[Daily Nation (Kenya)] African leaders gave former French president Jacques Chirac and his prime minister Dominique de Villepin ... who may not be a woman ... briefcases full of cash, notably to finance election campaigns, a former aide alleged today.
Mr Villepin, a potential candidate in next year's presidential election, denied the allegations. No, no! Certainly not! which claim to shed new light on the French political establishment's often shady relationship with former colonies in Africa.
Robert Bourgi, a lawyer with a network of African contacts who advised Chirac and Villepin before changing camps in 2005 to aid now President Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... , made the allegations in La Belle France's Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
Mr Bourgi said he "took part in handing over several briefcases to Jacques Chirac in person, at Gay Paree city hall" when the future president was mayor in the 1980s and 1990s.
"There was never less than five million francs (more than 750,000 euros). It could go up to 15 million," Mr Bourgi said, giving a detailed account of how Mr Chirac would offer him beer while allegedly putting away the bundles of cash.
"I remember the first handing over of funds in Mr Villepin's presence. The money came from Marshal Mobutu (Sese Seko), president of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo)."
"It was in 1995. He had given me 10 million francs that Jacques Foccart gave to Chirac," Mr Bourgi said, referring to his predecessor who was president Charles de Gaulle's pointman for Africa and then briefly also for Chirac.
Mr Bourgi said the money handed over amounted to "several million francs a year. More during elections".
"In the run-up to the 2002 presidential campaign (won by Chirac), Villepin asked me outright 'what steps to take'."
Mr Bourgi said five African leaders came to Villepin's office: Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... 's Abdoulaye Wade, Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... 's Blaise Compaore, Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo ... Former President-for-Life of Ivory Coast from 2000 to 2011. Laurent lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and he refused to vacate the presidential palace. French troops assisted the Oattara forces in extricating him from his Fuhrerbunker... and Congo-Brazzaville's Denis Sassou Nguesso and Gabon's Omar Bongo. There, they handed over around 10 million dollars for the 2002 campaign, he alleged.
Mr Villepin strenuously denied the allegations. No, no! Certainly not! "This is all just nonsense and smokescreens," he told the newspaper.
Mr Bourgi said that since he started working for Sarkozy he had no longer brought in cases of African cash, although another former African advisor to Chirac, Michel de Bonnecorse, denied this.
He told Pierre Pean, who also interviewed Bourgi for his new book "Briefcase Republic", that Bourgi himself had in 2007 dropped off a large briefcase at Sarkozy's feet when he was interior minister.
Mr Chirac, 78, was last week excused from attending his corruption trial over alleged ghost jobs created during his time at city hall. His doctors said he was afflicted by memory lapses.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2011 00:00 ||
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We're terribly sorry to have to do this but we're no longer a good match for each other. And trust us when we say it's you, not us...we just can't afford you anymore.
Ever since you and your new BFF--the Affiliate Nexus Tax--started hanging out, people just don't want to do as much business with us anymore. Sure, we know it seems only fair that online retailers without a physical presence in California should have to collect sales taxes from their customers just like everyone else. The problem is, until every other state--or the federal government--feels the same way, companies like Amazon.com, Overstock and others have decided that it's not worth working with us (or 25,000 other California-based businesses) anymore. Apparently, in your eyes, our affiliate relationship makes them liable for collecting taxes. They've decided it makes better sense to just work with affiliates beyond your, admittedly still picturesque, borders.
We know this letter might come as a bit of a shock--especially because things had been going so well between us. Last year alone we helped drive $400 million in sales and we've doubled the number of California jobs we provide year-after-year. And people started to notice: the LA Business Journal named us a "Best Place to Work in Los Angeles" and then Inc. Magazine just named us one of the "500 Fastest Growing Companies in 2011." So what went wrong?
Well, you're a Pisces, we're a Gemini. And maybe we're just being sensitive--like the time we asked you what color our eyes were and you said "white"--but we can either stick with you and try to weather the loss in revenue during these already fragile times, or we can start considering some of the offers from the other states that changed their feelings about affiliate companies like us. Sure, we'd miss you (you are still gorgeous after all) but maybe some clean Rocky Mountain air, or the sound of crashing surf on The North Shore, would be refreshing. Don't worry, you could keep the futon, VCR player and Charoodles--but our 100+ employees and the state income taxes they pay each year would be coming along with us.
Now, please, don't be bitter. We'd still want to be friends of a friend, even if we were, like, totally on opposite coasts. We had some good times, or so we think (FYI, we don't even care about the Napa Zinfandel you spilled on our throw pillow anymore). Hopefully you feel the same way. So, if you're still interested in us, here's a good place to go for information on how we might able to work things out: getbackinbusiness.org.
In the meantime, take care of yourself--and don't forget to water the ficus.
All the best,
Savings.com
P.S. Our friend the LA Times told us that Amazon says they're not even going to pay the sales taxes you say they owe :( Thus the exodus of jobs accelerates out of California.
#3
As I understand it, the bill in question has already been put on hold (by mutual agreement with business) in order to give Amazon et al time to lobby Washington for comprehensive interstate legislation. Thus, this letter from savings.com seems so ill-conceived and ill-timed that it jumped the shark even as it was being pounded out on the executive steno's Underwood.
Times have changed. The Internet was given tax collecting leniency in the past in order to let on-line business get its collective feet on the ground. On-line business is now standing tall financially and no longer needs an assist from the US taxpayer.
#4
The Internet was given tax collecting leniency in the past in order to let on-line business get its collective feet on the ground.
Any different than the proforma licenses issued to television stations? Seems that they've survived the 'infant technology' phase and aren't going out of business left and right. How about a royalty fee like mining or forestry companies pay for use of federal lands, in this case the public use of the electromagnetic spectrum. It can even be 'progressive' based upon the power of their transmitter. Let play first in, first out. Let's see the proposed tax on those boys first.
#5
The problem is not taxes collected in the state where the transactions occurred. IAW with Quill Corp. vs North Dakota no one has argued that if they had a physical presence in the state whether they will collect and pay taxes. It is were the commercial transaction physically occurs outside of the state seeking taxes.
1 - a webmaster in CA running a blog that is on a server in UT has a referral button to company A in FL. Surfer in ME see said blog on the web and clicks on the referral. That results in a sale that is processed on a server in MO. Company A pays the referrer a small fee for the referral. No one disputes that the webmaster is on the line for 'income tax' in the transaction. What is disputed is that anyone owes CA any sales tax for the transactions that were completed between seller and buyer beyond its sovereign jurisdiction per Quill.
2 - similarly same scenario as above but Company A has a warehouse in TX. Company A directs the warehouse to ship that part of its inventory that was ordered by the customer in ME the item(s). TX now claims sales tax as well. Now company A wouldn't contest the collection and payment of taxes, if the recipient lived in TX, but since the party is out of state and the transaction was between ME and FL, believes the sales tax is not valid. Company A closes said warehouse and moves to another state that wants employment and the usual taxes incumbent with employees.
It's not going to be resolved in Congress because everyone wants a piece of the action and the instance of transaction can only occur in one state. The Senate will inhibit the big states from ganging up on the small states in the fight. What could happen is that the Fed levy a 5% sales tax that it'll keep for itself giving the internet companies immunity from the states. That'll make a lot of happy people. /sarc off
People of earth...
Former President Al Gore will renew his 30-year campaign to convince skeptics of the link between climate change and extreme weather events this week in a 24-hour global multi-media event. Probably on that global media colossus, Current TV...
"24 Hours of Reality" will broadcast a presentation by Al Gore every hour for 24 hours across 24 different time zones from Wednesday to Thursday, with the aim of convincing climate change deniers and driving action against global warming among households, schools and businesses. Isn't that some kinda war crime?
#6
There is some really compelling evidence coming in that cloud seeding by cosmic radiation is the real driver of our climate.
I was pretty sceptical when I first heard about this, but science is about predictions from theory being compared to real world measurements, and the predictions are proving remarkably accurate.
#7
phil b - there's no boodle to be made from that until they tax the sun...oh wait....nevermind
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/12/2011 22:54 Comments ||
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#8
Indeed Frank
I recognized carbon taxes and credits as a scam, even when i thought AGW was probably real. Although I never thought it was a real problem. And even if it was a real problem, carbon taxes aren't a real solution.
[Dawn] BADIN / MIRPURKHAS / THATTA: The Badin administration issued a warning to people of 12 union councils to vacate their homes and water gushing from breaches in canals and drains entered Mirpurkhas town and several villages in Thatta on Sunday as there appeared no end in sight to devastation caused by heaviest ever rainfall in the province's history.
In Badin, unhindered upstream water flow continued to increase pressure on the embankments of the overtopping Left Bank Outfall Drain, forcing the administration to issue a warning to the people of 12 union councils, including Shadi Large, Khoski, Pangrio and Malkani Sharif towns, for evacuation. The warning was given after Saturday midnight through loudspeakers.
Thousands of marooned families along the LBOD and Doro Puran faced an acute shortage of food, drinking water and medicines.
According to unofficial reports, more than 30 people have died in the area, because of outbreak of gastroenteritis and other diseases.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2011 00:00 ||
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Twenty-four people believed to have been held as slaves have been rescued following a dawn raid in Bedfordshire. One hundred and fifty police officers were involved in the operation at a site close to Leighton Buzzard.
It is believed the people were recruited from soup kitchens, benefits offices and other locations, with the promise of accommodation and work. When the people were brought to the site though, they had their heads shaved, mobile phones confiscated and made to work as labourers for no pay and live in squalid conditions.
Five people were arrested during the raid. Detectives are eager to talk to at least another three people in connection with holding people against their will, and slavery offences.
Some of those found on the site are believed to have been held there for as long as 15 years. If they tried to leave they were threatened and beaten.
Detective Chief Inspector Sean O'Neil from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Major Crimes Unit told Sky News: "Generally they were held in dirty, filthy conditions, hardly any food, not replacement clothing, as compared to their gangmasters who were living in almost palatial backgrounds.
"They were generally the most vulnerable people in society, who can disappear and be held here without anyone knowing they were missing."
Detectives were alerted to what was going on by 28 people who had escaped from the site. When they arrived the police expected to find around 15 people who were being held as slaves. After a search of the entire site, a total of 24 men were found, most of them British.
Detectives said they were found in an awful state. They had been living in small caravans or sheds spread throughout the travellers site.
They were made to work as labourers on projects across Britain and even in Scandinavia, detectives added. In return the men were paid nothing and given little food.
On their one 'day of rest' on a Sunday, they were made to get up at 6am and clean the travellers site.
All 24 people are now being cared for at a reception centre, where they will get held from medical and other professionals - one of whom is a specialist in torture.
The four men and one woman arrested, all Irish are being questioned by the police.
#2
My British-to-English translations aren't the best, but I think "caravan" means "mobile home" and "traveller" means "worthless Irish criminal who lives out of their car in a govt-paid trailer park".
#5
Pity the English politicians haven't the balls to erect gallows for these animals.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/12/2011 11:06 Comments ||
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#6
Got a family of Brits with us at present and their reactions are enlightening.
Ho hum, what else would you expect.
This seems to be the standard Brit response to everything these days (same response to Greece failure). Total apathy and a we can't do anything about anything ennui.
#9
When I used to drive by that way I would offer a lift if I saw people walking along the road.
On one occasion, I was talking with a couple of lads about a paving job gone wrong where they were forced to work late, so I asked whether they had ambitions to take on their own projects once they knew what they were doing. They told me that the guy that "looks after" them would kill them.
I reminded them that it says in the song that "Britons never shall be slaves" and that they didnt owe anybody a living, let alone somebody who left them to walk 10 miles in the dark on a winter night.
They both had a kind of crushed look about them & I felt sorry for them, but wary at the same time. It would be nice to think that I had helped them away from that hellish place, but they probably went straight back.
As an itinerant myself who has stayed in several places less than a mile from there with few problems, I suppose you just learn to avoid certain areas - same as in any country. There are a couple of pikey sites in Slapton. Friends of mine who have houses nearby are driven nuts by the level of criminality that is tolerated. As well as the theft, arson, vandalism & violence that goes on, "Traveller" kids make up around 75% of the intake in some of the local lower schools.
The truly shocking part is that it took 28 people to complain to the police (from the same site, if the BBC is to be believed), 200 police & a helicopter to sort this out. Not that it necessarily will be sorted, as 9 out of 15 have refused to cooperate with the police already.
At the same time, some of the most law abiding travelling communities are pursued relentlessly by the authorities. I am forced to move outside the parish boundaries (yes - as per the poor laws) every two weeks; British Waterways are presently in the course of taking out an injunction against me for not doing so, even though I have always paid the considerable license fees. (did you know that you need a license for a kayak in the UK?). The legal bill for the last guy they took to court came to around £90,000...
You can find a copy of the recent judgement against disabled health care worker & Itinerant boater Paul Davies here
As for me, life on the move isnt getting any easier - Mrs Ackbar is due to drop our first (girl) any minute...
#13
By that score Bright Pebbles - one might saw having to pay Union Dues (or not be allowed to ply your trade) is a type of slavery (perhaps of a couple hours a week).
#16
In Ireland they called them Knackers. Many would go on the dole in the Republic and in Northern Ireland. Commute periodically across the border between N and S to double dip.
Scooter McGrooter: you're right. Caravans are travel trailers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/12/2011 19:55 Comments ||
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San Juan del Rio, a town in the central Mexican state of Queretaro, has an unusual problem: Too many Mexicans pretending to be illegal immigrants.
In a story published today, a local official in San Juan del Rio (population 128,000) attributes the increase in the number of beggars to Mexicans who are pretending to be Central Americans. To grasp what this means you have to know that Mexico has its own population of illegal immigrants from somewhere else, mainly from Guatemala and other neighboring countries.
Many of these people, in Mexico by choice or because they are stranded en route to the U.S., are often scrapping for a living on the streets. There have been some highly publicized atrocities committed against these immigrants, so much so that Amnesty International has weighed in. Given all this, you can't blame a Guatemalan illegal immigrant in Mexico for using his desperate situation to solicit alms by reminding his unwilling host country of its repeated cruelties.
It must be pretty successful, otherwise you wouldn't have impostors. The local official in San Juan del Rio said 70 percent of those on the streets are not Central American illegal immigrants but Mexicans from elsewhere taking advantage of Mexican generosity. He said he knows this because when police detain them they immediately produce their Mexican identification card, which is not something Guatemalan illegal immigrants have.
The local official, Belem Junco, is also president of a legislative commission on the migrant, so it sounds as if he knows of what he speaks. He said he will introduce a law to punish "people who abuse the good intentions of our citizens by begging for money and pretending they are Central Americans. This is robbery, and we cannot permit it."
If it passes, will it be illegal in Mexico to pretend you are an illegal immigrant?
#1
He said he knows this because when police detain them they immediately produce their Mexican identification card, which is not something Guatemalan illegal immigrants have.
Not that Mexicans in the US ever had forged documents bought in Mexico. Why would an enterprising forger just limit himself to one opportunity?
One person has been killed and several injured in an explosion at a nuclear plant in southern France, leading to the potential risk of a radioactive leak
[Dawn] The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... has expressed its concern over the recent rain and floods in Sindh and has urged the world to give importance to the grave situation.
The givers of the world are worried about Greece defaulting and causing the banks of Europe to fold, or about the American deficit growing large enough to swallow the world. Pakistan's little flood just isn't going to get much traction against those headwinds. Sorry.
The UN is also concerned over the extreme weather situation in Pakistain as the country witnessed severe floods last year and is now facing a similar situation.
They spent their money on weapons and private bank accounts instead of improving the dikes and ditches after last year's debacle. If they don't think it's a problem, why should we?
UN Humanitarian coordinator, Timo Pakkala said the world should come forward to help the flood victims.
According to Pakkala, millions of peoples have been affected in recent floods, 4.2 million acres of cultivated land has been destroyed along with a million homes, by the torrential rains.
Pakkala added that all the UN agencies are active for rehabilitation in the area and will continue to help the people affected by the floods.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
09/12/2011 2:17 Comments ||
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#2
"UN Humanitarian coordinator, Timo Pakkala said the world should come forward to help the flood victims."
I hope by "the world" you mean Saudi Arabia, Timo. We're broke.
As a matter of fact, where's your call to "the world" to come forward and help us with our floods, wildfires, etc.?
Posted by: Barbara ||
09/12/2011 9:26 Comments ||
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#3
From a security standpoint some claim it pays dividends for the West to give aid to these hellholes struck by natural disasters. The wisdom suggests it robs the Jihadi Pricks from the role of sole benefactor. And as result it diminishes their ability of being viewd by the Rustics as legit organizations. But don't believe for a second the Diplo-babble that claims as a result of charitble aid the average Mooselimb will begin to view the Infidels more favorably. They don't, won't, never have, and never will.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: An al-Iraqiya MP regarded the accusations of some parties, following the resignation of Integrity Chairman, as "unrealistic", pointing out that the resignation is due "to the absence of transparency and stability in government organs".
Cheez, the Obama people are everywhere...
Iraqiya MP Shakir Kitab told Aswat al-Iraq that "the resignation of Judge Raheem Ukaily sheds light on complicated political relations and lack of transparency and stability in the government".
"The accusation against this bloc or that are unrealistic", he added.
He confessed that the Integrity Authority did not fulfill its duties, as desired, due to the political situation in the country and political pressures that do not permit "transparent and natural work".
Earlier, Premier Nouri al-Maliki stated to a TV Channel that the Integrity Authority failed to counter corruption in government organs, because there are many corruption dossiers were not open.
Dawa' Party sources said to media organs that Premier Maliki is planning to replace Judge Ukaily with Ala' al-Sa'idi, Dawa party member.
Ukaily announced that Iraq is passing through a state of corruption and that there are more than 500 director generals are charged with corruption cases.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/12/2011 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Water Modem ||
09/12/2011 12:37 ||
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#1
Makes sense and it is the future. I can see the future carriers being only manned with enough people to keep the planes and electronics running, and it has hundreds of unmanned planes that can all shoot out of multiple launch tubes at once during a scramble.
The thought of 400 highly mobile and lethal drones being launched in the space of 10 minutes gives me a chubby.
#2
An aircraft carrier is made for an aircraft payload. Big and vulnerable.
A UAV carrier should be much smaller, and therefore a harder target for anti-carrier attacks.
#3
Eh, bomber-grade drones are not that much smaller than carrier fighter-bombers, and in order to produce a fighter-grade drone, you'll probably have to bulk it up enough to handle the g-stresses. Not to mention the stealthing upgrades and the like. We're probably not talking about that much of a deckspace savings.
Drone development so far has been rather... low-performance as I understand it. They've been putting glorified gliders into combat situations, mostly because the US/NATO generally deploys them in air supremacy situations. The value is for loiter time and precision, not speed, maneuverability or payload.
Also, drones assume open & free communications. Any enemy who's capable enough to contest airspace is going to be capable enough to engage in ECM warfare, aren't they? Suddenly your hypothetical high-performance remote-controlled hunter-killer drone finds itself slow-gliding into the side of a wave because the signals been jammed, and boy, don't you wish you had a pilot in theatre now, don't you?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/12/2011 13:32 Comments ||
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#4
Meh, it's just a different problem to solve. Give the UAV the ability to receive signals on 1000 different methods of communication, including satellite. Sure, it's a vulnerability, but so is not being able to pull a 15G turn. In the event of no communication, give the drone instructions on how to behave autonomously.
The real risk isn't jamming IMO, it's putting chips into the UAV that have been programmed at the factory to respond to a coded signal from China. The UAV then fires all its missiles at the nearest friendly vehicles or kamikazes into the carrier's island.
#5
Unmanned Combat AVs are more than comms jammed into a current system - they are intended eventually to be semi- or fully autonomous fighters rather than the remotely piloted platforms currently deployed as sensor platforms.
#6
The F-22's airframe and electronics can already pull near 20gs in a turn. They have to put inhibitors into the fly-by-wire system to keep the pilot alive. If they have a frequency hopping system to control a UAV like they do with the radios, then jamming will be difficult. Not impossible, but it makes for a really nice target for our HARMS. Add in a little AI for communication loss so the plan will continue its mission and you have a highly efficient and lethal mix.
#8
I helped my son do a school project on new foods.
Well we changed color and did some other things. The results for us were the same for Soylent "laboratory meat". Texture , odor, color are big hurtles to overcome. I believe in the future we will take a pill that will supply most of our needs. The the liquid will do the rest. Perhaps combine the two. Then at some point we will wear a body suit that will keep us comfortable and monitor our needs for at least most of a 24 hour period. Yes, illness, basic vitals and everything body waist recycled. Pills given to correct genetic defects or heredity issues. Trickle feeding of medicines with an infusion pump or even oxygen as needed.Cellular regeneration with error corrections. Hostile environments first then the wealthy or politically connected. My two cents and a plug nickel.
Several Iranian banks have been targeted in one of the biggest frauds in the Islamic republic's history, losing nearly $2.6 billion in more than two years, media reports said Sunday.
Another Stuxnet?
The fraud was reportedly orchestrated by a single man, referred to as "Mr X" in Iranian media, who developed a network and used forged letters of credit to purchase assets, including one of Iran's largest steel production companies, Khuzestan Steel Company.
Don't they usually name people in news reports over there? Why "Mr. X" this time?
"Mr X" ran his master plan from June 2009 to last August, pocketing around 28 trillion rials (nearly $2.6 bn) and also unsuccessfully attempting to form a new bank," said central bank chief Mahmoud Bahmani in remarks published Sunday.
Bank of Saderat CEO Mohammad Jahromi, whose organization was one of the victims of the fraud, said seven other banks were also hit.
Head of general inspection organization, Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, labeled the fraud "the most unprecedented financial corruption case" in the Islamic republic's history. He did not elaborate.
Influential conservative politician Ahmad Tavakoli said the case represented "a terrible corruption disease (lurking) in (Iran's) banking system and administrative apparatus."
On Wednesday, judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani said "the people involved in this case have been placed in long-term storage" before the media got wind of the story. He did not elaborate.
The Germany-based corruption watchdog Transparency International last year ranked Iran 146th out of 178 countries on its annual list.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/12/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Scam? this is normal activity in this part of the world and other areas of the world. Who you are connected to. I am not surprised. In my opinion this is taught at an early age. This activity is in all aspects of society. "Mr X" just Madoffed it.
#2
Gawd, I hope "Mr. X" is from the Mossad. That would be delicious.
Even more delicious would be if they made it look like Mr. X was Ah-ma-dinnah-jacket. :-D
Posted by: Barbara ||
09/12/2011 9:33 Comments ||
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#3
Sun Tzu sez, "Disinformation is a fun and interesting way to help defeat the enemy."
In this case, with finances.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/12/2011 15:08 Comments ||
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#4
Nope. Not a peep on Press TV...
On Wednesday, judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani said "the people involved in this case have been placed in long-term storage" before the media got wind of the story. He did not elaborate.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
African leaders gave former French president Jacques Chirac and his prime minister 
Dominique de Villepin
Dear California,
IN / MIRPURKHAS / THATTA: The Badin administration issued a warning to people of 12 union councils to vacate their homes and water gushing from breaches in canals and drains entered Mirpurkhas town and several villages in Thatta on Sunday as there appeared no end in sight to devastation caused by heaviest ever rainfall in the province's history.
Several Iranian banks have been targeted in one of the biggest frauds in the Islamic republic's history, losing nearly $2.6 billion in more than two years, media reports said Sunday.
