Israel Terrorist Defense Forces Manhandling Diplomats In The West Bank

<h3>Wild Photos Show Israel Defense Forces Manhandling Diplomats In The West Bank</h3><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismiuUPTVXqCRLA60hbXV9VarCl6YC6HnhaZ0SAzc56H2wyw9CvOfh4pPBZxzoBdo4wvuh2AA08zJ9rcnMaXrXS-5VS47ifY8psBzX2KzKZo1U3AkhYHmFPYOQQ7TBhc2E26BHNwcg2kQ/s1600/rtx13sh0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismiuUPTVXqCRLA60hbXV9VarCl6YC6HnhaZ0SAzc56H2wyw9CvOfh4pPBZxzoBdo4wvuh2AA08zJ9rcnMaXrXS-5VS47ifY8psBzX2KzKZo1U3AkhYHmFPYOQQ7TBhc2E26BHNwcg2kQ/s1600/rtx13sh0.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">French diplomat Marion Castaing</td></tr></tbody></table><br />As Israeli soldiers approached the truck, French diplomat Marion Castaing climbed atop the supplies in order to prevent their confiscation, Philip Weiss of Mondoweiss reports.<br /><br />Diplomats were attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to a razed village in the West Bank Friday when IDF soldiers descended on them.<br /><br /><h3>The photos say it all.</h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EX5IGTZxngtto3BTFOU4iTFpCCDUhy7Bjf2T_I77mPzXhnh5i4t-DFiy2-KeQVShLqfmlGq-dLfBhJUEA7M4ZYj0z5GAUQHUoGTD7-vFVI2uUNVJRl0vfxTzrG5JJFAg6IpLgCIUA9I/s1600/r3sgp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EX5IGTZxngtto3BTFOU4iTFpCCDUhy7Bjf2T_I77mPzXhnh5i4t-DFiy2-KeQVShLqfmlGq-dLfBhJUEA7M4ZYj0z5GAUQHUoGTD7-vFVI2uUNVJRl0vfxTzrG5JJFAg6IpLgCIUA9I/s1600/r3sgp.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">French diplomat Marion Castaing</td></tr></tbody></table><br />“They dragged me out of the truck and forced me to the ground with no regard for my diplomatic immunity,” French diplomat Marion Castaing told Reuters.<br /><br />“This is how international law is being respected here,” she said, covered with dust.<br /><br />The Israeli Defense Force claims that their anti-riot tactics were in response to a hail of stones throne at them as they approached the supply trucks, according to the Jerusalem Post.<br /><br />“Foreign diplomats abused their diplomatic privileges are currently being reviewed, and if required, complaints will be filed with the relevant authorities,” said an IDF spokesman.<br /><br /> Israel’s High Court had ruled that the Palestinians lacked the proper building permits, according to Haaretz.<br /><h3>The photos say it all.</h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUVw7eNMY0E8-T9ycDPx3j9fKYR_15MmpUkMKyT_Dq7u-XIR0xwNNVZHeIuD6dsMombKxbq6FI7bStNHKpVQl7S9E1398ozd0QySWrpPoD9PTtuS-o0rmC77Pq3lsztka2AhUbYWGmjqQ/s1600/israeli-defense-force-manhandling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUVw7eNMY0E8-T9ycDPx3j9fKYR_15MmpUkMKyT_Dq7u-XIR0xwNNVZHeIuD6dsMombKxbq6FI7bStNHKpVQl7S9E1398ozd0QySWrpPoD9PTtuS-o0rmC77Pq3lsztka2AhUbYWGmjqQ/s1600/israeli-defense-force-manhandling.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">French diplomat Marion Castaing</td></tr></tbody></table><div><img alt="attached image" height="407" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/523d909feab8ea736f7d14bb-3500-2228/israeli-defense-force-manhandling.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /><img alt="attached image" height="426" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/523d90a16bb3f7bc0c7f9af3-3500-2333/israeli-defense-force-manhandling.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /><img alt="attached image" height="426" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/523d90a0eab8ea896f7d14bd-3500-2333/israeli-defense-force-manhandling.jpg" width="640" /></div>

Israel Terrorist Defense Forces Manhandling Diplomats In The West Bank

Wild Photos Show Israel Defense Forces Manhandling Diplomats In The West Bank French diplomat Marion Castaing As Israeli soldiers approached...

France suggests it is ready to give weapons to Syria rebels

PARIS - French President Francois Hollande suggested for the first time on Thursday that Paris could arm Syrian rebels in a "controlled framework," given that they were now caught between the Syrian government on one side and radical Islamists on the other.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://preview.reuters.com/api/dev/items/523b8c37964bfd07a0bd76fc/versions/1/sizes/310~16-10" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="French President Francois Hollande speaks at the inauguration ceremony of Mali's new President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at the Stade du 26 Mars stadium in Bamako September 19, 2013. REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon" border="0" src="http://preview.reuters.com/api/dev/items/523b8c37964bfd07a0bd76fc/versions/1/sizes/310~16-10" /></a>Noting that Russia was supplying arms to the Syrian government, Hollande, speaking in Mali, said France could provide arms to rebels, "but we will do it in a broader context with a number of countries and in a framework that can be controlled because we cannot accept that weapons could fall into the hands of jihadists that we have fought against here."<br /><br />Hollande spoke at a news conference in Bamako where he was attending a ceremony to mark the swearing-in of the country's new president.<br /><br />France, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fiercest critics, has until now held back from arming the rebels despite the lifting of a European Union arms embargo in June, fearing that weapons could get into the Islamist hands.<br /><br />Paris has so far provided non-lethal aid ranging from bullet-proof vests, night-vision goggles or communications equipment. Its main focus has been helping to structure the Free Syrian Army's leadership, providing training to rebels in Jordan as well as sharing intelligence.<br /><br />"On delivering weapons we have always said that we want to control these supplies if we do them so that they do indeed go to the Free Syrian Army ... because they represent the Syrian National Coalition that we recognize as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and today they are caught between a hammer and an anvil," Hollande said.<br /><br />"The hammer is the air strikes and actions of the Syrian regime and the anvil is radical Islam," he said.<br /><br />Hollande has been U.S. President Barack Obama's closest ally on Syria since an August 21 chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus that Paris and Washington say Assad's government is responsible for.<br /><br />France, which had been set to join U.S. strikes originally aimed at punishing Assad, fears the Syrian president may play for time by accepting a U.S.-Russian plan to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control.<br /><br />Hollande has over the past week held meetings in Paris with senior Saudi Arabian and Qatari officials, two countries that already supply weapons to the rebels, and has vowed to increase military support to help change the balance of power on the ground.<br /><br />The leader of the Free Syrian Army, Salim Idriss, who has called for the international community to provide his forces with heavy weapons, is due in the French capital next week to meet defense and intelligence officials.

France suggests it is ready to give weapons to Syria rebels

PARIS - French President Francois Hollande suggested for the first time on Thursday that Paris could arm Syrian rebels in a "controlled...

'Obama is at a low point in world influence' :France 24

<a href="http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/france24_169_large/article/image/obama-m_68.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img abp="145" alt="'Obama is at a low point in world influence'" border="0" height="194" src="http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/france24_169_large/article/image/obama-m_68.jpg" title="'Obama is at a low point in world influence'" width="345" /></a>US President Barack Obama’s handling of the Syria crisis has earned him criticism both at home and abroad. But how much damage has it really done him? FRANCE 24 interviewed Dr. Larry Sabato, a leading political analyst at the University of Virginia.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20130916-barack-obama-syria-assad-russia-chemical-weapons-usa-republicans" target="_blank">F24: Interviewed in the French press</a>, Peter Feaver, a political scientist at Duke University, likened the impact of the Syrian crisis on President Obama to the effect Hurricane Katrina had in undermining former president George W. Bush. What do you make of that comparison?<br /><br />LS: The Syrian crisis certainly hasn’t helped Obama. Domestically, Obama will be okay with the electorate as long as the US-Russian alliance works and Syria discloses and destroys its chemical weapons stockpile. That will avert war, and this is what the American public wants. Opposition to the Syrian intervention was as strong and widespread as I have ever seen in the US. Of course, public opposition never stopped presidents such as Truman, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan and George W. Bush from going to war.<br /><br />F24: What about on the world stage? Has the Syria crisis weakened Obama internationally?<br /><br />LS: The world stage is a different matter. Other leaders saw an indecisive, dithering president who was unwilling to take military action after having clearly threatened it. This encourages testing of Obama’s resolve and power by the many around the globe who oppose Western interests.<br /><br />F24: What are the principal objections to Obama’s handling of the crisis among members of his own party?<br /><div><div>LS: The left, and to a great degree the middle, believed that Obama was elected to be the polar opposite of Bush – no more Iraq Wars. Afghanistan still rages, then there was Libya, and now Syria. They say, “What happened to the principled Obama who opposed Iraq?” War weariness is a big factor here, plus more than a half-century of unhappy involvement in the Middle East.</div><div><br /></div><div>F24: To what extent is the criticism from Republicans on Obama’s handling of Syria the usual across-the-board anti-Obama that the American right has put up since the president’s election in 2008?</div><div><br /></div><div>LS: No question, the deep Republican antipathy to President Obama shone brightly in this case. If a Republican president had proposed Syrian intervention, over 90 percent of Republican members of Congress would have backed him vociferously. As always in politics, where you stand depends on where you sit.</div><div><br /></div><div>The nation is united in one perspective. We’ve been through a long, deep recession, and the economy still hasn’t bounced back. Americans want our focus to be domestic until we recover fully  – even many conservatives. </div><div><br /></div><div>F24: Would you say the lack of international backing for joint military action in Syria reflects a failure on Obama’s part, or is it a failure of other countries to step up to the plate?</div><div><br /></div><div>LS: It’s a combination of several factors. The disaster of the Iraq War, with its phony justification of weapons of mass destruction, continues to haunt the US and its allies. This is a Bush legacy. But blaming Bush isn’t sufficient. The war weariness extends across the international community, and isolationism isn’t just an American disease.</div><div><br /></div><div>Plus, what we see domestically, in his lack of personal rapport with other politicians, seems to extend to leaders abroad. Very few appear to be willing to sacrifice much for him.</div><div><br /></div><div>F24: What could Obama have done differently on Syria? And how can he best proceed going forward?</div></div><div><div>LS: I’m glad Obama approached Congress, because the US has long needed a better balance in war powers; our Constitution says those powers are to be shared between the president and Congress, yet modern presidents have hogged them. Nonetheless, Obama personally would have been better off either not drawing his red line a year ago, or in going ahead unilaterally a few weeks ago with his cruise missile strike. The latter assumes it would have been over quickly with no wider war or terrorism implications.</div><div><br /></div><div>For now, Obama has no choice but to follow the Russian-brokered agreement. If it breaks down, he’ll have to launch an attack on Syria one way or the other. The question is whether he goes back to Congress for approval. He might say, “I tried that route already and we’ve moved on” or it may be that Congress will go along with an attack if Syria is clearly evading the chemical weapons agreement.</div><div><br /></div><div><a abp="36" href="http://www.france24.com/en/" rel="home" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="FRANCE 24 latest world news report"><img abp="37" alt="FRANCE 24 latest world news report" id="logo-image" src="http://www.france24.com/en/sites/france24.com.en/themes/france24/logo-en.png" /></a>F24: What is the probable impact of the Syria situation, and Obama's handling of it, on the remainder of his presidency? I’m thinking of the 2014 midterm elections, Obama’s legislative agenda and his influence in world matters.</div><div></div><div>LS: The president’s agenda wasn’t going anywhere in Congress before Syria, so I don’t think this changes much of anything legislatively. Syria won’t be a big factor in the 2014 midterm elections unless we go to war. Finally, President Obama is at a low point in world influence. At the same time, no nation has a military like America’s. You never know what might happen to enable Obama to demonstrate that anew.</div></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq">Dr. Larry Sabato is the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics and is the author of 24 books on American politics, including "Barack Obama and the New America" and the upcoming "The Kennedy Half-Century". He has previously taught at Oxford University and Cambridge University in England.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><br /></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"> In 2006, Sabato was named the most accurate politcal prognosticator by FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism. He is known for predicting Obama's exact 53% popular vote victory in 2008, and for being just one vote away in his forecast of the Electoral College tally. </blockquote><div><br /></div></blockquote>

'Obama is at a low point in world influence' :France 24

US President Barack Obama’s handling of the Syria crisis has earned him criticism both at home and abroad. But how much damage has it really...

France to wait for U.N. report before Syria intervention

France will await conclusions by U.N. inspectors investigating last month’s chemical weapon attack in Syria before deciding on any action, President Francois Hollande said on Friday.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20130906-france-wait-un-report-hollande-before-syria-intervention-g20?autoplay=1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="France to wait for UN report before Syria intervention" height="194" src="http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/france24_ct_article_169_group_main_thumbnail/article/image/Hollande-G20.jpg" title="France to wait for UN report before Syria intervention" width="345" /></a>That could mean French involvement in any military strikes against Bashar al-Assad not being decided until close to the end of the month at the earliest. U.N. diplomats have said the results of the U.N. analysis may not be ready for weeks.<br /><br />“We shall await the report of the inspectors just as we will await (U.S.) Congress,” he told a news conference after a summit of G20 nations in Russia’s St. Petersburg, referring to an expected U.S. vote on military strikes.<br /><br />Domestic critics say Hollande risks diplomatically isolating France by pushing it into a military intervention alongside the United States but without a U.N. mandate. Russia and China are seen vetoing such action in the U.N. Security Council.<br /><br />The French leader acknowledged that G20 leaders at the summit disagreed on who was responsible for an Aug. 21 gas attacks on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus which Washington says killed more than 1,400 people.<br /><br />He said a clear U.N. mandate was preferable but said that he would aim to bring together a coalition of states in favour of intervention if the U.N. Security Council could not agree.<br /><br />“We will do everything we can so that France only strikes military targets to avoid civilian casualties,” he said of any action chosen to punish Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, adding that the objective would be to push a political solution to the 2-1/2 year civil war rather than directly oust Assad.<br /><br />He said U.S. President Barack Obama had told him a U.S. Congress vote on any intervention was due around the middle of next week.<br /><br />“If we did not respond ... it would mean that a dictator who uses chemical weapons and massacres almost 1,500 people and many children would have no punishment for his actions meaning that in Syria or elsewhere dictators could act with impunity,” Hollande said.<br /><br />Hollande, who has struggled to get backing from European partners on a possible strike, said he was hopeful he could at least get their political support. “I am trying to make sure that the Europeans agree, at least on the political position.<br /><div><br /></div>

France to wait for U.N. report before Syria intervention

France will await conclusions by U.N. inspectors investigating last month’s chemical weapon attack in Syria before deciding on any action, P...

Al-Qaeda is expanding and its ‘most significant foreign enemy’ is France:‘Far from defeated’:

Al-Qaeda’s resilience, ideological strength and expansion in the midst of escalating sectarian struggle has increased the threat it poses - and it will take decades to win the ideological struggle against it, according to a new report.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYEuI_4GWy86kwo93BUyRfT2O27TWpdoh1mSV58KjvSM8PSWVRVzMKV7kJiRlaOgVzwTVaFRQDR3AQO3JePRWFwakBEq4meq7klCeILMozyc0fsyk3m1LilaiuvJlCUqvxD0vhAC8TBo/s1600/alq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYEuI_4GWy86kwo93BUyRfT2O27TWpdoh1mSV58KjvSM8PSWVRVzMKV7kJiRlaOgVzwTVaFRQDR3AQO3JePRWFwakBEq4meq7klCeILMozyc0fsyk3m1LilaiuvJlCUqvxD0vhAC8TBo/s1600/alq.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />“There has been a net expansion in the number and geographic scope of al-Qaeda affiliates and allies over the past decade, indicating that al-Qaeda and its brand are far from defeated,” said author of the study and RAND corporation analyst, Seth Jones.<br /><br />Jones noted that what was once a highly organized group with a strong base in Afghanistan has now reaped affiliates, allied groups, and inspired networks of groups harboring a “hatred of the West” and its allied regimes across the Middle  East.<br /><br /><h3>"Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the suspected ringleader of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, was given as an example of an “inspired” individual who was not a member of al-Qaeda." </h3><br />The core group itself has seen a general ascendance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), for which a number of possible reasons were given. Four separate subsectors or groups of the militant block were identified: Central al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda allies, al-Qaeda affiliates, and al-Qaeda ideological sympathizers.<br /><br />The Arab uprisings, which have “weakened regimes” in the region, were given as a primary cause for al-Qaeda’s spread. According to the report, the uprisings created an “opportunity” for al-Qaeda affiliates and allies to consolidate a footing in the regions.<br /><br />Increasing sectarian struggles in the same areas means that resources available to Sunni Islamic militant groups have also grown, allowing weaponry to spread and be more accessible to militants.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the movement has become “more diffuse and decentralized” as a result of the expansion, Jones stated in a testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week.<br /><br />Al-Qaeda members “largely run their operations autonomously, though they still communicate with core leadership in Pakistan and may seek strategic advice.”<br /><br />Because of this diffusion and lack of solid organizational structure to the militant movement, the study found that despite an increasing availability of weapons, the group as a unit is becoming less of a threat to the U.S. However, ideologically, it is still growing stronger.<br /><br /><h3>“The growth in social media and the terrorist use of chat rooms, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other sites has facilitated radicalization inside the United States,” the study says, outlining how the increased dissemination of ‘propaganda’ information and instructions on how to create bombs has played a key role. </h3><br />Despite being less of a threat to the US on its home territory, affiliates and allies of the group continue to threaten U.S. and foreign outposts overseas, such as those in Tunisia in 2012.<br /><br />“Jabhat al-Nusrah’s access to foreign fighters, external network in Europe and other areas, and bomb-making expertise suggest that it may already have the capability to plan and support attacks against the West,” wrote Jones, adding that there seems to be a “growing contingent of foreign fighters – perhaps several thousand – traveling to Syria to fight in the war.”<br /><br /><br /><h3>Most pressing Al-Qaeda threats</h3><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTHrZxGxq9gy5Js_-JSgKv6vnarUak6jDTcm6ITx7_lOHa4z0JuKYgTIew2uK32f9y3RTvZvdcg5e1HiKnVD6MC32gAgeVMtHFmtUduynn6p0LQfgCB-_2LAAvX6PIWCOW22WYMw4bmA/s1600/al-qaeda-militant-expansion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTHrZxGxq9gy5Js_-JSgKv6vnarUak6jDTcm6ITx7_lOHa4z0JuKYgTIew2uK32f9y3RTvZvdcg5e1HiKnVD6MC32gAgeVMtHFmtUduynn6p0LQfgCB-_2LAAvX6PIWCOW22WYMw4bmA/s1600/al-qaeda-militant-expansion.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Although posing a certain ideological threat to the U.S., it materialized that the most pressing concerns of the group were considerably more localized than any international ‘end-game,’ the report claimed.<br /><br />“Most Al-Qaeda leaders are not interested in establishing a global caliphate and do not seek to overthrow regimes in much of the world,” Jones wrote, adding that “they tend to have rather more parochial goals,” focusing predominantly on countries or regions rather than a global jihad.<br /><br />The study found that their primary international target was, surprisingly, France. “France, rather than the United States, is the most significant foreign enemy,” the report stated.<br /><br />For al-Qaeda’s current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, both a “near enemy” and a “far enemy” are identifiable.<br /><br />For him, “the primary goal is broader: to overthrow regimes in key Muslim countries,” while attacking far-off countries is seen as a means to an end rather than an end in its own right.<br /><br />However, the document goes on to advise the U.S. on how to counter any direct threats. It encourages the country to implement a “light footprint strategy that focuses on covert intelligence, law enforcement, and Special Operations Forces,” adding that the U.S. should withdraw Afghan forces and instead focus on conducting low-intensity operations in the area as they do in Colombia.  <br /><br />A double-pronged approach would be most effective, combining the ground strategy with an undermining of al-Qaeda’s ideology, the report said, adding that today the US plays no lead role in attempting to do so.<br /><br />“The struggle against the al-Qaeda movement will be long – measured in decades, not months or years. Much like the Cold War, it is also predominantly an ideological struggle,” Jones concluded.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucx7_-knnilA3_rQsv-1fyWO9ixEFCvK73ah0uNIScNqZ-gFxcPTZGX5SyTTQJIQJuqKI9VnzrOHW01bUWClrMfzVCN7LKVvwVSK33cYpPMKjBTJ_pOT4JBDWNw_oWO4k9YFAVCHQ5dU/s1600/index.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucx7_-knnilA3_rQsv-1fyWO9ixEFCvK73ah0uNIScNqZ-gFxcPTZGX5SyTTQJIQJuqKI9VnzrOHW01bUWClrMfzVCN7LKVvwVSK33cYpPMKjBTJ_pOT4JBDWNw_oWO4k9YFAVCHQ5dU/s1600/index.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />

Al-Qaeda is expanding and its ‘most significant foreign enemy’ is France:‘Far from defeated’:

Al-Qaeda’s resilience, ideological strength and expansion in the midst of escalating sectarian struggle has increased the threat it poses - ...

French watchdog probes Abercrombie for discrimination

A French watchdog group says it's investigating U.S. retailer Abercrombie & Fitch to see if it hires employees based on appearance.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZo6g-de0Og8uCCkZE4xC_aGwfNw60tAt-Q27De8cueXk6vklHMMVJ5rPqT9r9UMA9T4IM6-hVD6ZKHvBPchiPGAoE2u1jYd9VditlsSuaQt6OhNXvmgw9EJbHzOYvvdVtg4M0vx2Ybw/s1600/abercrombie-and-fitch-office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZo6g-de0Og8uCCkZE4xC_aGwfNw60tAt-Q27De8cueXk6vklHMMVJ5rPqT9r9UMA9T4IM6-hVD6ZKHvBPchiPGAoE2u1jYd9VditlsSuaQt6OhNXvmgw9EJbHzOYvvdVtg4M0vx2Ybw/s1600/abercrombie-and-fitch-office.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />PARIS — France's official human rights watchdog said Wednesday it was investigating Abercrombie & Fitch Co. over concerns the U.S. clothing retailer discriminates in hiring store staff based on appearance.<br /><br />Known for shirtless hosts at the entrance of its stores, the company has courted controversy in the past for targeting customers and employees based on their looks.<br /><br />The rights watchdog, an official body that investigates suspected discrimination cases, cited in particular a 2006 interview with website salon.com in which Chief Executive Mike Jeffries said the company hires good-looking people to attract good-looking customers.<br /><br />The Defenseur des Droits watchdog said the company, whose preppy clothes are popular with youth, has lost discrimination lawsuits in the U.S. and Britain in the past.<br /><br /><br />Raising concerns that Abercrombie's hiring policies may still be discriminatory, the watchdog said it suspected people hired as models for its stores were in fact also sales staff.<br /><br />"Though physical appearance may legitimately be a key and determining professional factor for models, that's not so for sales staff," the head of the watchdog, Dominique Baudis, said in a statement.<br /><br />The company did not immediately comment on the investigation.<br /><br />The watchdog aims to wrap up its probe by the end of the year, after which it can make recommendations to the company if proof of discrimination is found. It cannot launch a lawsuit in the absence of someone who says they were the victim of discrimination.<br /><br />Abercrombie has two stores in France, including one on Paris' Champs Elysees avenue. A queue of youths often can be seen waiting to get in.<br /><div><br /></div>

French watchdog probes Abercrombie for discrimination

A French watchdog group says it's investigating U.S. retailer Abercrombie & Fitch to see if it hires employees based on appearance. ...

Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez 'wed in France'

<h3>Halle Berry has reportedly married Olivier Martinez.</h3><br /><img alt="Halle Berry" class="expand-img-horiz" height="480" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/ac1394dbdcca6a36cbf486633b129cd813095ac3/r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/07/13/1373755174000-HALLE-1307131841_4_3.JPG" width="640" /><br /><br />The couple exchanged vows at a church on the grounds of the Chateau des Conde in Vallery, France, according to French website Pure People.<br /><br />Guests were pictured arriving at the venue, where a large white tent shielded the bride and groom from view.<br /><br />Rumours circulated about an impending wedding when the couple travelled from the US to Olivier's native France with her five-year-old daughter, Nahla, earlier this week.<br /><br />Halle, 46, and Olivier, 47, announced their engagement in March 2012 after two years together.<br /><br />She is expecting their first child this autumn.<br /><br />The actor will be step-father to Nahla, Halle's daughter with ex-partner, model Gabriel Aubry.<br /><br />This would be Halle's third marriage.<br /><br />She wed baseball player David Justice in 1993 but the couple split four years later<br /><br />Her four-year marriage to musician Eric Benét ended in 2005. She began dating Gabriel later that year but the couple split in 2010.<br /><br />Her engagement to Olivier came as a surprise as the actress had been adamant for years she would never again tie the knot.<br /><br />"I will never, never get married again," she said in 2007. "Actually it's just that now I've come to a place where I think two people can share their lives without the ring, without the piece of paper."<br /><br />The union would be Olivier's first.<br /><br />Neither star has commented on reports of the nuptials.<br /><div><br /></div>

Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez 'wed in France'

Halle Berry has reportedly married Olivier Martinez. The couple exchanged vows at a church on the grounds of the Chateau des Conde in Valler...

French minister: human error not behind train crash

<h3>An intercity train derailed south of Paris on Friday, killing at least six and injuring dozens of others.</h3><br /><br /><br /><br /><img alt="" height="360" src="http://static.itn.co.uk/images/story80523_130713FRANCE13_1_169_480x270.jpg" title="" width="640" /><br /><br /><br />BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, France — Human error did not cause a train derailment that left six people dead outside Paris on the eve of a busy holiday weekend, the French transport minister said Saturday.<br /><br />The train, which left Paris on Friday night, jumped the track just a few miles into its journey as it traveled through a small town train station. It crashed into the platform and some cars tipped over. Nearly 200 people were injured in the initial crash. But by Saturday morning, Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier said only 30 people were still considered injured.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="French minister says human error not behind train crash: The scene of teh crash in Bretigny sur Orge" class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/4f/56ccac53e84533d783a3939f6569d6/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scene where a train derailed, at the station, in Bretigny sur Orge, south of Paris, on Friday.</td></tr></tbody></table>But Michel Fuzeau, who is the head of local regional government, said that until an overturned train car is lifted, it was impossible to know if there could be more people trapped under it, calling the current death toll preliminary.<br /><br />"This is only a hypothesis and we hope it's not (the case)," he said.<br /><br />He said special equipment was expected to arrive later Saturday in order to remove the cars. He added that around nine of the injured were in critical condition.<br /><div><div>France has an impressive rail system, and hundreds of thousands of people were expected to take trains this weekend for the coast, mountains and to see family. Summer weekends are always busy on France's trains, but this weekend is one of the busiest because the country celebrates Bastille Day on Sunday.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Friday night crash was the country's deadliest in years, but Cuvillier said it could have been worse and praised the driver who sent out an alert quickly, preventing a pile up.</div><div><br /></div><div>He said it was unclear what did cause the accident, but authorities are looking into a possible error in the switching system, which guides trains from one track to another.</div><div><a href="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/60/1dc2f8e1bc892a36bda950e2efad9/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="French train wreck: Location of the wreck" border="0" class="image articleimage" data-class="img1" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/60/1dc2f8e1bc892a36bda950e2efad9/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" /></a></div><div>Cuvillier also acknowledged that there was some criticism that France hasn't invested enough in maintaining infrastructure.</div><div><span class="media hover"></span></div><div>"But for the moment we have no information that allows us to confirm that the dilapidation of the network was the cause of this derailment," he said on French television. He added that investigators were exploring several possibilities.</div><div><br /></div><div>The train derailed at Bretigny-sur-Orge, about 12 miles into its 250-mile journey to Limoges.</div><div><br /></div><div>Keira Ichti, who lives in the town where the train crashed, said she was terrified when she found out about the accident because her daughter works at the station. "(It was) total panic. My heart was beating so fast. I had no strength," said the 56-year-old.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it turned out her daughter was fine.</div></div><div><br /></div>

French minister: human error not behind train crash

An intercity train derailed south of Paris on Friday, killing at least six and injuring dozens of others. BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, France — Human ...

6 dead after train derails en route from Paris,France

<h3>The French national rail company said an intercity train derailed south of Paris on Friday,killing at least six and injuring dozens of others.</h3><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Paris area train crash: A train derailed in the Paris suburb of Bretigny-sur-Orge in an accident that caused 'many casualties', authorities said." class="image articleimage" data-class="img1" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/71/ded7a6cbec98d3905f36d35c666617/_h0_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paris area train crash:  A train derailed in the Paris suburb of Bretigny-sur-Orge in an accident that caused 'many casualties', authorities said.</td></tr></tbody></table><span class="media hover"></span><br />PARIS — Six people died and nine were seriously injured when a train derailed and hit the platform at a station in central France on Friday, leaving several cars torn and one lying on its side, officials said.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Paris area train crash: Rescuers work on the site of a train accident in the railway station of Bretigny-sur-Orge on Friday near Paris." class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/65/b3266892ca495850a7603233fed08b/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rescuers work on the site of a train accident in the railway station of Bretigny-sur-Orge on Friday near Paris.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><div>The train, a regional service that travels more slowly than France's TGV express trains, veered off the track as it pulled into the station at the town of Bretigny-sur-Oise. It was en route from Paris to the city of Limoges.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=de7e9658-aa59-a80b-dc3b-5d052b4bd773&w=300&h=169&so=4" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Several dead in Paris train crash" border="0" class="image" src="http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=de7e9658-aa59-a80b-dc3b-5d052b4bd773&w=300&h=169&so=4" /></a>Passengers who spoke to French media from the scene said the train was traveling unusually fast as it approached the station.</div><div></div><div>TV images showed one of the carriages smashed against a platform at Bretigny-sur-Orge station, 16 miles south of Paris. </div></div><div><div><a href="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/60/1dc2f8e1bc892a36bda950e2efad9/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="French train wreck: Location of the wreck" border="0" class="image articleimage" data-class="img1" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/60/1dc2f8e1bc892a36bda950e2efad9/_h0_w295_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" /></a>Trapped passengers were still being helped to safety.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="media hover"></span></div><div>"Most of the people who suffered minor injuries have been taken care of. We are going to have to empty the carriages completely to see if there are victims or not," said local lawmaker Michel Pouzol.</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="French train wreck: An injured man is evacuated after a train accident." class="image articleimage" data-class="img1" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/c4/86af1152f9d9556fa755a2d9b6e4aa/_h0_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An injured man is evacuated after an intercity train accident at the Bretigny-sur-Orge train station near Paris</td></tr></tbody></table><div><span class="media hover"></span></div>

6 dead after train derails en route from Paris,France

The French national rail company said an intercity train derailed south of Paris on Friday,killing at least six and injuring dozens of other...

France has vast electronic spying network,paper says

<h3>France's leading newspaper "Le Monde" says French intelligence operates a vast network of electronic surveillance, including gathering data on emails, SMS texts, telephone calls, and even Facebook and Twitter posts. </h3><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRrT95dfYEZ3jZzueVcT0feCxc98-PvUNLP8_0JuZ1Q8Ilqjx4MEdYEUG_hwu4ffl6D1ppFziNXbF0l7LfhagHyROS3Zd0SYMw3nWFMf654429jFHEdXjXv1VAw8dWmbZ-VQVcwU5678/s345/lemonde.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRrT95dfYEZ3jZzueVcT0feCxc98-PvUNLP8_0JuZ1Q8Ilqjx4MEdYEUG_hwu4ffl6D1ppFziNXbF0l7LfhagHyROS3Zd0SYMw3nWFMf654429jFHEdXjXv1VAw8dWmbZ-VQVcwU5678/s345/lemonde.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><h3>A leading French newspaper says France’s intelligence services have put in place a giant electronic surveillance gathering network.</h3><br />Citing no sources, the Le Monde daily says France’s Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure, the country’s foreign intelligence agency, systematically collects information about all electronic data sent by computers and telephones in France, as well as communications between France and abroad.<br /><br />According to Le Monde, data on “all emails, SMSs, telephone calls, Facebook and Twitter posts” are collected and stored in a massive three-floor underground bunker at the DGSE’s headquarters in Paris. The paper specified that it is the communications’ metadata – such as when was call was made and where an author was when she sent an email – that is being archived, not their content.<br /><br />Officials at the DGSE did not answer phone calls or emails seeking comment Thursday.<br /><br />The vast archive, which Le Monde says amounts to tens of millions of gigabytes, is accessible to France’s other spy agencies, including military intelligence, domestic intelligence, Paris police and a special financial crimes task force.<br /><br />Le Monde compared the French digital dragnet to PRISM, the U.S. National Security Agency program which has most caught the imagination of Internet users. But PRISM appears aimed at allowing U.S. spies to peel data off the servers of Silicon Valley firms – whereas the program described in Le Monde appears to be fed through the mass interception of electronic data bouncing across the world.<br /><br />Also, PRISM can apparently be used to collect content, not just metadata.<br /><br />Le Monde said the French surveillance program relies on spy satellites, listening stations in French overseas territories or former colonies such as Mayotte or Djibouti, and information harvested from undersea cables – all three of which are methods long familiar to the NSA.<br /><br />A French lawmaker played down the report, saying France’s surveillance gathering system is not comparable with the NSA’s.<br /><br />Patricia Adam, a lawmaker who until last year headed parliament’s intelligence committee, said French spies “are line fishing, not trawling” the vast oceans of data thrown up by mobile phones, emails and Internet communication.<br /><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20130704-france-uses-vast-electronic-spying-network-monde-dgse" target="_blank">source</a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUM5nmmKXVRbXpYiNizbc7V4DCb2azkokkgMJnp-cBfpTnaZ7TKc-qsD_jRIKFkwNzFZTjwzjozy7vy8xBAtk1HPKrw-veGFPpOyx1j-CCqNApbpYphKsK4V1ghf03rIENb3AIQYbbYQ/s626/012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUM5nmmKXVRbXpYiNizbc7V4DCb2azkokkgMJnp-cBfpTnaZ7TKc-qsD_jRIKFkwNzFZTjwzjozy7vy8xBAtk1HPKrw-veGFPpOyx1j-CCqNApbpYphKsK4V1ghf03rIENb3AIQYbbYQ/s626/012.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>

France has vast electronic spying network,paper says

France's leading newspaper "Le Monde" says French intelligence operates a vast network of electronic surveillance, including g...

Bolivia plane incident infuriates Latin America

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBqSf9gjDZJcXeSKp-yuNt58g4dtf-A1LELa-tfMHsnxafOatXBW3GJIPzBsL-ShZl-QNFGuwoslHZsFGRGZoFo-9rHH0CoU7geYh50OJ6FeF0ta70tHYXVfuBBdxMbGq35FIHTGJH5c/s690/m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBqSf9gjDZJcXeSKp-yuNt58g4dtf-A1LELa-tfMHsnxafOatXBW3GJIPzBsL-ShZl-QNFGuwoslHZsFGRGZoFo-9rHH0CoU7geYh50OJ6FeF0ta70tHYXVfuBBdxMbGq35FIHTGJH5c/s690/m.jpg" width="320" /></a>LA PAZ, Bolivia — The European rerouting of the Bolivian presidential plane over suspicions that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was aboard ignited outrage Wednesday among Latin American leaders who called it a stunning violation of national sovereignty and disrespect for the region.<br /><br />But as President Evo Morales arrived home after an unplanned 14-hour layover in Vienna, there was no immediate sign that Latin America anger would translate into a rush to bring Snowden to the region that had been seen as likeliest to defy the U.S. and give him asylum.<br /><br />Snowden was still believed to be in the transit area of Moscow's international airport. As his case grinds on, it appears to illustrate the strength of U.S. influence, despite the initial sense that the Obama administration lost control of the situation when China allowed Snowden to flee Hong Kong.<br /><br />Morales originally planned to fly home from a Moscow summit via Western Europe, stopping in Lisbon, Portugal and Guyana to refuel. His plane was diverted to Vienna Tuesday night after his government said France, Spain and Portugal all refused to let it through their airspace because they suspected Snowden was on board. Spain's ambassador to Austria even tried to make his way onto the plane on the pretext of having a coffee to check that Snowden wasn't there, Morales said.<br /><br />Morales had sparked speculation that he might try to help Snowden get out during a visit to Russia after he said that his country would be willing to consider granting him asylum. Austrian officials said Morales' plane was searched early Wednesday by Austrian border police after Morales gave permission. Bolivian and Austrian officials both said Snowden was not on board.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSAe9WW6L49F_WwufyF_06BrTNPFCR7KGFj7mOR9x0Z2m58xF9wBnjYuoXNkz62RhURevTlDRG9zPhyphenhyphenZ-5VHjzskJ0920_R16XIP2LFW1GiQh70jCEVK6zL7qNWwebaSRU9MqHZpJ_II/s410/bolivia-un-complain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSAe9WW6L49F_WwufyF_06BrTNPFCR7KGFj7mOR9x0Z2m58xF9wBnjYuoXNkz62RhURevTlDRG9zPhyphenhyphenZ-5VHjzskJ0920_R16XIP2LFW1GiQh70jCEVK6zL7qNWwebaSRU9MqHZpJ_II/s410/bolivia-un-complain.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Bolivia's ambassador to the United Nations, Sacha Llorenti, said "the orders came from the United States."<br /><br />"They want to frighten and intimidate me but they won't scare me," Morales said before finally taking off to Spain's Canary Islands and on to Brazil and then home. "We're not in colonial or imperial times ... this is an aggression against Latin America."<br /><br />The presidential plane carrying Morales arrived in Bolivia's capital around midnight Wednesday local time. Addressing his supporters in the airport, he called what had happened to him "an open provocation to the continent."<br /><br />Throughout Latin America there was a sense of deep injustice and offense at what was widely believed to be U.S.-prompted interference with Bolivia's equivalent of Air Force One.<br /><br />"This is a humiliation for a sister nation and for the South American continent," said Cristina Fernandez, the leftist president of Argentina, describing the plane's rerouting as a "vestige of the colonialism that we thought we had completely overcome."<br /><br />She said Morales' "total and indisputable" immunity as head of state had been violated when he was "illegally detained in old Europe."<br /><br />Preventing the passage of a presidential jet and even searching it is legal under international law but unprecedented in recent memory, aviation experts said.<br /><br />"It is extraordinary to prohibit passage through one's state air space en route to another state," said Ken Quinn, former chief counsel at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and head of the aviation practice at the Washington-based law firm Pillsbury Winthrop. "From a diplomacy standpoint, one does not normally interfere with diplomats and high-ranking public officials in transit."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMzKu0vREVk3GwSsdJw7f4xitn_KGQ-iByfw2g_H_eGTxW-zNgFwlcGOs8OBIV0VD7-YHRHtNX4szUAhHoMHHr2ap9Co8L-BKm38qWKedJwmUcJPzXHhsnohJ3-Lfpggeigl3HoxVpI8/s690/sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMzKu0vREVk3GwSsdJw7f4xitn_KGQ-iByfw2g_H_eGTxW-zNgFwlcGOs8OBIV0VD7-YHRHtNX4szUAhHoMHHr2ap9Co8L-BKm38qWKedJwmUcJPzXHhsnohJ3-Lfpggeigl3HoxVpI8/s690/sm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The U.S. refused to comment on whether it was involved in any decision to close European airspace, saying only that "US officials have been in touch with a broad range of countries over the course of the last 10 days," about the Snowden case.<br /><br />"The message has been communicated both publicly and privately," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday. "He should be returned to the United States."<br /><br />European responses shifted throughout the day.<br /><br />Spain explicitly denied Bolivian charges that it had closed its airspace to Morales.<br /><br />After initial hedging from France, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius issued a statement Wednesday night acknowledging that Morales' plane was initially refused and saying he called his Bolivian counterpart to apologize. The statement didn't explain why.<br /><br />Fabius "expressed France's regrets following the temporary problems that occurred for President Morales because of delays in confirming authorization to fly over (French) territory."<br /><br />"There was naturally never any intention to refuse access to our airspace to President Morales, who is always welcome in our country," Fabius said.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTRuH0MMQsVp302duYp7k-YzzA-9lOxDkjvrjwqU5LfyF1XfCALNX1JsIp8dZr1G5S7MCKLVyUkAjaZyQw8B33gSwyJ6es8CRc_hZRMOQe-gkWvlPTh3TfArR9wONGNhyDiC82mDb4y0/s690/2S.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTRuH0MMQsVp302duYp7k-YzzA-9lOxDkjvrjwqU5LfyF1XfCALNX1JsIp8dZr1G5S7MCKLVyUkAjaZyQw8B33gSwyJ6es8CRc_hZRMOQe-gkWvlPTh3TfArR9wONGNhyDiC82mDb4y0/s690/2S.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Portugal said it had granted permission for the plane to fly through its air space but declined Bolivia's request for a refueling stop in Lisbon due to unspecified technical reasons.<br /><br />Shades of outrage were felt across Latin America in countries with long experience on the sharp end of U.S. power, even those whose governments did not take sides with leftist Bolivia.<br /><br />"What happened to Bolivia's president is upsetting and dangerous," said Carlos Acosta, a Panama City clothing salesman, as he read about the case in his local paper. "Not letting your president cross a country's airspace, it's like a slap in the face."<br /><br />Across the continent, however, outrage didn't lead to immediate action.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDA8Y0AjrTE9Nb8hBKJljqeb-ehd6I0NgsJQwdkvKw0l9eV2op0R7n8pTFRbTW6MuU3lpNo1N1iCOx5kHViCoVKbolmnuzd_izuYXQnQNfFujewj_ENoy2s9PVpbb5BPOYCahbvmJpUyE/s1024/FUNNY_TOILETS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDA8Y0AjrTE9Nb8hBKJljqeb-ehd6I0NgsJQwdkvKw0l9eV2op0R7n8pTFRbTW6MuU3lpNo1N1iCOx5kHViCoVKbolmnuzd_izuYXQnQNfFujewj_ENoy2s9PVpbb5BPOYCahbvmJpUyE/s1024/FUNNY_TOILETS.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, one of the U.S.'s toughest critics in the region, said from the Moscow summit Tuesday that while "Snowden deserves the protection of international humanitarian law, as a young man who has spoken a great truth," he said later that Venezuela will wait for "the reaction of the world," to give its final opinion on the matter, and wasn't considering any asylum request from Snowden.<br /><br />"Despite the anger, governments have other strategic interests in the region and nobody is jumping in to say 'yes we will offer him asylum.' Venezuela could, Ecuador could, Bolivia could, but there is clearly a price to be paid for that and they are thinking carefully whether they are willing to pay that price," said Geoff Thale, program director at the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.<br /><br />Ecuador, another country that had been expected to host Snowden, appeared to back away from that prospect last week after U.S. tariff benefits for flower exporters and other key industries were thrown into question.<br /><br />"Beyond the speeches and the protests ..., this isn't going to become more than another diplomatic incident, taking into account that Bolivia is a state with little power and international influence," said Ivan Garzan Vallejo, director of the social sciences program at the University of La Sabana in Bogota, Colombia.<br /><br />Cuba called Morales' treatment "unacceptable, baseless and arbitrary, and offensive to all of Latin America and the Caribbean."<br /><br />Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador and Chile condemned European nations' handling of the case, with Brazil expressing "indignation and condemnation of the restrictions imposed on President Evo Morales by some European countries." Mexico's federal government issued a statement saying it lamented the way Morales was treated and urged countries to adhere to "good diplomatic practices."<br /><br />UNASUR, the union of South American nations, said it had learned of the situation "with the greatest concern."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0Hef6eOoE_H7u3-lv_PH4NMBDymiMoP50U0w1XbofjtQ1fsANRQMZRw4JJ4GbY68OXuXud1kjndpmOrQ1UWUZuI116uppvkIBWA7CgANvOmyht50t4gJyHAmsCOjML2H3_bkR7MXzPc/s690/bobos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl0Hef6eOoE_H7u3-lv_PH4NMBDymiMoP50U0w1XbofjtQ1fsANRQMZRw4JJ4GbY68OXuXud1kjndpmOrQ1UWUZuI116uppvkIBWA7CgANvOmyht50t4gJyHAmsCOjML2H3_bkR7MXzPc/s690/bobos.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said the presidents of Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Surinam and possibly Uruguay will attend a UNASUR meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on Thursday to discuss the matter. Bolivia said earlier it also would summon the French and Italian ambassadors and the Portuguese consul to demand explanations.<br /><br />But even in Bolivia, there was little evidence of wider public outrage. About 50 members of the Aymara indigenous group, which has close ties to Morales, burned French and European flags outside the French Embassy in the capital, La Paz. One threw a rock that broke a window. There were no reports of further damage.<br /><br />Morales said he never saw Snowden and that Bolivia has not received a formal request for asylum for him. The country would consider a request if it receives one, Morales said.<br /><br />Leaks by Snowden, a former NSA systems analyst, have revealed the NSA's sweeping data collection of U.S. phone records and some Internet traffic, though U.S. intelligence officials have said the programs target foreigners and terrorist suspects mostly overseas.<br /><br />According to WikiLeaks, the secret-spilling website that has been advising him, Snowden has applied for asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and 18 other countries. Many European countries on the list — including Austria, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland — said he would have to make his request on their soil.<br /><div><br /></div>

Bolivia plane incident infuriates Latin America

LA PAZ, Bolivia — The European rerouting of the Bolivian presidential plane over suspicions that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snow...

France wants to 'temporarily suspend' trade talks with U.S. over NSA spying

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBKxQ-dD9m15dO1UTJl-CJTQgyMbtDccW0SpopkfJSp6XK5EdhgeBC6T8qOdORrtbuQqDTVHroOL2VCJ8JBXW5tONYc9HXk8BaiQJ4YhkOg5NuYviDPcGs1vTiqqIOoDWIenyQk-L16U/s690/franceustrade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBKxQ-dD9m15dO1UTJl-CJTQgyMbtDccW0SpopkfJSp6XK5EdhgeBC6T8qOdORrtbuQqDTVHroOL2VCJ8JBXW5tONYc9HXk8BaiQJ4YhkOg5NuYviDPcGs1vTiqqIOoDWIenyQk-L16U/s690/franceustrade.jpg" width="320" /></a>France wants to delay the ‘biggest bilateral trade deal in history' by 2 weeks after learning the USA was allegedly tracking economic communications of EU member states.<br /><br />But Germany says they should go ahead as planned.<br /><br />"It would seem wise to us to suspend them for a couple of weeks to avoid any controversy and have the time to obtain the information we've asked for,"  French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said Wednesday.<br /><br />The trade agreement negotiations, which could potentially be a key factor in reversing the slow economic climate, are set to commence Monday in Washington DC.<br /><br />"It's not a question of halting the negotiations,"  Vallaud-Belkacem said, adding that espionage and trade are two 'closely related' issues.<br /><br />French President Hollande said Monday there could be no negotiations unless the US could guarantee they would halt their spying operations on EU allies.<br /><br />Despite surveillance claims, Germany wants the talks to go on as planned, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said shortly after France raised a 2-week delay proposal.<br /><br />"The Commission wants to start negotiations on July 8, and in this it has the support of the German government," said state spokesman Steffen Seibert.<br /><br />"We want this free trade agreement and we want to start the talks now," he said.<br /><br />After the news broke Monday, EU leaders demanded answers. French Prime Minister Hollande said the spying must stop 'immediately' and Chancellor Merkel said if allegations prove to be true, it would be “unacceptable Cold War-style behavior.”<br /><br />US Secretary of State John Kerry said he couldn't confirm the authenticity of the spying claims, and Obama tried to defend the actions, insinuating all world intelligence services preform similar surveillance.<br /><br />"That's how intelligence services operate," Obama said Monday.<br /><br /><br />The agreement would be a “once in a generation prize,” which could add as much as $157 billion to the EU economy, over $125 billion to the US economy and as much as around $133 billion to the rest of the word, British Prime Minister David Cameron said at the summit, adding it could add two million extra jobs, more choices and lower consumer prices.

France wants to 'temporarily suspend' trade talks with U.S. over NSA spying

France wants to delay the ‘biggest bilateral trade deal in history' by 2 weeks after learning the USA was allegedly tracking economic co...

‘Act of aggression’:Bolivia to file UN complaint over airspace blockade.

‘An act of aggression and violation of international law’ is how Bolivia described the situation in which the Presidential plane was grounded in Vienna for almost 12 hours,over fears that Snowden could be on board.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LFVeYPhyphenhyphenrNS_s753RvmoBVwqZjE3T5TWEAQqQLR9ZW4s4TPLmE6WI_e-ZToZnjKj9Ew26udyz-qGT9zCRk-mEjkb_LyMIxVdInGGNnKDcY7n_xGq_l6_LCmQXzyyoUVHtL3pLW_h7H8/s690/bobos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LFVeYPhyphenhyphenrNS_s753RvmoBVwqZjE3T5TWEAQqQLR9ZW4s4TPLmE6WI_e-ZToZnjKj9Ew26udyz-qGT9zCRk-mEjkb_LyMIxVdInGGNnKDcY7n_xGq_l6_LCmQXzyyoUVHtL3pLW_h7H8/s690/bobos.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">People burn a French flag in front of France's embassy in La Paz on June 03, 2013 . (AFP Photo)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Austrian authorities grounded Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane in Vienna early on Wednesday morning due to suspicions that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.<br /><br />Morales allegedly refuted speculation that Snowden had stowed away on the plane and allowed authorities to conduct a search.<br /><br />“We're talking about the president on an official trip after an official summit being kidnapped,” Bolivia's ambassador to the United Nations in New York,Sacha Llorenti Soliz,told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday.<br /><br />“We have no doubt that it was an order from the White House,” ambassador Llorenti said.“By no means should a diplomatic plane with the president be diverted from its route and forced to land in another country.”<br /><br />The ambassador has pledged to make an official complaint to the UN.<br /><br />There are contradictory reports about whether President Morales’ plane was actually searched in Austria.<br /><br />The Bolivian Defense Minister Ruben Saavedra said no one boarded the presidential aircraft - presumably to search for fugitive U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden - because Morales refused them entry.<br /><br />Bolivia's vice president said officials had made their way up to the door of the aircraft, according to Reuters.<br /><br />However, Austria’s deputy chancellor said earlier, appearing to cast some confusion over whether the plane was actually searched or not, that Austrian authorities searched Morales’ plane for Edward Snowden, but found no stowaways on board.<br /><br />"Our colleagues from the airport had a look and can give assurances that no one is on board who is not a Bolivian citizen," Austrian Deputy Chancellor Michael Spindelegger told the press.<br /><br /> The plane has now continued on its journey to La Paz, with a refuelling stop-over in the Canary Islands. <br />The move to detain the presidential plane triggered a wave of furious rhetoric from Latin American leaders who alleged it had been “kidnapped by imperialism.”<br /><br />Morales called on the countries who had cancelled air permits for the presidential flight to explain their decision.<br /><br />“The governments of France, Spain and Portugal must explain to the world the reasons behind this delay,” said Morales, adding that these actions were indicative of the “repressive policies” of some EU countries.<br /><br />“This is an excuse to try and frighten, intimidate and punish me. An excuse to try and gag us in the fight against the dominant economic powers,” said Morales. <br /><br />In response protesters burnt a French flag in front of France's embassy in La Paz, the Bolivian capital.<br />While, Maria Luisa Ramos Urgazagaste, Bolivian ambassador to Russia warned that those countries responsible for the incident would be held responsible.<br /><br />“From this moment on, if anything happens to President Evo Morales during the rest of his journey the only culprits will be those countries who orchestrated the shameful sequester of President Evo Morales on July 2,” she said in a statement to RT.<br /><br />Ricardo Martinez Covarrubias, Bolivia’s Ambassador to Austria has called the incident “unprecedented in history.”<br /><br />“Obviously, this event contradicts the very logic of cooperation and co-existence of states. It also violates international agreements and international law,” he said in an interview with Spanish language RT Actualidad.  It was a display of “disrespect to the sovereignty of other countries,” the diplomat added.<br /><br />The Union of South American Nations – the region’s version of the EU – is going to hold a meeting to discuss the situation, the Ambassador said.<br /><br />“First of all, they’ll certainly strongly condemn such behavior. I’m sure that in future mechanisms to prevent such incidents will be found, so that what has happened would never happen to Evo Morales or any other plane…in case similar suspicions arise,” Covarrubias concluded.<br /><br />Morales finally flew out of Vienna on Wednesday morning after being detained for over 12 hours in the airport. He will stop in the Canary Islands to refuel before flying on to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bEa1r9e8SCcvAB1DEVyRPrBG8C_tbwZLr1Avh5LevNNlmqaBz6tBKRxj-56YP-WJTczpEkZqN-8YIMQqLu13Ya0r_0wheEEJfbVeGIJrhfuIZg-BzszpOpiw_tzXGH6rbS_W0XYXIw0/s410/bolivia-un-complain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bEa1r9e8SCcvAB1DEVyRPrBG8C_tbwZLr1Avh5LevNNlmqaBz6tBKRxj-56YP-WJTczpEkZqN-8YIMQqLu13Ya0r_0wheEEJfbVeGIJrhfuIZg-BzszpOpiw_tzXGH6rbS_W0XYXIw0/s410/bolivia-un-complain.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bolivian President Evo Morales waves as he boards his plane prior leaving the Vienna International Airport on July 3, 2013. (AFP Photo/Patrick Domingo)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />

‘Act of aggression’:Bolivia to file UN complaint over airspace blockade.

‘An act of aggression and violation of international law’ is how Bolivia described the situation in which the Presidential plane was grounde...

France didn't block Bolivia plane

PARIS — Bolivia's president left Europe for home on Wednesday amid diplomatic drama, a day after his flight was rerouted and delayed in Austria amid suggestions that he was trying to spirit NSA leaker Edward Snowden to Latin America.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMt1eURqg9jxlz1vKmYCmK5SlIBEUKe9tft4Rn2Qg71JOqajfsT_XJ2bJvnwYntprNgLr9EOVVxlEHmIszQyXq5sj30wdIAR8dlltjYwWW-Rzfom0j6ZGGdxoQn8Y9JsxcgQ6gJUesOlY/s690/sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMt1eURqg9jxlz1vKmYCmK5SlIBEUKe9tft4Rn2Qg71JOqajfsT_XJ2bJvnwYntprNgLr9EOVVxlEHmIszQyXq5sj30wdIAR8dlltjYwWW-Rzfom0j6ZGGdxoQn8Y9JsxcgQ6gJUesOlY/s690/sm.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bolivian presidential airplane is parked at the Vienna International Airport in Schwechat July 3, 2013.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Bolivia demanded explanation from various European countries it accused of thwarting President Evo Morales' flight.<br /><br />French officials denied Wednesday that France refused to let the plane cross over its airspace amid suspicions that Snowden was aboard. Spain, too, said the plane was free to cross its territory.<br /><br />The plane carrying Morales home from Moscow was rerouted to Austria Tuesday night, in a new twist to the international uproar over Snowden and the widespread U.S. surveillance that he revealed. It took off again from Vienna shortly before noon Wednesday.<br /><br />Bolivian and Austrian officials both say Snowden was not on Morales' plane, which left Moscow on Tuesday following a summit. Morales had suggested that his government would be willing to consider granting asylum to the American.<br /><br />Snowden is believed to be in a Moscow airport transit area, seeking asylum from one of more than a dozen countries.<br /><br />Bolivia's ambassador to the United Nations, speaking in Geneva Wednesday, continued to insist that several European countries had refused permission for the plane to fly in their airspace.<br /><br /><h3>Sacha Llorenti said it was an "act of aggression" and that France, Portugal, Spain and Italy violated international law.</h3><br />Llorenti said "the orders came from the United States" but other nations violated the immunity of the president and his plane, putting his life at risk.<br /><br />Bolivian officials said that France, Portugal and Italy blocked the plane from flying over their territories based on unfounded rumors that Snowden was on board. Bolivia said Spain agreed to allow the plane to refuel in the Canary Islands — but only if Bolivian authorities agreed to allow it to be inspected.<br /><br />French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said Wednesday that Morales' plane had authorization to fly over France. French officials would not comment on why Bolivian officials said otherwise.<br /><br />Spain's foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the country on Tuesday authorized Morales' plane to fly within its airspace and to make the Canary Islands refueling stop and gave the authorization again on Wednesday morning after Bolivian authorities repeated the request.<br /><br />A foreign ministry official declined comment when asked if Spain demanded the right to inspect the plane. The Spanish spoke on condition of anonymity because of ministry rules.<br /><br />Officials in Portugal did not return repeated telephone messages seeking comment and Italian officials were not available to speak on the subject Wednesday morning.<br /><br />In Vienna, an official said that Morales' aircraft asked controllers at Vienna airport to land because there was "no clear indication" that the plane had enough fuel to continue on its journey.<br /><br />The official, who demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to go public with the information, said Austrian authorities could not comment on whether the plane was denied overflights by other countries.<br /><br />"We don't know who invented this lie" that Snowden was traveling with Morales, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said in La Paz. "We want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales."<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbj-ouEjQ7UsdJFsu9ZFGD8u_A334v78jJ4MfPD95hQOhRK48N_fLLMi-dvgjnzzvY0nLqVjkqzDZGwyMVX3FwojAfgmcuGui6eO3I9oJuqDbqED6uAY0oaEOnBx1X7b4ChDLc3OIgWI/s690/m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbj-ouEjQ7UsdJFsu9ZFGD8u_A334v78jJ4MfPD95hQOhRK48N_fLLMi-dvgjnzzvY0nLqVjkqzDZGwyMVX3FwojAfgmcuGui6eO3I9oJuqDbqED6uAY0oaEOnBx1X7b4ChDLc3OIgWI/s690/m.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />In a midnight press conference in La Paz, Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia described Morales as being "kidnapped by imperialism" in Europe.<br /><br />Leaks by Snowden, a former NSA systems analyst, have revealed the NSA's sweeping data collection of U.S. phone records and some Internet traffic, though U.S. intelligence officials have said the programs target foreigners and terrorist suspects mostly overseas.<br /><br />French President Francois Hollande has firmly criticized reported surveillance of U.S. allies by the National Security Agency. Several French politicians on the far left and right have said France should offer Snowden asylum, but the French government has said it hasn't received any asylum request from him and has not offered public support for Snowden.<br /><br />Snowden has applied for asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and 18 other countries, according to WikiLeaks, a secret spilling website that has been advising him. Many European countries on the list — including Austria, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland — said he would have to make his request on their soil.<br /><div><br /></div>

France didn't block Bolivia plane

PARIS — Bolivia's president left Europe for home on Wednesday amid diplomatic drama, a day after his flight was rerouted and delayed in ...

French energy minister fired for criticizing budget cuts

<h3>Delphine Batho, French energy and environment minister,was fired by President Francois Hollande for speaking out against cuts to her budget.</h3><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="x" class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/0a/e60ffd683b5d076aca9efe3698a8/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delphine Batho</td></tr></tbody></table>PARIS — French President Francois Hollande fired his energy and environment minister Delphine Batho on Tuesday for publicly criticizing cuts to her budget.<br /><br />Hollande, whose poll ratings are slumping amid spiraling unemployment and moribund growth, appears increasingly determined to assert his authority over the government while pushing through spending cuts to trim the budget deficit.<br /><br />Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said other ministers should take note. "There was an obvious problem of coherence within the government," he told the iTele news channel. "What applies to Delphine Batho applies to others as well."<br /><br />Batho was summoned to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office hours after telling RTL radio that she disagreed with a plan to cut the Environment Ministry's budget by 7 percent next year. The government aims to reduce public spending by 14 billion euros overall.<br /><br />"It's a bad budget. ... I prefer to tell the truth," Batho said. "Of course there will be cuts and budget tightening, but there are also other ways of proceeding, like environmental taxes or forward-looking investments."<br /><br />Hollande called Batho to ask her to take back her comments, but she refused, the president's office said. Ayrault then called her in to tell her she was dismissed.<br /><br />The move angered the environmentalist Greens party, which has two ministers in the Cabinet and fears that the government is losing its focus on environmental policy.<br /><br />Greens Sen. Jean-Vincent Place complained of a "double standard," noting that other ministers famous for speaking out freely such as firebrand industry minister Arnaud Montebourg were still in their posts.<br /><br />Batho, a vehement opponent of shale gas exploration, had been given the task of piloting a debate to find ways to reduce France's reliance on nuclear energy and boost renewables.<br /><br />In an evening crisis meeting, the Greens agreed they would stay in the Cabinet for now but said they would scrutinize the government's commitments on environmental policy when the 2014 budget came to parliament in September.<br /><br /> Hollande's Socialists would in any case still have a majority even if the Greens switched into opposition.<img alt="Reuters" class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/99/6a6e1e9d2013e8fe84e6814a7d491/_h17_w0_m6_otrue_lfalse.gif" /><br /><div><br /></div>

French energy minister fired for criticizing budget cuts

Delphine Batho, French energy and environment minister,was fired by President Francois Hollande for speaking out against cuts to her budget....

Bolivian leader's plane rerouted on fear Snowden on board.

Bolivia's foreign minister said President Evo Morales' plane was rerouted to Austria on suspicion that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was on board.<br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Snowden fear on Bolivia plane: Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca" class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/b1/44339765822d5cb1dbd69f4abfb0/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca denied the rumour that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was traveling on Bolivia's presidential plane.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />LA PAZ, Bolivia — The plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales home from Russia was rerouted to Austria on Tuesday after France and Portugal refused to let it cross their airspace because of suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was on board, the country's foreign minister said.<br /><br />Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca denied that Snowden was on the plane, which landed in Vienna, and said France and Portugal would have to explain why they canceled authorization for the plane.<br /><div><div>"We don't know who invented this lie. We want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales," Choquehuanca said from Vienna, where the plane landed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Morales had earlier met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit of major gas exporters in the Kremlin.</div><div><br /></div><div>In an interview with Russia Today television, Morales said that his South American country would be willing to consider granting asylum to Snowden.</div><div><br /></div><div>Leaks by Snowden, a former NSA systems analyst, have revealed the NSA's sweeping data collection of U.S. phone records and some Internet traffic, though U.S. intelligence officials have said the programs are aimed at targeting foreigners and terrorist suspects mostly overseas.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is believed to be in a Moscow airport transit area, seeking asylum from one of more than a dozen countries.</div><div><br /></div><div>"This is a hostile act by the United States State Department which has used various European governments," said Bolivian Defense Minister Ruben Saavedra, who was on the flight.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Choquehuanca said in a statement that after France and Portugal canceled authorization for the flight, Spain's government allowed the plane to be refueled in its territory. From there the Falcon plane flew on to Vienna.</div><div><br /></div><div>He said the decision by France and Portugal "put at risk the life of the president."</div><div><br /></div><div>Morales was in the Vienna airport Tuesday night meeting with the plane's crew to reprogram his return to Bolivia, the defense minister Saavedra said.</div><div><br /></div><div>Snowden has applied for asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and at least 18 other countries, according to WikiLeaks, a secret spilling website that has been advising him. Many European countries on the list — including Austria, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland — said he would have to make his request on their soil.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=0e78b86d-5497-4e7a-163e-6b1d7e47c332&w=300&h=169&so=4" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Snowden Hits Hurdles in Search for Asylum" border="0" class="image" src="http://img1.catalog.video.msn.com/image.aspx?uuid=0e78b86d-5497-4e7a-163e-6b1d7e47c332&w=300&h=169&so=4" /></a>WikiLeaks said requests have also been made to Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, India, Italy and Nicaragua.<br /><br /></div><div></div><div>One of Snowden's best chances of finding refuge outside the United States may hinge on the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, who was also in Russia on Tuesday.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maduro told Russian reporters that his country has not received an application for asylum from Snowden and dodged the question of whether he would take him with him when he left.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Maduro also defended the former NSA systems analyst.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Who must protect Snowden? This is the question. This young man of 29 was brave enough to say that we need to protect the world from the American imperial elite, so who should protect him?" Maduro said in response to a question from journalists covering a ceremony to rename a Moscow street after Chavez. "All of mankind, people all over the world must protect him."</div><div><br /></div><div>Maduro was scheduled to spend Wednesday in neighboring Belarus before returning to Venezuela.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Venezuela, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua condemned the decision by France and Portugal.</div><div><br /></div><div>"All the countries that have denied permission for the flight of our brother president, Evo Morales, must be held responsible for his life and his dignity as president."</div><div><br /></div><div>Snowden, who recently turned 30, withdrew a bid for asylum in Russia when he learned the terms Moscow had set out, according to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin said on Monday that Russia was ready to shelter Snowden as long as he stopped leaking U.S. secrets.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the same time, Putin said he had no plans to turn over Snowden to the United States.<img alt="AP" class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/c8/982d6aebf1ce5941b27229f7c36c83/_h17_w0_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" /></div></div><div><br /></div>

Bolivian leader's plane rerouted on fear Snowden on board.

Bolivia's foreign minister said President Evo Morales' plane was rerouted to Austria on suspicion that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was...

Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said,France to cut extra 14 bln euros in spending in 2 years.

PARIS, July 2 - France was working to generate 14 billion euros (18.2 billion U.S. dollars) in spending cuts next year and in 2015 as it wants to tame the public deficit to 3 percent of economic output by 2015, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said Tuesday.<br /><br />In an interview with the news channel BFMTV, Moscovici said "there will be a total of 14 billion euros in savings next year, the same figure in 2015."<br /><br />"There will be 9 billion euros in savings already documented, and government expenditure will fall by 1.5 billion euros in 2014 ... We do not want to add austerity to the crisis. The government will maintain its priorities while keeping the deficit," the minister added.<br /><br />The Socialist government aims to balance the country's finances squeezing public spending mainly by trimming ministerial budgets, cutting state aid to companies and reducing local government funding, Moscovici detailed.<br /><br />In a recent report, France's audit office La Cour des Comptes saw the deficit of the eurozone's main powerhouse at 4 percent this year, a "reasonable" estimate according to Moscovici due to poor fiscal revenue and wane growth.<br /><br />Targeting to reach 0.1 percent GDP growth in 2013, the government said it hoped to cut the budget deficit to 3.7 percent from 4.8 percent in 2012. (1 euro = 1.3 U.S. dollar)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKV3L_-9v_zfVF-JloiJwPGdVtMVqG4OfreKZe7KJ4E0p0MvyIGtxjmZt9Kp2M967ITi7k5G5akQ9gTBbNbygx-FFM9iU8IlV08PdhC4_7C1qG54uqT51JHngBHbuzZyfwMvY5t4QZ_Hxi/s342/%2540publimetro.us.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKV3L_-9v_zfVF-JloiJwPGdVtMVqG4OfreKZe7KJ4E0p0MvyIGtxjmZt9Kp2M967ITi7k5G5akQ9gTBbNbygx-FFM9iU8IlV08PdhC4_7C1qG54uqT51JHngBHbuzZyfwMvY5t4QZ_Hxi/s342/%2540publimetro.us.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>

Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said,France to cut extra 14 bln euros in spending in 2 years.

PARIS, July 2 - France was working to generate 14 billion euros (18.2 billion U.S. dollars) in spending cuts next year and in 2015 as it wan...

French President Francois Hollande urges common European stance on U.S. spying

PARIS, July 2 - French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday pointed to the necessity to forge a common European position to answer U.S. spying allegations.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Pq3NQPR8PWBwMyCK7aCGKFkIv6zF7mfcgH1XpsYs4m0SIJpQsUB_2jaVwamWl9H9b5RlPZwClAtDJXQtR4_6ToSXiRaO8hQVsJIxDCvocOi33QRWAdDam8XQqkaF8bfAmeyatGmiDEc/s690/booz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Pq3NQPR8PWBwMyCK7aCGKFkIv6zF7mfcgH1XpsYs4m0SIJpQsUB_2jaVwamWl9H9b5RlPZwClAtDJXQtR4_6ToSXiRaO8hQVsJIxDCvocOi33QRWAdDam8XQqkaF8bfAmeyatGmiDEc/s690/booz.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />In a joint press meeting with Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, Hollande said "it is necessary for Europe to have a coordinated, common position against the requirements that we have to make, the explanations we have to ask."<br /><br />On Monday, French head of state said Paris and the European Union (EU) would need guarantees on the spying issue before going ahead with talks and transactions with the United States.<br /><br />Based on reports provided by Edward Snowden, a former American spy agency contractor, German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday reported on its website that the U.S. National Security Agency had tapped EU offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks.<br /><br />The 30-year-old man, who faces espionage charges in the United States, was applying for political asylum in 21 countries including France, according to WikiLeaks report.<br /><br />"We have not yet received a specific request Mr. Snowden," said Hollande.<br /><div><br /></div>

French President Francois Hollande urges common European stance on U.S. spying

PARIS, July 2 - French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday pointed to the necessity to forge a common European position to answer U.S. sp...

New NSA leaks show how U.S. is bugging its European allies

<blockquote class="tr_bq">Exclusive: Edward Snowden papers reveal 38 targets including European Union, France and Italy.</blockquote><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/6/30/1372617717039/Dropmire-document-image.-010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dropmire document image." border="0" height="276" itemprop="contentUrl representativeOfPage" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/6/30/1372617717039/Dropmire-document-image.-010.jpg" width="460" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the bugging methods mentioned is<br /> codenamed Dropmire, which according <br />to a 2007 document is 'implanted on <br />the Cryptofax at the <br />EU embassy, DC'. Photograph: Guardian</td></tr></tbody></table>US intelligence services are spying on the European Union mission in New York and its embassy in Washington, according to the latest top secret US National Security Agency documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.<br /><br />One document lists 38 embassies and missions, describing them as "targets". It details an extraordinary range of spying methods used against each target, from bugs implanted in electronic communications gear to taps into cables to the collection of transmissions with specialised antennae.<br /><br />Along with traditional ideological adversaries and sensitive Middle Eastern countries, the list of targets includes the EU missions and the French, Italian and Greek embassies, as well as a number of other American allies, including Japan, Mexico, South Korea, India and Turkey. The list in the September 2010 document does not mention the UK, Germany or other western European states.<br /><br />One of the bugging methods mentioned is codenamed Dropmire, which, according to a 2007 document, is "implanted on the Cryptofax at the EU embassy, DC" – an apparent reference to a bug placed in a commercially available encrypted fax machine used at the mission. The NSA documents note the machine is used to send cables back to foreign affairs ministries in European capitals.<br /><br />The documents suggest the aim of the bugging exercise against the EU embassy in central Washington is to gather inside knowledge of policy disagreements on global issues and other rifts between member states.<br /><br />The new revelations come at a time when there is already considerable anger across the EU over earlier evidence provided by Snowden of NSA eavesdropping on America's European allies.<br /><br />Germany's justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, demanded an explanation from Washington, saying that if confirmed, US behaviour "was reminiscent of the actions of enemies during the cold war".<br /><br />The German magazine Der Spiegel reported at the weekend that some of the bugging operations in Brussels targeting the EU's Justus Lipsius building – a venue for summit and ministerial meetings in the Belgian capital – were directed from within Nato headquarters nearby.<br /><br />The US intelligence service codename for the bugging operation targeting the EU mission at the United Nations is "Perdido". Among the documents leaked by Snowden is a floor plan of the mission in midtown Manhattan. The methods used against the mission include the collection of data transmitted by implants, or bugs, placed inside electronic devices, and another covert operation that appears to provide a copy of everything on a targeted computer's hard drive.<br /><br />The eavesdropping on the EU delegation to the US, on K Street in Washington, involved three different operations targeted on the embassy's 90 staff. Two were electronic implants and one involved the use of antennas to collect transmissions.<br /><br />Although the latest documents are part of an NSA haul leaked by Snowden, it is not clear in each case whether the surveillance was being exclusively done by the NSA – which is most probable as the embassies and missions are technically overseas – or by the FBI or the CIA, or a combination of them. The 2010 document describes the operation as "close access domestic collection".<br /><br />The operation against the French mission to the UN had the covername "Blackfoot" and the one against its embassy in Washington was "Wabash". The Italian embassy in Washington was known to the NSA as both "Bruneau" and "Hemlock".<br /><br />The eavesdropping of the Greek UN mission was known as "Powell" and the operation against its embassy was referred to as "Klondyke".<br /><br />Snowden, the 30-year-old former NSA contractor and computer analyst whose leaks have ignited a global row over the extent of US and UK electronic surveillance, fled from his secret bolthole in Hong Kong a week ago. His plan seems to have been to travel to Ecuador via Moscow, but he is in limbo at Moscow airport after his US passport was cancelled, and without any official travel documents issued from any other country.<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/30/nsa-leaks-us-bugging-european-allies" target="_blank">source</a><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZFg2G6MrXW5qyGoJSuBBl0Vu3xIkbKW_StIU4xpGUTQneETcbBc5QfvW8z2dkueLtBZJ4IRasF9KFIKYmdkUIprCqcQP4Xb4DzhkTZDLEztxIh0Nm8-zC2-kAv3IlLfxTf022HhvdR8/s400/NationalSecurityAgency.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZFg2G6MrXW5qyGoJSuBBl0Vu3xIkbKW_StIU4xpGUTQneETcbBc5QfvW8z2dkueLtBZJ4IRasF9KFIKYmdkUIprCqcQP4Xb4DzhkTZDLEztxIh0Nm8-zC2-kAv3IlLfxTf022HhvdR8/s400/NationalSecurityAgency.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div>

New NSA leaks show how U.S. is bugging its European allies

Exclusive: Edward Snowden papers reveal 38 targets including European Union, France and Italy. One of the bugging methods mentioned is  code...

Cirque du Soleil performer dies during Las Vegas show

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSs1pE3_TippOOq-JjObK1Jsz6hEY0ng6xgU0ueom8Aj5PTWZG8FoRLPoT2ej5YYs1VVjXb18cK-Jy-o2XkS7imngqZTffUnN_C1f-k8-Gx1uGd51IqdhTO7mPvHtVXbrwkjND-cr3usD/s140/%2540publimetro.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSs1pE3_TippOOq-JjObK1Jsz6hEY0ng6xgU0ueom8Aj5PTWZG8FoRLPoT2ej5YYs1VVjXb18cK-Jy-o2XkS7imngqZTffUnN_C1f-k8-Gx1uGd51IqdhTO7mPvHtVXbrwkjND-cr3usD/s140/%2540publimetro.png" /></a>A performer in one of Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas shows died Saturday night after slipping out of a safety harness and falling 50 feet into an open pit.<br /><br /><br />LAS VEGAS — A Paris-born performer in Cirque du Soleil's "Ka" died after a fall during a show in Las Vegas.<br /><br />Sarah Guyard-Guillot was pronounced dead late Saturday night at a hospital after falling about 50 feet from the show's stage.<br /><br />Witnesses told the Las Vegas Sun that the accident occurred <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2013/jun/30/cirque-suffers-another-accident-artist-falls-ka-mg/#axzz2Xd1RJXq8" target="_blank">near the end of the production</a> Saturday night at the MGM Grand.<br /><br />Visitor Dan Mosqueda of Colorado Springs, Colo., told the newspaper that the performer was being hoisted up the side of the stage when she slipped free of her safety wire and plummeted to an open pit.<br /><br />Cirque officials issued a statement saying they were "deeply saddened" by the death and that performances of "Ka" have been canceled until further notice.<br /><div><br /></div>

Cirque du Soleil performer dies during Las Vegas show

A performer in one of Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas shows died Saturday night after slipping out of a safety harness and falling 50 feet ...