Germany backs revamped euro bailout fund

Angela Merkel has successfully corralled her government into voting for the revamped euro bailout fund, asserting her authority as chancellor by pushing through the bill without needing to rely on opposition help.
Of 611 MPs present in a highly-charged sitting at the Bundestag on Thursday morning, 523 voted in favour of expanding the powers of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
Under the plan, the EFSF will be enlarged to €440bn (£382bn). It will also be given the ability to give "precautionary loans" to struggling European countries, buy EU government debt, and provide funding to shore up the capital reserves of European banks.
The result was a triumph for Germany's shaky coalition government and marked a major step towards tackling the eurozone's sprawling sovereign debt crisis. Some analysts, though, argue that more radical measures will be needed.
Eighty-five voted against the motion, including 10 from Merkel's own Christian Democratic bloc and three from the Free Democratic party (FDP), the chancellor's coalition partners. Most of the "no" voters belonged to the far-left Linke party, who believe the bailout fund will make banks richer and ordinary Europeans poorer.
Only three MPs abstained, meaning that Germany in the future will be guaranteeing loans to the EFSF of up to €211bn, rather than €123bn so far. Just a month ago, test votes suggested up to 25 coalition MPs were planning to rebel after polls showed three-quarters of Germans opposed the bill.
Had Merkel failed to pass the vote without relying on support from opposition MPs from the Social Democratic (SPD) and Green parties, many analysts believed her position would have been untenable and the coalition would have collapsed.
Yet after a night of intense lobbying, a majority of coalition members – 315 – voted in favour of the measure, enough to have ensured its passage even without opposition help.
"This shows the clear determination of the coalition on this issue," Rainer Brüderle, parliamentary leader of Merkel's junior partner, the Free Democrats, told the n-tv broadcaster after the vote. "We have made an important decision for Europe."
Yet Frank Schäffler, also of the Free Democrats, argued that bailout measures had worsened Greece's economic situation.
"Despite all arguments, the first bailout did not make the situation for Greece better, but worse," Schäffler said. "Expanding the fund will make the situation even worse."
Though Merkel described the euro before the vote as "our common future" and said approving the beefed-up bailout fund was "of the very, very greatest significance", discussions went deep into the night Wednesday, in an attempt to win over dissenting members of her governing coalition.
On Wednesday, Finland voted in favour of expanding the fund's powers despite earlier threats to pull out of a rescue plan for Greece. The fund expansion has to be ratified by all 17 eurozone nations to take force.
Germany's upper house of parliament is expected to pass the measure on Friday.

by Helen Pidd taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/sep/29/germany-backs-euro-bailout-fund

Strauss-Kahn confronted by rape accuser Banon

Ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the French writer who accuses him of attempted rape have confronted each other as part of a police inquiry.

Police are investigating Tristane Banon's complaint before prosecutors decide whether to press charges.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is said to admit making "an advance" on Ms Banon, but denies any violence, and is suing for slander.
She made the allegations in June, when Mr Strauss-Kahn was accused of rape in New York; that case was later dropped.
The confrontation took place at a Paris police station without lawyers present, but with police officers in the room. Police confrontations are held when two people in a case give different versions of events.
'Kicks and punches'

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Christian Fraser BBC News, Paris

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After the confrontation, it will be up to prosecutors to decide which way to take it.
They could decide that there is no case to answer, or that this was a case of less-serious sexual abuse - then the case would be put to one side under the statute of limitation
Or they could decide that on the evidence of the investigation that has been going on since July, there needs to be further investigation and an investigating judge would been appointed.
But you can imagine for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who his trying to relaunch is political career, he is very keen for this to be put to one side and he will be hoping that the police believe his side of the story.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, left the police station a couple of hours after arriving without making any comments.

Later, his lawyer said both sides had stuck to their version of what happened
Ms Banon, 32, had said she was keen to confront her alleged attacker: "I want him in front of me so he can look into my eyes and say to my face that I imagined it."
She alleges she had to fight off Mr Strauss-Kahn "with kicks and punches" when he tried to rip off her clothes during an interview at Paris flat in 2003.
Ms Banon first made the allegations in a TV chat show in 2007, when Mr Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out.
On the basis of preliminary inquiries, including Thursday's confrontation, police are expected to hand over their conclusions to prosecutors in the coming days.
The prosecutors may then decide to either drop the case or start formal criminal proceedings by requesting the appointment of an investigating judge.
There is no time limit for prosecutors to make the decision.
The former International Monetary Fund director, who was once tipped as a future French president, recently returned to France.
He also still faces a civil suit in the US by his alleged victim in New York, Nafissatou Diallo.

taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15105415

Teenage sisters sentenced over plot to kill their grandfather

A 16-year-old girl has been jailed and her younger sister given a youth rehabilitation order for their part in a plot to kill their 89-year-old grandfather so they could steal his money.
The elderly man, who suffered from dementia, was attacked with bricks at his bungalow in a village near Winchester, Hampshire.
In the weeks before, some of those involved in the plot had researched how to kill him on the internet using Google searches such as "1,000 ways to die", "poisonous toadstools" and "easiest way to kill an old person".
Last month, the elderly victim's adopted daughter, 49, was jailed for 17 years and her son, 19, was given an indeterminate sentence in a young offenders' institution after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder.
The woman's older daughter, 16, was also found guilty of conspiracy to murder and was given a 26-month youth detention order at Winchester crown court. Her younger sister, 14, was given a two-year youth rehabilitation order after she was convicted of wounding with intent, but was acquitted of the conspiracy charge.
A third girl, aged 17 – the 19-year-old son's girlfriend – was also found guilty of the conspiracy charge and sentenced to three years' youth detention.
The girls, sitting with social workers, sobbed as the sentences were handed down. Sentencing the two older girls, Mr Justice Foskett said: "The essence of the offence of which you were convicted is that you were prepared to contemplate the death of another individual. I cannot avoid a custodial sentence in your two cases."
Speaking to the younger sister, he said: "Despite your physical appearance, you are still very young and immature. I do not think the public interest calls for a custodial sentence in your case."
The judge described the three girls as "vulnerable" and under the influence of the mother, adding that they had acted out of fear of her.
Sentencing the two adults last month, Foskett called the attack "despicable and inhuman". He said the plot and the attempts to kill the pensioner, who lived with his wife, "will defy belief in the minds of any right-thinking person".
The family, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had launched a campaign to try to scare the OAP to death by smashing a window at his home and cutting the fuel line of his car to try to make it explode.
During the six-week trial the jury was told the man was lured outside his home by his daughter pretending to have fallen over. He was knocked to the ground by her son and hit with bricks by the two young girls.
The prosecution said the intention was to kill him for his money even though he had generously given cash for cars and horses for the family, which had been squandered.
The man survived with cuts and bruises and was able to tell paramedics, who were called by his daughter, he had been hit. He is now in a residential home with his wife.
The court heard that the daughter stopped the attack and tried to tell ambulance staff her father had fallen, but the family was arrested.

by Steven Morris taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/29/sisters-sentenced-plot-kill-grandfather

Listeria outbreak expected to cause more deaths across US

An outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe melons in the US may cause more illness and deaths in coming weeks, say health officials.
So far, the outbreak has caused at least 72 illnesses and up to 16 deaths, in 18 states, making it the deadliest food outbreak in the country in more than a decade.
The Colorado farm where the potentially deadly cantaloupes were traced to, Jensen Farms in Holly, says it shipped fruit to 25 states, and people with illnesses have been discovered in several states that were not on the shipping list.
A spokeswoman for Jensen Farms said the company's product is often sold and resold, so they do not always know where it ends up.
"If it's not Jensen Farms, it's OK to eat," said Thomas Frieden, director of the US Centres for Disease Control. "But if you can't confirm it's not Jensen Farms, then it's best to throw it out."
The recalled cantaloupes may be labelled "Colorado Grown," "Distributed by Frontera Produce," "Jensenfarms.com" or "Sweet Rocky Fords" but not every recalled cantaloupe is labelled with a sticker, the US Food and Drug Administration said. The company said it shipped out more than 300,000 cases of cantaloupes that contained five to 15 melons each, meaning the recall involved 1.5m to 4.5m pieces of fruit.
Frieden and FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg said that illnesses are expected for weeks to come because the incubation period for listeria can be a month or even longer. Jensen Farms last shipped cantaloupes on 10 September, and the shelf life is about two weeks. "We will see more cases likely through October," Hamburg said.
The FDA said Colorado health officials found listeria in cantaloupes taken from grocers' and from a victim's home. Matching strains of the disease were found on equipment and cantaloupe samples at Jensen Farms' packing facility in Granada, Colorado.
Sherri McGarry, a senior adviser in the FDA's office of foods, said the agency is looking at the farm's water supply and possible animal intrusions among other things in trying to figure out how the cantaloupes became contaminated. Listeria bacteria grow in moist, muddy conditions and often are carried by animals.
The health officials said this is the first known outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe. Listeria generally is found in processed meats and unpasteurised milk and cheese, although there have been a growing number of outbreaks in produce. Hamburg called the outbreak a surprise and said the agencies were studying it closely to find out how it happened.
Cantaloupe is often the source of other outbreaks, however. Frieden said CDC had identified 10 other cantaloupe outbreaks in the last decade, most of them salmonella.
Listeria is more deadly than well-known pathogens like salmonella and E coli, although those outbreaks generally cause many more illnesses.
Listeria generally affects only the elderly, pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems. The CDC said the median age of those struck with illness is 78 and that one in five who contract the disease can die from it. Symptoms include fever and muscle aches, often with other gastrointestinal symptoms.
Unlike many pathogens, listeria bacteria can grow at room temperatures and even refrigerator temperatures. It is hardy and can linger long after the source of the contamination is gone; health officials say people who may have had the contaminated fruit in their kitchens should clean and sanitise any surfaces it may have touched.

taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/29/listeria-outbreak-us-cantaloupe-melons

China launches Tiangong-1 space station test module

China has launched an experimental module to lay the groundwork for a future space station, underscoring its ambitions to become a major space power.
Tiangong-1 was shot into space from the Jiuquan launch centre on the edge of the Gobi desert aboard a Long March 2FT1 rocket.
After moving it into orbit, China plans to launch an unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft to practice docking manoeuvres with the module, possibly within the next few weeks. Two more missions, at least one of them manned, are to meet up with it next year for further practice, with astronauts staying for up to one month.
The 8.5-tonne module, whose name translates as heavenly palace, is to stay aloft for two years, after which two other experimental modules are to be launched for additional tests before the actual station is launched in three sections between 2020 and 2022.
"This is a significant test. We've never done such a thing before," Lu Jinrong, the launch centre's chief engineer, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
The space station, which is yet to be formally named, is the most ambitious project in China's exploration of space, which also calls for a moon landing, possibly with astronauts.
China launched its first manned flight in 2003, joining Russia and the United States as the only countries to launch humans into orbit.
However, habitual secrecy and the space programme's close links with the military have inhibited co-operation with other nations – including with the International Space Station.

taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/29/china-launches-tiangong-1-space

Mystery as beached whale found in field in Yorkshire

Experts examining the 33ft (10m) long animal, which died about 875 yards (800m) from the shoreline, say they are 95% sure it is a female sei whale.

The animal was trapped in shallow water near the East Yorkshire village of Skeffling, on the north bank of the River Humber.

Andy Gibson, of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said Sei whale strandings were very rare.

He said there had only been three strandings of this species in UK waters in the last 20 years.

''It is sad. It was in shallow water of about 1.2m (4ft) to 1.6m (5.25ft), making contact with the bottom,'' Mr Gibson said.

''This was about 800m offshore.
''When it gets in that situation it rolls onto its side and it can cover its blow hole.''
But Mr Gibson said: ''It is sad but we will be able to learn a lot from it.''
The whale is the latest of a number to have died in the Humber estuary area recently.
Earlier this month, a young fin whale - a relative of the sei - was stranded at Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, and subsequently washed up dead near Spurn Point.
And another dead whale was spotted in the river mouth in the last few days but has yet to wash ashore.
The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has noted a rise in whale sightings generally in 2011 but no-one is sure why there may be an increase in the mammals in the North Sea.
Over the summer, a pod of up to 10 Minke whales were spotted regularly off the North Yorkshire coast between Whitby and Scarborough.
Whale experts admit they do not know why there has been an upsurge in sightings and strandings.
Some believe it could be due to changes in ocean currents bringing colder streams of Arctic water into the shallow North Sea.

taken from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8796084/Mystery-as-beached-whale-found-in-field-in-Yorkshire.html

Florida Teen Murder Suspect Says She's a Vampire

An 18-year-old Florida girl accused of helping lure a 16-year-old boy into a fatal trap says she's a vampire who has drunk the blood of her boyfriend.

Stephanie Pistey confirmed assertions by police in Parker, Fla., that the people involved in the July murder of 16-year-old Jacob Hendershot were in a vampire cult. Pistey, who was arrested last Monday and charged with accessory to murder, said she sees herself as a modern day Dracula.

"Since I was like 12 every fiber in my body, basically everything, I know this is going to be crazy, but I believe that I'm a vampire and part werewolf," Pistey told WBBH-TV.

Police initially believed the boy was lured to a home and beaten to death because Pistey accused him of raping her. Now it is unclear what the motive was.

"Jacob didn't deserve to die. I didn't even know he was going to die, but I honestly knew that they were going to beat him up and in my opinion he deserved to get the s*** beat out of him. He didn't deserve to die," Pistey said in an interview Monday.

Herndershot's body was dumped in a concrete enclosure. Five people, including Pistey, are charged with either murder or accessory after the fact. Pistey admits she was at co-defendant Tammy Morris' house when Hendershot was murdered, but says she was babysitting Morris' children.

She denied drinking Hendershot's blood, but says she has drunk the blood of her fiancé and co-defendant William Chase, 25. Se said she expects to spend her life in prison.

"Now that I'm here I'm pretty much figuring out I'm going to stay here the rest of my life," said Pistey.

By Greg Wilson

taken from http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/weird/Florida-Teen-Murder-Suspect-Says-Shes-a-Vampire-130691733.html