.4 billion in cuts

The spending cuts in Schwarzenegger's proposed $83.4 billion budget would include eliminating the CalWORKS welfare program and many child care programs and cutting funding for local mental health services by 60 percent.

"We are left with nothing but tough choices," Schwarzenegger said at a press conference in Sacramento. The proposed spending cuts are expected to face tough opposition from the Democrat-controlled legislature.

California's budget deficit had been estimated at $19.9 billion at the beginning of the year. California's credit ratings, which are now only a few notches above speculative, or "junk," status, are under pressure.

Schwarzenegger in January acknowledged his proposed spending cuts for health and welfare programs were "draconian."

But in a move that will likely put him at loggerheads with the Democrat-controlled legislature, the governor said he would oppose any new taxes in favor of cuts and stimulating job growth.

California already has some of the highest income and sales tax rates of any U.S. state.

"There is something wrong with our system. That is what I'm trying to tell people. There are going to be people scream ing for more taxes -- we've done that," Schwarzenegger said. "Let's stimulate the economy and let's create the jobs. That's the important thing."

Analysts expect the state legislature and Schwarzenegger, a Republican, will fail to put a spending plan in place for the next fiscal year by its start in July, a concern for rating agencies.

Though Democrats control both halves of California's state legislature, the budget requires two-thirds support in both chambers in order to pass, which makes it difficult for them to to muster the needed votes to pass their version of a budget.

Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's rate the California's general obligation bonds A-minus. Moody's Investors Service rates them A1.

Financial problems for the most populous U.S. state wereexacerbated by disappointing April personal income tax revenue, which came in below target.

Although legislators have changed financial rules to ease a cash-flow crunch and investors have snapped up recent bond offerings, California's fiscal future is cloudy.

(Reporting by Peter Henderson and Jim Christie, writing by Dan Whitcomb)

Les apéros géants sur la sellette

les "apéros Facebook", dont un participant est mort pour la première fois jeudi, se multiplient et échappent jusqu'à présent au contrôle des autorités, qui balancent entre médiation et répression. Au lendemain de la mort d'un jeune homme de 21 ans à Nantes (Lire notre article), le ministre de l'Intérieur, Brice Hortefeux, a convoqué pour la semaine prochaine une réunion de travail sur ces "apéritifs géants" organisés depuis six mois dans des villes de province.