Paper Passion, a scent from Geza Schoen for Wallpaper magazine, makes its wearers smell like freshly printed books

Paper Passion, a scent from Geza Schoen for Wallpaper* magazine, makes its wearers smell like freshly printed books. I suppose it can be alternated with "In the Library," a perfume that smells like old books.

Paper Passion fragrance by Geza Schoen, Gerhard Steidl, and Wallpaper* magazine, with packaging by Karl Lagerfeld and Steidl.

“The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.” Karl Lagerfeld. 

It comes packaged with inside a hollow carved out of a book with "texts" by "Karl Lagerfeld, Günter Grass, Geza Schoen and Tony Chambers."

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It will cost two million € to connect the electricity, and nobody wants to pay.The empty Guadalhorce Hosptial in Cártama

The Guadalhorce Hospital has been completed in Cártama on the Costa del Sol, but it has been empty for several months with no opening date planned.

To continue installing the equipment in the hospital it has to be accepted as meeting requirement, and to show that hospital is as planned, but for that to take place it must be connected to the electricity supply.

The problem is that will cost two million €, although the originally quoted price was 300,000 €, to install the electrical connection required. Endesa say the problem is that to supply the hospital an electrical substation at Villafranca del Guadalhorce will have to be expanded.

Cártama Town Hall has said they cannot meet the extra cost, which has put the budget up five fold. Mayor Jorge Gallardo says he thinks the electricity company is ‘making the most of the circumstances’. 

However the Junta say they think the 2 million bill should be met by the Town Hall. They say the electricity contract was undertaken by Cártama Town Hall.

The Guadalhorce Hospital has been built thanks to an agreement between the Málaga Diputación, the Junta de Andalucía and the Cártama Town Hall, to give the district its long-wanted hospital. Many foreigners live in the inland area and have complained about the time to get to a hospital in Málaga.

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Spain Scraps Siesta as Stores Stay Open to Spur Spending

The Spanish shopping siesta may be about to become the latest victim of the sovereign debt crisis. To stimulate spending after a 23 percent drop in retail sales since 2007, the euro region’s fourth-largest economy this month approved measures that allow shops of more than 300 square meters (3,229 square feet) to open for 25 percent longer a week. The new rules may encourage the outlets to sell during the traditional afternoon snooze from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and on an additional two Sundays or holidays a year for a total of 10. “When everything was fine, nobody complained, but now that things have gone awry, then it’s another story,” said Carmen Cardeno, director general for domestic commerce at the nation’s economy ministry, which created the rules. “We need to evolve and be more flexible.” Spain is following its European neighbors in trying to liberalize shopping hours that have traditionally been checked by governments in the region to protect religious observances, for rest and on behalf of smaller retailers that have fewer resources to staff shops around the clock. England has allowed retailers to open for longer on Sundays during the Olympics than the six hours usually allowed. In France, food shops can be open 13 hours a day and stores located in tourist areas have the right to open on Sundays. Spanish shops are allowed to open for less time than anywhere else in Europe, according to its government, which was asked by retail associations to allow large stores to open 16 Sundays or holidays a year. Some smaller merchants opposed the extension, arguing that the bigger stores would have the necessary manpower and they wouldn’t. The new measures allow stores 18 additional business hours a week and will permit merchants to decide when to cut prices in sales instead of only twice a year. Siesta Time The country’s regions will get to decide how to implement the rules, though they usually follow the lead of the central government. In Madrid, which is an exception, stores have been able to open for as long as they want since July 15. Outlets of less than 300 square meters also have no restrictions on opening hours, though the Spanish tradition of eating at home and having a siesta means most shopkeepers keep their businesses closed for about two hours in the middle of the day. The new measures may not be enough to offset shrinking demand in Spain’s 217 billion-euro ($264 billion) retail industry, which is worsening each year the crisis goes on in a nation where one in four people is out of work. The number of companies seeking bankruptcy protection rose 22 percent from a year earlier to 2,224 in the first quarter, according to the nation’s statistics institute, with commerce being the third- largest contributor behind construction and housing firms and industrial and energy companies. ‘Almost Insignificant’ Javier Millan-Astray, director general of retail association ANGED, said the approved loosening of restrictions on opening hours doesn’t go far enough. “The government’s reform is almost insignificant,” Millan-Astray told reporters in Madrid, when retail groups pushed for 16 Sunday openings. The associations’ “new proposal would help boost consumption and create more jobs because when we open on a holiday, people come and shop. It’s unbelievable that amid this crisis, we have to keep our stores closed.” Spain has been wrestling with the dilemma of preserving its culture and modernizing the industry for decades. The socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2004 rolled back liberalization of opening hours instituted by his predecessor, bringing them back to rules from the 1990s and leaving the country with the tightest regulations of any European country. Job Creation Even with the latest proposals, “retail regulation is hurting both business and customers in Spain,” said Fernando Fernandez, a professor at the IE Business School in Madrid. “Both big and small retailers would benefit from fewer restrictions. When big retailers such as Ikea or Zara open a store, all small shops in that area benefit from that.” Ending the restrictions completely would create 337,581 jobs across all industries and add 17.2 billion euros to economic growth this year, according to a study commissioned by the government, which examined the implications of several scenarios. The nearest of those to the current proposals, under which stores open on 16 Sundays or holidays, could have added 47,945 full-time retail jobs, the study found. About 1.8 million people worked in retail in the first quarter, 0.3 percent less than in the year-earlier period. Stores are also bracing for change as the government looks to the retail industry to help boost tax revenue. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will increase the most common rate of sales tax to 21 percent from 18 percent on Sept. 1, putting an additional brake on consumers’ ability to spend. previous

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Spain king ousted as honorary president of World Wildlife Fund branch after elephant hunt

The World Wildlife Fund’s branch in Spain has ousted King Juan Carlos as its honorary president — a title he’d held since 1968 — after deciding his recent elephant hunting safari was incompatible with its goal of conserving endangered species. The announcement Saturday was the latest in a string of bad news for Spain’s royal family, which has been embarrassed by legal and other scandals. The fund said in a statement that “although such hunting is legal and regulated” it had “received many expressions of distress from its members and society in general.” It said members voted at a meeting Saturday in Madrid to “to get rid of the honorary President” by a substantial majority of 226 votes to 13. The Royal Palace declined immediate comment on the announcement. Many Spaniards were dumbfounded when news broke in April that the king had made a secret journey to hunt elephants in Botswana even though it was widely known he was president of the Spanish branch of the fund. Such an opulent indulgence also angered Spaniards at a time when national unemployment hovers around 25 percent, the economy is contracting and there are fears the country may need an international financial bailout. The Spanish public learned of the safari only after the king had to fly back in a private jet to receive emergency medical attention for a broken hip suffered during the trip. In an unprecedented act of royal contrition, a sheepish Juan Carlos apologized, saying as he left the hospital: “I am very sorry. I made a mistake. It won’t happen again.” It was a poignant moment because the royal family had been under intense media scrutiny for all the wrong reasons. The king’s son-in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, is a suspect in a corruption case, accused of having used his position to embezzle several million euros in public contracts through a supposedly not-for-profit foundation he’d set up. Over Easter, the king’s 13-year-old grandson, Felipe Juan Froilan, shot himself in the foot with a shotgun, even though Spanish law dictates you must be 14 to handle a gun. The king on Tuesday decided to take a pay cut in solidarity with civil servants who are to lose their traditional Christmas bonuses as part of the government’s most recent austerity drive. The salaries of Juan Carlos and Crown Prince Felipe will be reduced about 7 percent — to about 272,000 euros ($334,000) and 131,000 euros ($160,000) respectively — in line with government policy, the Royal Palace said. The king and prince acted voluntarily in cutting their salaries, the palace said.

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Barclays boss Bob Diamond resigns

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has resigned with immediate effect. The move comes less than a week after the bank was fined a record amount for trying to manipulate inter-bank lending rates. Mr Diamond said he was stepping down because the external pressure on the bank risked "damaging the franchise". Chairman Marcus Agius, who said on Monday he was stepping down, will take over the running of Barclays until a replacement is found. "I am deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events announced last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth," Mr Diamond said in a statement. He will still appear before MPs on the Treasury Committee to answer questions about the Libor affair on Wednesday. "I look forward to fulfilling my obligation to contribute to the Treasury Committee's enquiries related to the settlements that Barclays announced last week without my leadership in question," Mr Diamond said. Last week, regulators in the US and UK fined Barclays £290m ($450m) for attempting to rig Libor and Euribor, the interest rates at which banks lend to each other, which underpin trillions of pounds worth of financial transactions. Staff did this over a number of years, trying to raise them for profit and then, during the financial crisis, lowering them to hide the level to which Barclays was under financial stress. Prime Minister David Cameron has described the rigging of Libor rates as "a scandal". The Serious Fraud Office is also considering whether to bring criminal charges.

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Animal-human hybrid stickers invading Parisian streets

While marketing and mainstream communications campaigns have derived branding inspiration in the comic-like cartoon style of street art, and the values attached to its culture—freedom, community, transgression—the paradox still exists to see it framed and sold through traditional art channels.

We caught up with street artist Rafael Suriani at his recent show, "Collages Urbains", at Cabinet d'amateur gallery in Paris, where he told us more about street art and his relationship with the medium.

Suriani's mark features animals, surviving and thriving in the streets for its powerful and highly recognizable aesthetic. In his half-human-half-animal figures, the animal faces act as liberating masks, allowing the artist to express social criticism in an elegant way. The vibrant, seemingly playful creatures refrain from getting too serious and maintain a suggestive tone that avoids the obvious.

 

The stickers are the result of a double-binding process that first assembles man and animal, then adheres the resulting figure to the wall. In the past, Suriani has drawn from his Latin-American heritage, playing with shamanic mythology figures such as toucan or jaguar. In his recent series, on the other hand, he is more interested in urban domestic animals such as cats and dogs—according to the artist, the convention that they tend to resemble their owners offers a metaphoric way to talk about us people. Recently Suriani made a series of French "Bulldogs" as a special dedication on London walls, using this breed to cartoon and make fun of some French characteristics. Each dog expresses a different state of mind—humor, spirituality, criticism or beauty.

 

Suriani uses the rare technique of hand-painting every poster he sticks on the streets. Making each sticker is the result of a process involving selecting photos from the Internet, cutting them in Photoshop, then screening and painting before cutting the final product. Such repetition lies at the heart of street art practice, which is often based on plastering as many spots as possible, invasion-style.

When considering the ephemeral fate of the piece of work destined for degradation of the elements, police destruction or theft from passers-by, the time and effort for such little reward seems remarkable. Suriani explains, however, that the fleeting nature of his work is freeing and allows him to be audacious with both subject and technique. To him, because there is no pressure or constraint, that achievement is rarely a failure.

In the end, the piece of art is not the only sticker by itself, it is the sticker in its context, seen as a whole on the wall with the daylight shining on it, the motorbikes parked against it or the branch of a tree creeping across. Rarely is the work's time spent on the wall its only life, after all, with the rise of dedicated photographers immortalizing the scenes for the Internet.

Suriani claims his intention to step into the city's landscape by bringing much-needed beauty comes with a positive message. Rather than being aggressive or controversial, Suriani takes pleasure in having people on the street enjoy his figures. His work is bound to the city—physically, geographically and socially—compelling the public to refresh their view of their surroundings and drawing their eyes to the places that typically go unnoticed. As an architect, Suriani has found a way to unveil the city and change people's perception of the scenes they see everyday without truly seeing them. The choice of venue is very important, based on aesthetic consideration with attention to the context and surroundings like the location.

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EURO 2012 POSTERS BY DAVID WATSON

Euro 2012 recently began and, for those of you who don’t know, it’s the European football championship. European football is what we Americans call soccer, and it has slowly gained steam over the years, although still not as popular as American football…  Whether you’re into the championship or not (or even sports in general), you’ll probably love these simple, modern posters David Watson ofTrebleseven designed for it.

 

Each poster represents a particular country that’s playing, and the colors of their flag are incorporated into one of the various circular designs. I love the typographic twist these posters have and how they don’t have blatant sports references in them.

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Entitled "Cock and Bull," this showpiece by British artist Damien Hirst towers above diners at Tramshed, which only serves chicken and steak.

DAMIEN HIRST

Entitled "Cock and Bull," this showpiece by British artist Damien Hirst towers above diners at Tramshed, which only serves chicken and steak.

Internationally renowned British artist Damien Hirst has created an art piece for a London restaurant in which a whole Hereford cow and cockerel are preserved in formaldehyde in a steel and glass tank, smack dab in the middle of the dining room.

Called "Cock and Bull," the showpiece towers above diners at Tramshed which -- surprise -- serves only steak and whole roasted chicken.

Like a giant aquarium mounted on a TV stand, the art installation is an extension of Hirst's Natural History, a collection of preserved animals he's been creating since 1991 -- arguably his most famous series. Hirst also created a painting for the restaurant opening entitled "Beef and Chicken" which hangs on the mezzanine level and depicts the 1990s cartoon characters "Cow and Chicken."

In the basement level, the Cock ‘n' Bull gallery showcases a rotating art exhibit every six weeks. The first exhibition Quantum Jumping features art work themed around "jumping into a parallel dimension," and runs until July 1.

The classically British menu by chef and restaurateur Mark Hix, meanwhile, is conducive to family-style dining with whole roasted, free-range chickens or marbled sirloin steaks, both served with fries. Appetizers include Yorkshire pudding with whipped chicken livers, cauliflower salad, and smoked Cornish mackerel with beets and horseradish.

It's not unusual for restaurants to house the collections of famous and interesting artists, given the synergy between food and ambiance. Pierre Gagnaire's eponymous restaurant, in Paris, for instance, houses works from the Galerie Lelong, while Wolfgang Puck has also turned his restaurant space into an exhibit for a roster of rotating artists at his CUT steakhouse in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, restaurants like Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin in New York, Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social in London and Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market in London have been shortlisted in the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards this year.

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Edward Burtynsky Photographs Farming in Monegros Spain

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #13, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky is having a London moment. Not only are his familiar works on the oil crisis on view but he is also exhibiting a new series examining the impact of long-term farming in Monegros, Spain.

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #21, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

These photographs are looking at the tradition of dryland farming carried out over many generations in the north-eastern part of Spain. It's an agricultural region where the land is semi-arid, sparsely populated and prone to both droughts and high winds. The land is made up of sedimentary rock, gypsum, and clay-rich soil. The photographs show the impact of these conditions, as well as man's expanding foot print.

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #8, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

Burtynsky is shooting the photos from a helicopter, two thousand feet up: so high that there are almost no details to be identified. The topography looks like an abstract painting.

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #27, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

Despite a scarcity of water, generations of farmers have continued to farm, so the photos are a contrast between nature's untamed forces and man's attempts to harness it. The cracks and crevices form writhing lines with deep earthy tones.

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #31, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

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Assange seeks political asylum

On Tuesday night WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange applied for political asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after failing in his bid to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sex crime allegations. The 40-year-old Australian is currently inside the building in Knightsbridge, having gone there on Tuesday afternoon to request asylum under the United Nations Human Rights Declaration. The country's foreign minister Ricardo Patino told a press conference in the South American country that it was considering his request. In a short statement last night, Mr Assange said: "I can confirm that today I arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy and sought diplomatic sanctuary and political asylum. This application has been passed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital Quito. I am grateful to the Ecuadorian ambassador and the government of Ecuador for considering my application." The computer expert, who was on £200,000 bail after failing in several attempts to halt extradition, attracted several high-profile supporters including Ken Loach and socialite and charity fundraiser Jemima Khan, who each offered £20,000 as surety. Other supporters included Bianca Jagger and veteran left-winger Tony Benn. The Swedish authorities want him to answer accusations of raping a woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm in August 2010 while on a visit to give a lecture. Assange, whose WikiLeaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, says the sex was consensual and the allegations against him are politically motivated. The Supreme Court last month ruled in favour of a High Court ruling that his extradition was legal. Last week the Supreme Court refused an attempt by him to reopen his appeal against extradition, saying it was "without merit". He had until June 28 to ask European judges in Strasbourg to consider his case and postpone extradition on the basis that he has not had a fair hearing from the UK courts. A statement issued on behalf of the Ecuadorian Embassy said Mr Assange would remain at the embassy while his request was considered.

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Mexican mogul Slim expands empire in Europe

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim on Friday moved to grow his telecoms empire into central and eastern Europe by raising his stake in Telekom Austria to 9.9 percent with the aim of obtaining 25.9 percent. "This acquisition positions AMX as a long-term strategic partner of Telekom Austria," Slim's America Movil (AMX) company said in a statement. The deal is "part of AMX geographic diversification strategy and provides an attractive presence in Central and Eastern Europe". Former monopoly Telekom Austria, the largest telecoms company in the country, is also active in Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, with 20 million mobile customers and 2.6 million fixed lines. Slim is also a shareholder in the Dutch telecoms group KPN and wants to increase that interest to 27.7 percent. The Austrian state is still the main shareholder in Telekom Austria with a stake of 28.42 percent, more than the minority blocking threshold of 25.0 percent plus one share. Austria owns its shares via the state holding company OEIAG, which welcomed the increased investment by Slim, saying his company was an excellent strategic and financial investor. AMX on Friday bought five percent in Telekom Austria from businessman Ronny Pecik, taking its stake to 6.75 percent, and said it intends to acquire a further 16 percent. Financial details were not disclosed. Telekom Austria revealed late Friday meanwhile that another firm controlled by Slim's family also controls a stake of 3.1 percent. Added to the 21 percent, this will give Slim a blocking minority of 25.9 percent in the Austrian company. Telekom Austria is capitalised at about 3.6 billion euros ($4.55 billion). Pecik, who said on Friday that he would withdraw entirely as a shareholder in Telekom Austria once the deal was completed, is to remain as vice president of the telecom operator's supervisory board, AMX said. America Movil dominates the market for mobile telephone services in Latin America, saying that it had 225 million customers in 18 countries at the end of 2010. Slim, 72, has a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $69 billion (54.5 billion euros). Originally from a family of Lebanese traders, he heads the Forbes list of the richest men in the world, far ahead of the founder of Microsoft computer software, Bill Gates, who is second with a fortune put at about $61 billion. Slim made his fortune through the privatisation of the Mexican company Telmex (Telefonos de Mexico) which he owns and used as a base for developing America Movil. Shares in Telekom Austria gained 1.42 percent on Friday to close at 8.15 euros, handing back earlier gains. The benchmark ATX index closed 2.02 percent higher.

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When politics is not enough to eat

Until I started crises back in 2007, working in government-and particularly in some municipalities, had been a bargain for many people comparing the safety, security and above all, the wages that are offered in private companies. Five years later, wage cuts, job layoffs and unpaid payroll in many municipalities have pushed these municipal workers, and also for political office, to seek a job outside the Administration . Is the case of City of Los Barrios (Cadiz) , where they accumulate three unpaid payroll, both municipal staff and the government team. Delays in payments and restrictions on supply have taken place intermittently for more than two years in this municipality of Campo de Gibraltar . Councilman Miguel Alconchel is Andalusian Party and Councillor for Culture and Sports City basin, and from June 2011 enjoys a leave as an employee of a mall to devote himself exclusively to the local task. Now, after several months of trouble collecting accrued payroll and three raises waive exclusivity and return to your previous work. "The situation in the City is unsustainable and that I and other government partners we are considering applying for reinstatement to our work," says the councilor. Alconchel further believes that this will make "a favor by thinning the payroll administration." If the City can not pay, you will avoid spending Miguel Alconchel, Councillor PA "If the City can not pay, you will avoid spending," said the mayor andalucista, married with children, and that claims to have had to pay out of pocket for travel to Seville City's efforts: "I have not spent a single expense to the Administration . " The council took its last payroll in February. Were 1,600 euros, about 400 more than in his former private employment. Although he likes to work for his people, the income volatility leads him to think that exclusivity is not worth it. "Sometimes I regret having gone into politics," he says. The same thing happens to your party and corporate partner, Antonio Gonzalez. This is representative of the municipal board of Palmones , one of the city away from the hull. It is also responsible for industrial sites in the municipality. "The only thing that leads me to endure is the need I have to work for my people, but you can not continue living in the family," says Gonzalez. The council also has referred to the mayor, Jorge Romero andalucista, to return to work. Gonzalez is an employee of Hotel Guadacorte since 1974 and if the local situation will not change their maintenance on that facility. "I know I would be very strong, because the City must spend a long time and I do not know how it will affect the delegation that enough time be reduced," said the councilman. I like working for my people, but you can not live in the family Antonio Gonzalez, mayor of Palmones They are not alone. Another partner of government, Francisco Gil, says he is "looking for work outside," because currently-time charges offset unemployment and another half release by the City. The state councilor and Parks and Gardens Cleaning is different from their peers. After 30 years working in a large area, was fired and he was standing when his party came to the municipal government, following elections in May 2011. Francisco Gil says, "Every day you work at City Hall to change this situation, trying to find resources and cutting costs." "Thanks to the half-day strike that income as my three children are already working, we moving forward," says the councilor. The unpaid wages have not only led policymakers to consider whether or not to continue devoting much of the day to municipal management. Employees of the urban area and the local police in Los Barrios who wished to remain anonymous have told the Mayor their intention to apply for leave in order to carry out work in private business until the situation improves and economic conditions of the session shall be at least collect the payroll guarantees.

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Prince Philip in hospital

The Duke of Edinburgh has been taken to hospital with a bladder infection and will miss the rest of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Buckingham Palace said Prince Philip, 90, had been taken to the King Edward VII Hospital in London from Windsor Castle as a "precautionary measure". The Queen is still expected to join 12,000 others at the Jubilee concert which is under way at the palace. The prince will remain in hospital under observation for a few days. The prince had appeared to be in good health when he accompanied the Queen on Sunday on the royal barge the Spirit of Chartwell, which formed part of the rain-drenched Jubilee river pageant. He and the Queen stood for most of the 80-minute journey, as they were accompanied by 1,000 boats travelling seven miles down the river to Tower Bridge.

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Three killed in northern Italy earthquake

Three people have been killed in a 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck northern Italy near Bologna, according to reports. The quake that struck at just after 4am local time was centred 21.75 miles north-northwest of Bologna at a relatively shallow depth of six miles, the US Geological Survey said. Italian news agency Ansa, citing emergency services, said two people were killed in Sant'Agostino di Ferrara when a ceramics factory collapsed. Another person was killed in Ponte Rodoni do Bondeno. In late January, A 5.4-magnitude quake shook northern Italy. Some office buildings in Milan were evacuated as a precaution and there were scattered reports of falling masonry and cracks in buildings. The tremor was one of the strongest to shake the region, seismologists said. Initial television footage indicated that older buildings had suffered damage. Roofs collapsed, church towers showed cracks and the bricks of some stone walls tumbled into the street during the quake. As dawn broke over the region, residents milled about the streets inspecting the damage. Italy's Sky TG24 showed images of the collapsed ceramics factory in Sant'Agostino di Ferrara where the two workers were reportedly killed. The structure, which appeared to be a hangar of sorts, had twisted metal supports jutting out at odd angles amid the mangled collapsed roof. The quake “was a strong one, and it lasted quite a long time”, said Emilio Bianco, receptionist at Modena's Canalgrande hotel, housed in an ornate 18th century palazzo. The hotel suffered no damage and Modena itself was spared, but guests spilled into the streets as soon as the quake hit, he said. Many people were still awake in the town since it was a “white night”, with shops and restaurants open all night. Museums were supposed to have remained open as well but closed following the bombing of a school in southern Italy that killed one person. The quake epicentre was between the towns of Finale Emilia, San Felice sul Panaro and Sermide, but was felt as far away as Tuscany and northern Alto Adige. The initial quake was followed about an hour later by a 5.1-magnitude aftershock, USGS said. And it was preceded by a 4.1-magnitude tremor. In late January, a 5.4-magnitude quake shook northern Italy. Some office buildings in Milan were evacuated as a precaution and there were scattered reports of falling masonry and cracks in buildings. In 2009, a devastating tremor killed more than 300 people in the central city of L'Aquila.

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FISHERMAN has been ordered to pay £1 million as part of the notorious black fish fraud case in the north east of Scotland.

The confiscation order against Ian Buchan, 55, master of the Quantas fishing vessel, is one of the largest ever made against an individual in Scotland.

Buchan was one of four captains ordered over the proceeds of their crimes at the High Court in Edinburgh today.

They had all previously pled guilty to landing undeclared fish at Fresh Catch Ltd and Alexander Buchan Ltd between 2002 and 2005.

Of the others, James Duthie, 55, master of the Sunbeam, was ordered to pay £99,000, Stephen Bellany, 49, master of the Unity, was handed a £64,612 bill, and Oswald McRonald, 64, master of the Quantas, received a confiscation order for £23,669.

Confiscation orders totalling almost £3m and fines of about £1m had previously made against 17 skippers involved in what judges described as “an episode of shame” for the fishing industry.

The vessel masters and three factories conspired to under report fishing levels from the North Sea in a scam estimated to have been worth at least £62.8m.

Speaking after today’s court hearing, Lesley Thomson QC, the Solicitor General, said: “Serious and organised crime can take many forms and these individuals were involved in significant organised criminality.

“They put their own financial gain first and sought to obtain staggering amounts of money with blatant disregard for the impact such large scale overfishing would have.

“Our message is very clear that there is no place in Scotland for those who want a lifestyle funded by crime and we will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies to use Proceeds of Crime laws to make Scotland an increasingly hostile place for these criminals.”

Detective Superintendent Gordon Gibson, of Grampian Police, who led the police investigation, added: “These investigations have been an excellent example of highly effective partnership working by a number of Law Enforcement bodies across Scotland and beyond.

“The significant sums of money seized under the Proceeds of Crime legislation clearly show that these men were involved in a highly organised criminal enterprise for their own profit.

“I look forward to the sizeable sums seized today, and indeed monies from the previous over fishing cases within this investigation being distributed to many worthwhile causes across our communities in Scotland.”

Cephas Ralph, head of compliance at Marine Scotland, said: “Today’s court activity was the successful result of long running and complex joint operations into large-scale illegality at a small number of processing plants initially uncovered during factory raids over six years ago.

“This action has prompted huge improvements in levels of compliance but my officers remain continuously vigilant in monitoring the enormous quantities of valuable Herring and Mackerel handled by Scottish processing plants.”

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Posted in: FISHERMAN has been ordered to pay £1 million as part of the notorious black fish fraud case in the north east of Scotland.

‘Save euro’ plea to Germans as Spain slumps

BRITAIN yesterday piled pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to save the euro. 6 comments Related Stories PM: Make or break for euro HE to issue plea to Merkel to fork out as only way to stave off meltdown New French Pres gets a soakingFrench warning for CameronSarky poll malarky will leave PM narky David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne said she must use her financial clout to stop the single currency collapsing. The PM hammered the message home in emergency talks via video-link with Mrs Merkel and French president Francois Hollande. It came as the chaos in Greece spread to Spain — with fears of a run on banks in both countries. Greeks have taken £560million from local banks in the past week. And yesterday Spain’s Bankia bank was forced to deny reports customers had taken £800million out of its coffers in the past seven days. Last night the fears hit Santander UK as credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the bank along with its Spanish owner and 15 other Spanish banks. And credit agency Fitch downgraded Greece on fears it will be booted out of the Eurozone. Earlier, Mr Osborne said the Treasury had drawn up emergency plans to cope with Greece quitting the euro. He told MPs: “Britain will be prepared for whatever comes.” Mr Cameron had warned countries such as Greece and Spain can only survive if richer countries did more to “share the burden of adjustment”. He also backed Eurobonds to raise billions to prop up crisis-hit countries — a proposal that would have to be bankrolled by Berlin. After the video chat, a Downing Street spokesman said the PM urged the eurozone to take “decisive action to ensure financial stability and prevent contagion”.

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Posted in: ‘Save euro’ plea to Germans as Spain slumps

Greece must ‘obey or get off euro train’

Top EU officials have decreed Greece should leave the eurozone if unable to stick to the austerity measures imposed by European creditors. The political crisis in Athens is making this scenario not altogether impossible. The parliamentary elections in Greece on May 6 ended with no political party gaining the majority of seats needed to form a government. Now it appears that their hopes of forming a ruling coalition are falling apart like a card-castle. President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso told Italy’s SkyTG24 TV channel that since Greece is unable to fulfill its financial obligations towards the EU, it should leave the eurozone. Barroso compared the single currency to a club, the rules of which are binding for members. The President of the European Commission said however highly he respects Greek democracy, he cannot neglect the needs of the other 16 eurozone member states. He stressed that if Athens cannot respect agreements reached, he sees no reason why the EU should not part company with Greece.

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Posted in: Greece must ‘obey or get off euro train’

Neo-Nazi party wins seats in Greek parliament

One of the big winners in the Greek election was the far-right Golden Dawn. It passed the three per cent barrier guaranteeing parliamentary participation, and will be the first neo-Nazi formation in the Greek parliament since 1974. Among other things it wants to expel immigrants and mine the border with Turkey. Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Micholiakos said: “The Greeks were anytime nationalists and now they have the chance to express their political stand. Nobody need fear me if he is a good Greek citizen, for everyone who is a traitor I do not care.”

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Posted in: Neo-Nazi party wins seats in Greek parliament

We don't want your European Union

The election results in France and Greece leave a crystal clear message to those grey elements controlling the European Union, a message from the people who they never bothered to consult as they imposed a failed super-state in an arrogant top-down approach. The Merkozy space is dead. R.I.P. Let me take that back. The Merkozy space is dead, now rot in Hell for all eternity. The message is clear: the people do not want your European Union and the more people you ask, in a democratic process called a Referendum, the louder the message will ring in your ears. It is by now patently clear that the centre-right approach to the economic crisis which the political right created, is pitifully inadequate and woefully out of touch. That is why Hollande beat Sarkozy in France, that is why the Greek elections have ended in a stalemate. Any student of elementary economics knows that the way to stimulate an economy is not to take money out of it, but to inject money into it, yet what does the faceless army of Eurocrats do? It increases taxes, it does little or nothing to stimulate employment, little or nothing to help save companies in difficulty and then gets itself into negative spirals of development when it has to pay more and more money out in unemployment benefit and receives less and less money from taxes. The more you tax, the less money you have - it is an economic rule which seems to have bypassed this incompetent band of failed managers gravitating around Brussels and Strasbourg. Print version Font Size Send to friend Something else which passed them by thirty years ago - and anybody could have seen it coming - is that if you pay countries not to produce, if you pay farmers to bury their crops and sell their cows, if you pay fishermen not to fish, then downstream the effects on employment will be felt years later as communities based upon thousands of years of history are destroyed. And what were the governments thinking of when they were negotiating away their fisheries and their industries and their agriculture? They were destroying jobs, they were destroying the futures of their countries' children. Then when their wonderful economic system enters yet another of its boom and bust cycles, sweeping millions of people into poverty as the rich get richer and as the middle classes move down two cogs further towards endemic poverty, what do they do? They find money to bail out the banks at the drop of a hat and then instead of finding money to create jobs and build schools and fund hospitals, they impose draconian austerity measures on the people, whose only crime was to have done everything that was asked of them. As if that was not enough, they then impose a single currency without asking anybody, without explaining the consequences, which is hardly surprising because they did not know what they were, and without knowing what they were doing, pressed ahead in an anti-democratic, arrogant manner which defies their legitimacy to govern. Then they allow foreign ratings agency to have a direct say in financial policy, they spend billions and billions on NATO, which was elected by nobody and is doing precisely what? Defending Europe from an invasion from Burkina Faso? Or Saturn? Or murdering children in Libya while supporting terrorists in Syria? There is money for illegal wars, there is money to murder children in their homes, there is money for tanks, there is money for guns and bullets and aircraft and drones and ships but there is no money for Universities, there is no money for healthcare, there is no money to create jobs. And when, in their wisdom, they have led their countries to abject misery and economic and financial ruin, they call in The Troika, another faceless gang of incompetent wannabe economists, who despite having lists of diplomas as long as their arms, defy logic by imposing austerity measures in return for bailouts which push their sovereign credit ratings to impossible levels. Let us be honest: on which planet or in which galaxy can an economy which is showing growth rates of below one per cent, be expected to honour debts with a seven-per-cent interest rate? No wonder the people are fed up. Given that the European Union's leaders in their collective wisdom are incapable of producing any ideas and reply wanly "we don't know" when asked what to do, then let us produce some ideas ourselves: First off, let us all admit once and for all that the EU project went too far and too fast. What people wanted was a loose trading agreement eliminating tariffs on goods. We did not want to do away with frontiers, we did not want a single currency and we certainly did not want Brussels dictating that packets of mixed salad seeds are illegal. I repeat, packets of mixed salad seeds are illegal. Secondly, let us do away with this Eurozone nonsense which is as complicated or as easy as they wish to make it, let us do it with goodwill so that people do not have an even worse economic situation placed upon their shoulders and don't you dare increase our mortgages, don't you dare increase prices and don't you dare take away a single right we have fought for. Thirdly, let us dismantle the Eurocratic Union, let us send the Eurocrats back to where they came from, let us have our frontiers back, let us have our currencies back so we can use them as leverage when we need to and let us stop imposing German measures on economies like Portugal's, or else conversely, give the Portuguese German salaries and then treat them with the same set of weights and measures.

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Posted in: We don't want your European Union

former world heavyweight champion was spotted in Warsaw with his third wife Lakiha Spicer, and their son, one-year old Morocco Elijah Tyson

He has just finished a sell-out run at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas — Mike Tyson: The Undisputed Truth and a spate of guests appearances in the UK.

And today the former world heavyweight champion was spotted in Warsaw with his third wife Lakiha Spicer, and their son, one-year old Morocco Elijah Tyson. 

But Lakiha, also known as Kiki, was left holding the baby as Tyson appeared in be in the middle of reading a book titled Gangs.

Mummy's boy: Morocco clung to his mother as they left the hotel in Warsaw

The fallen boxing champ is in Poland with his family to continue what appears to be an attempt at the rehabilitation of his reputation and a restocking of the coffers.

In a recent interview Tyson claimed to have squandered his $300million fortune and was now ‘forced to live paycheck to paycheck’.

'In Warsaw, Poland. Just wrapping commercial for Black Power Energy Drink. They put me on the can,' the former heavyweight champion posted on his Twitter feed.

 

Third time's a charm: Lakiha is Tyson's third wife, he was also married to Robin Givens and Monica Turner

 

Tyson performed his one-man show in Vegas earlier this month to audiences of celebrities and fellow boxers including fellow boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard.

The former champ pulled no punches in the frank talk about his three marriages, eight children, drug abuse and his traumatic upbringing.

He also kept the audience laughing by breaking out into song and with unscripted gags about his wild past.

The show took place at the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas, which has been the scene of some of Tyson’s most epic fights during his career.

A new man: Tyson claims to be a changed man thanks to sobriety and veganism

The shamed boxer has been a constant presence in the headlines recently.

In a shocking interview with ESPN's Rick Reilly last week, Tyson claimed he got a prison worker pregnant while serving a jail sentence.

The revelation came after Reilly asked him what stories he had left out of his one man show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.

He said: 'Oh yeah. In prison, stuff happens. But she had no baby.'

While he did not discuss when exactly the incident occurred, his longest stint behind bars was when he was convicted of raping 18-year-old beauty queen Desiree Washington in 1992.

She's a knock-out: Lakiha is an awesome wife who cares about Tyson according to the boxer.

Tyson had told the audience at his six-run Vegas show: ‘I went to jail for something I didn’t do’.

Tyson wed Spicer in 2009 in Las Vegas, she is also the mother of Tyson's daughter, Milan.

Tyson has also fathered eight other children.

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Posted in: and their son,former world heavyweight champion was spotted in Warsaw with his third wife Lakiha Spicer,one-year old Morocco Elijah Tyson