Greece will not seek another bailout, prime minister says

February 28, 2015

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece won't seek a third bailout deal, the prime minister said Saturday, having succeeded in separating the loan agreement from the "disastrous" austerity conditions imposed with the willing cooperation of previous governments.

Alexis Tsipras spoke Saturday at the start of a two-day meeting of his party's central committee. The Syriza committee will elect a new general secretary and members of the political secretariat, replacing those members who were elected to Parliament in the January election.

Tsipras warned that although a "difficult battle in a long and difficult war" was won with the loan extension, difficulties lie ahead. And he recounted, for the benefit of the party membership, what transpired in the negotiations that led to the conditional loan extension agreement in the Eurogroup.

"We said ... many noes in the past few days," despite the sometimes unbearable pressure and blackmail, Tsipras told the party members. "We joined the battle in Europe with every step undermined," claimed Tsipras. "The most aggressive European conservative forces, in cooperation with the (ex-Premier Antonis) Samaras government, had sprung up a trap to derail us before we had even governed."

Tsipras said he was referring to the extension of the second bailout agreement by only two months; a credit crunch; an empty treasury and banks "on the edge" of illiquidity; and commitments on further tough austerity measures.

"They had everything set up to shipwreck us ... and the country," Tsipras said. The prime minister singled out Spain and Portugal as leaders of "an axis of forces" that "for obvious political reasons were trying to lead the negotiation to the edge of the precipice, taking the risk of developments spiraling out of control, so that they could avoid internal political risk.

"Their plan was, and remains, the rapid wear and tear of our government, its overthrow, or (alternatively) its unconditional surrender before the government's actions begin bearing fruit and before the Greek example influences...other countries. And, especially, before elections in Spain," Tsipras said.

Women to make up half the winners in local French elections

March 02, 2015

PARIS (AP) — In France's upcoming local elections, one thing is certain: Women will win half the seats.

After years of largely failed efforts to get more women in politics, electoral officials devised a new rule for March 22 and March 29 elections. Instead of voting for a single candidate, citizens will vote for tickets, each composed of one man and one woman. Each winning ticket gets both of its candidates into the council.

The new system will change the face of the councils, where currently only 16 percent of members are women — and most members are white men over 60. But one looming problem remains. There is no guarantee that women, once elected, will get equal access to the top positions of these councils. Only six of 101 existing councils are currently led by a woman.

And many voters still don't know about the new system. The councils oversee France's "departments," regional bodies that manage such services as welfare payments, road maintenance and some schools. Voters are choosing 4,108 local council members across France, except in the cities of Paris and Lyon, which have a particular status.

"It's too bad to acknowledge that a law is needed to help women working their way in politics but that is probably a necessity," said Chloé Danillon, a 24-year-old running for the Socialist Party in the southern city of Carcassonne.

Without the voting reform, she said, "I wouldn't have been able to run for the position, not at my age." "It's a chance for us and a chance for democracy because it means that the candidates, and so the elected ones, will look more like the French population," she said.

France gave women the vote only in 1944, a year before the end of World War II. While France has family friendly government policies that encourage women in the workforce, it has never had a woman president and has been slow to welcome women in political power.

No fewer than nine laws regarding gender parity in politics have passed in France in recent years, yet only a quarter of parliament members are women. Camille Hollebecque, a 25-year-old Socialist candidate in Bordeaux, noted that political parties "had to find new faces" in order to be able to compose the new tickets.

And on those tickets, "it's often the man who is representing experience, and the woman youth and renewal," she said. Female candidates report that they are often a source of surprise to the French voters, who are discovering the new voting system and sometimes mistakenly think the women are alternate candidates, instead of equal members of the ticket.

Laure Townley, 33, history and geography teacher running for the UMP party in the city of Annecy, near the Alps, says the new rule "is going to change quite a lot the atmosphere in local councils." "The challenge will then consist of not being stuck in the functions traditionally attributed to women" such as social activities and youth policies — as opposed to oversight over finances, usually given to men, she explained.

The High Council of Equality Between Women and Men, a government-sponsored body, called last week for all political parties to promote better power-sharing between women and men. Romain Sabathier, the council's general secretary, told the AP that the body would study whether the campaign is truly equal, asking questions like "Is the man more often in the foreground on the election posters? Do both candidates have an equal speaking time during political rallies?"

"We cannot accept such obvious inequalities in positions of power anymore," Sabathier said.

Queen christens new mega cruise ship

March 10, 2015

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has christened P&O Cruises' 141,000-ton liner Britannia — a 473 million pound ($714 million) mega ship that's longer than four superjumbo jets.

With a gloved hand, the monarch pressed a button that swung a bottle of Sussex sparkling wine against the hull of the 1,082 foot ship at a ceremony in Southampton. The queen is likely to have a special affection for the new ship's name. Britannia was also the name of the royal yacht, which saw service from 1954-1997.

The new ship can carry over 3,600 passengers and 1,350 crew. It features 15 passenger decks, 13 bars, four swimming pools and a 936-seat theater. It is decorated by 308 foot (94 meter) Union flag painted on its bow.

P&O is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp.

Britain adding Brimstone 2 missiles to Typhoon arsensal

by Richard Tomkins
London (UPI)
Feb 23, 2015

MBDA's Brimstone 2 precision missiles are being integrated on Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters by BAE Systems under contract from Britain's Ministry of Defense.

The integration, part of what is known as the 'Phase 3 Enhancements Package,' is worth about $110.4 million.

BAE Systems, part of the consortium that owns the holding company producing the aircraft -- Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH – says the award includes maintenance and mission systems upgrades to the fighter flown by a number of air forces around the world.

"By any measure, the number of capability enhancements put in place for Typhoon in the past 12 months has been phenomenal, with Meteor, Storm Shadow, Captor E-scan radar and now Brimstone," said Martin Taylor, BAE Systems' Combat Air managing director. "P3E represents another exciting chapter in the development journey for Typhoon."

BAE Systems said the decision on integration of the Brimstone air-to-surface missile followed a feasibility study and a trial installation conducted last year.

Integration will take place at a BAE Systems facility in Lancashire and will help sustain more than 200 engineering jobs there.

MBDA's Brimstone 2 features a millimeter wave active radar seeker for destroying moving targets and can also be laser guided to a target. The original model came into service in 2005.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Britain_adding_Brimstone_2_missiles_to_Typhoon_arsensal_999.html.

Britain invests in facilities for F-35 aircraft

by Richard Tomkins
London (UPI)
Feb 23, 2015

Nearly $462 million is being invested in Eastern England for facilities to handle F-35 Lightning II aircraft, the Ministry of Defense reported.

The funding will be directed at RAF Marham, with work planned to begin on infrastructure and facilities by the end of this year.

The construction work will create 1000 new jobs directly in the construction phase of the project and an additional 700 jobs in the supply chain, the ministry said.

"The East of England has a proud military tradition and today's announcement is fantastic news for the 4,500 people employed at RAF Marham and the region as a whole," said Prime Minister David Cameron.

"This is a clear example of how the decisions we have made as part of our long-term economic plan are enabling us to invest, creating the jobs, growth and investment that will benefit hard-working people here in Marham and across the UK."

While Royal Air Force F-35s operate from RAF Marham, the U.S. Air Force will operate their first two F-35 squadrons from RAF Lakenheath.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Britain_invests_in_facilities_for_F-35_aircraft_999.html.

Thousands of Belgians protest against austerity measures

11 March 2015 Wednesday

About 10,000 people have gathered in the Belgian capital of Brussels to protest against the center-right government’s "austerity" measures.

Workers and labor unions said on Wednesday they had been angered by austerity measures being imposed by Belgium’s new center-right government, which include a two-year extension to the age of retirement, cuts in spending on healthcare and delays to the indexation of wages in relation to prices.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 people attended the demonstration, local media reported, where protesters held banners reading "No Poverty" and fired smoke flares at a square in central Brussels.

Belgium’s four-party coalition government under Prime Minister Charles Michel, which took office on October 11, has also pledged to cut corporation tax from 33 percent to 25 percent.

"The plan is the answer we need to confront the main handicap of the European economy - the lack of investment," Moscovici said.

However, the heavily trailed €315 billion investment plan, presented by EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker last November, was widely criticized at the time after it was disclosed that only €21 billion of money was actually available - reallocated from existing funds.

Juncker said in November the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) was based on reallocating funds and luring private investors into the scheme instead of taking on new debt in an effort to revive the struggling EU economy.

He said the three-year scheme, starting in June 2015, would use public "seed money" of €21 billion, with the EU financing €16 billion from its budget and the European Investment Bank (EIB) providing the remaining €5 billion.

It is understood the "seed money" would come in the form of guarantees to be used to raise private funding for investment in higher-risk projects valued at the estimated €315 billion.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/156438/thousands-of-belgians-protest-against-austerity-measures.

Lithuania marks 25th anniversary of Soviet exit

March 11, 2015

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania has marked the 25th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union amid warnings that its freedom could once again come under threat.

In celebrations overshadowed by Moscow's intervention in Ukraine — another former Soviet republic — Lithuanian independence leader Vytautas Landsbergis told lawmakers Wednesday not to take freedom for granted or "our success story may soon become a temporary success story."

Current President Dalia Grybauskaite urged Lithuanians to show strength and courage as "the rattle of the guns is heard" from the east. Lithuania, now a member of NATO and the European Union, became the first Soviet republic to declare independence on March 11, 1990. But it only achieved its freedom over a year later after a failed communist coup in Moscow.