New German political party seeks an end to euro

New German political party seeks an end to euro
Alternative for Germany, a new political party whose main aim is the “orderly dissolution” of the euro, celebrated its founding congress in Berlin on Sunday. Experts believe the party could have a significant impact on September’s elections.


It’s a spectacle that Germans are getting tired of: southern European protesters burning their flags and waving placards comparing Chancellor Angela Merkel to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, all in reaction to Berlin’s insistence on reforms and austerity in return for bailout funds.
And it’s enough to make people such as Berlin businessman Horst Freiberg, who never felt much love for the euro currency, pine more than ever for the return of the German mark.
“I’d immediately vote for a party that wants to abolish the euro,” said Freiberg, who has run a small business selling ink stamps in central Berlin for more than 40 years. “How can you have one currency with banana republics like Cyprus and Greece? And they always accuse us of being Nazis. It’s sick.”
Such sentiments are still the exception in Germany, where a sense of obligation to help fellow Europeans in distress is rooted in shame for the crimes of the Third Reich. But a new political party hopes to capitalize on simmering fears that the euro crisis could deepen and drag down Europe’s biggest economy. It aims to garner enough votes from people like Freiberg in September elections to reach the 5 percent minimum needed for seats in Parliament.
Called Alternative for Germany, the main goal of the party founded by academics and economists is the “orderly dissolution” of the euro.
The stance puts the party in sharp opposition to Merkel’s position that there can be no Europe without the preservation of the single currency, with her repeated insistence that “if the euro fails, Europe will fail.” While still a fledgling movement, the new party could hurt Merkel by sapping support from her main coalition partner _ which she has relied on for a stable government.
“Because of the euro, people in southern Europe don’t hesitate to express their disgust toward Germany, using old Nazi comparisons,” party founder Bernd Lucke said Sunday in a speech to about 1,500 cheering Alternative For Germany members at the party’s founding congress in Berlin.
“The euro was a failure and it would be bad if we continue to believe in this fairy tale,” he said. “If the euro fails, Europe doesn’t fail.”
Alternative for Germany wants to introduce Swiss-style national referendums so voters can have a say on important matters _ including economic rescue packages. The party congress, at Berlin’s upscale Intercontinental Hotel, plans to adopt a program and vote for a party board on Sunday.
Many of the attendees expressed anger about what they said have been unfair money transfers from German taxpayers to help bail out countries such as Cyprus and Greece.
“This party has good ideas,” said Andreas Fluegge, 49, a software specialist from Limburgerhof in the country’s southwest. “The euro is a big problem for us. Since we have had the euro I’m making less money and paying more taxes for things I don’t understand. I hope these politicians will change this.”
For all the talk about what it doesn’t like, however, the party has been short on what it does like, and its leaders were slammed in an editorial this week in the top-selling Bild newspaper as “political amateurs.”
The conservative tabloid has never shied away from accusing southern Europeans of being lazy, nor has it stopped deploring the cost Germany shoulders to bail out other nations, but turning against the euro itself remains unthinkable.
“They can craftily explain what is wrong with rescuing the euro, but they have no concept on how the future of Europe should look,” Bild wrote.
Experts believe the party has little chance of garnering enough of the protest vote to reach the 5 percent threshold. But it could draw enough voters away from Merkel’s center-right coalition to force her into an alliance with the opposition or give the opposition an outright majority.
“There is space for an anti-euro party in Germany,” said Oskar Niedermayer, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University. “So far this position hasn’t really been represented in the German party system.”
Underlining the potential appeal, a recent poll showed that even though 69 percent of Germans now back the euro _ up from about 50 percent last year _ a significant minority of 27 percent said they’d like to see a return to the mark. The survey of 1,003 people was conducted April 2-3 for the business daily Handelsblatt. The poll had an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Abandoning the euro currency would have significant costs, especially for Germany as a heavily export-oriented economy. According to analysts’ estimates, it could easily knock down the country’s annual output by a double digit percentage figure.
“I think the Germans know, and to some extent accept, that they have to pay the bill for saving the euro,” said Ursula Weidenfeld, an economist and author. “They just want to make sure that they aren’t paying more than necessary.”
Other nations such as the Netherlands, Austria and Finland have also insisted on the same austerity measures that Germany has demanded in exchange for European bailouts, but as the bloc’s largest economy and the largest single contributor to the funds, most of the anger has been directed at Germany and Merkel.
Some of Merkel’s voters are now beginning to wonder whether their country _ and their savings _ should be tied to the struggling euro project, and Weidenfeld said support for the euro “could quickly change if a new rescue package has to be negotiated.”
Should the eurozone’s woes spread to fully engulf Italy or Spain _ the bloc’s third- and fourth-largest economies _ and require them to ask for a bailout, German voters could panic, said Niedermayer.
In Germany’s election in September, the issue poses the greatest threat to the Free Democratic Party, Merkel’s junior coalition partner which has a pro-business platform. Because the party has polled only slightly above five percent, even the loss of a few thousand voters could mean disaster.
“It’s not impossible that this new party could sap half a percent from the FDP and thereby kick them out of parliament,” said Niedermayer. That could create a huge headache for Merkel, who may find it hard to form a workable majority in parliament without the FDP.
Merkel’s own party, too, could suffer if conservative voters see Alternative for Germany as a credible way to express their frustration about her leadership.
Economist Rudolf Hickel told Germany’s Deutsche Welle, however, that even though there is anti-euro sentiment out there, Alternative for Germany doesn’t have broad enough appeal to effectively tap it.
“They are professors and frustrated economists,” he said. “If the party were headed by a populist, I’d consider them dangerous.”

French ministers disclose personal wealth for first time

French ministers disclose personal wealth for first time
French authorities published the personal wealth of ministers on the government website on Monday in a bid to restore public confidence following a tax-evasion scandal which led to the resignation of former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac.


French ministers disclosed their financial assets publicly on Monday in accordance with the April 15 deadline set by President François Hollande as he seeks to restore public confidence in the wake of a high-profile tax evasion scandal that led to the resignation of his budget minister.
Former budget chief Jérôme Cahuzac, once the man responsible for fighting tax evasion, was charged with tax fraud earlier this month when he admitted to having an undeclared Swiss bank account containing an estimated €600,000.
The assets of more than three dozen ministers, including Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, appeared on Monday afternoon on the French government’s website.
PROFILE

FRANCE
THE SURGEON-TURNED-MINISTER WHO FOOLED FRANCE

According to the revelations, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is among the wealthiest - owning three properties worth a total of 3.9 million euros ($5.1 million) - while Ayrault has two houses and a garage.
An IFOP poll released on Saturday showed 63% of respondents support the disclosure of assets, with 70% saying they would not be surprised to discover that many ministers have a high net worth.
A private matter

There was some apprehension, however, that the move could backfire with the French public by revealing the riches held by elites to a country struggling with high unemployment and a stagnant economy.

Unlike in the United States, where politicians often publish their tax returns, the wealth of public officials has long been considered private in France.

Lawmakers on both the right and left have criticised the move, and the government expects to encounter resistance when it tries to extend the disclosure rule to parliamentarians in a law set for review on April 24.

Former Prime Minister François Fillon of the right-wing UMP party denounced the measure on Sunday as “useless”, adding: "This would have in no way prevented the Cahuzac scandal."
The head of the Socialists in the lower house National Assembly, Claude Bartolone, has said the move amounts to "voyeurism".

Scrutiny
Close scrutiny is expected to fall on several ministers already suspected of having significant wealth, including Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

One member of the government, Health and Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine, said before Monday's revelations that she owns about €1.4 million in assets, mostly properties she owns in Paris.

Others made more modest declarations, including Culture Minister Aurélie Filippetti, who said she owns her 70-square-metre (750-square-foot) flat in Paris and, jokingly, a David Beckham T-shirt.

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon publicly mocked the exercise, releasing a long declaration detailing his height and weight, his shirt, trouser and shoe sizes, and the assertion that his hair is its natural colour.

The declarations are part of a package of reforms put forward by President Hollande that includes a crackdown on foreign tax havens and a new independent authority to monitor the assets of politicians and senior officials, as well as potential conflicts of interest. A new special prosecutors' office will also target tax fraud and corruption.

Racist graffiti targets future Paris-region mosque

Racist graffiti targets future Paris-region mosque
The building site of a future mosque near Paris was marked with racist graffiti - including Nazi swastikas - over the weekend, with anti-Muslim acts on the rise in France.


The building site of a future mosque in the city of Coulommiers, east of Paris, was defaced with racist graffiti – including Nazi swastikas - over the weekend.
“A pig’s head and Nazi tags were found inside the site,” Abdallah Zekri, president of France’s Observatory of Islamophobia told the AFP news agency.
Pork is considered off-limits for Muslims, a practice that is derided by anti-Muslim groups in France.
“It’s the same thing every time,” Zekri said of the act of vandalism, calling on harder sanctions for those found guilty of racially-motivated crimes.
Public defamation of a racial or religious nature carries a punishment of up to one year in jail and 45,000-euro fine in France.
Franck Riester, the mayor of Coulommiers and a member of the conservative UMP party, confirmed the building site had been targeted and firmly condemned the act.
“We must work to ease tensions and to respect every citizen, regardless of religion,” he told French media, adding that the new mosque is expected to open “within a few months”.
“Currently Muslims pray in inhumane conditions, in a room that used to serve as the city’s old slaughterhouse. [The city] is leasing them the land to build a new mosque,” Riester explained.
The construction of new mosques is a subject of debate in strictly-secular France, with some far-right groups opposing public-funding for religious buildings, even while similar practices were used to build Christian churches in the past.
In early February, two swastikas and racist insults were spray-painted on a mosque in the town of Ozoir-la-Ferriere, less than 40 kilometres from Coulommiers.

The Observatory of Islamophobia recorded 201 anti-Muslim acts in 2012, an increase of 28% compared to the previous year.

Preparations under way in London for Thatcher funeral

Preparations under way in London for Thatcher funeral
Preparations are under way in London for the funeral on Wednesday of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, an event that will involve the largest security operation the city has seen since the 2012 Summer Olympics.


Preparations are under way in London for the funeral on Wednesday of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, an event that will involve the largest security operation the city has seen since the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Metal security railings are being installed along the funeral route as part of Operation True Blue, which was already in the planning stages years before Thatcher's death and will involve 700 members of the armed forces as well as an SAS contingent.
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The processional route for Thatcher's funeral.
(Courtesy AFP)
Service members will line the route as Thatcher's coffin is taken through the streets from Westminster through Whitehall, The Strand, Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill on its way to St Paul's Cathedral.
The Special Boat Service of the SAS will be stationed on the River Thames.
The ceremonial funeral falls short of being a full state funeral, which is normally reserved for the sovereign as head of state. The £8 million (€9.4 million) event will be attended by 2,000 world figures, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister David Cameron, Canadian premier Stephen Harper and former Australian PM John Howard.
All surviving US presidents have been invited, as has former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Singer Shirley Bassey of “Goldfinger” fame and composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber are among the musical guests who have confirmed their attendance.

Thatcher's wishes
The ceremony will proceed in line with instructions left by the former prime minister herself, according to the Daily Telegraph.

She requested that Cameron read a passage from the Bible but did not want a political eulogy, the Telegraph reported. Thatcher also asked that her favourite hymns be sung, including "To Be a Pilgrim", "I Vow to Thee My Country" and "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling".
The programme will also feature lines from Wordsworth's “Intimations of Immortality” and TS Eliot's “Little Gidding”.

Several politicians from the Thatcher era – including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former German chancellor Helmut Kohl and Ronald Reagan's widow Nancy – will not attend due to ill health.

Thatcher's family will be represented by her twins, Mark and Carol, 59. Thatcher’s husband, Denis, died in 2003.
Security concerns were heightened in the wake of a mass protest in Trafalgar Square on Saturday, organised by Thatcher critics to celebrate her passing. Many of those taking part have indicated their intention to protest along the funeral route on Wednesday.
"The right to protest is one that must be upheld," Commander Christine Jones, who is leading the security operation, told AFP. "However, we will work to do that while balancing the rights of those who wish to pay their respects."
Jones was in charge of security at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011.
"We are hugely experienced in safely delivering high-profile and ceremonial events in the capital," she said.

Pope calls for world peace in first Easter speech

Pope calls for world peace in first Easter speech
Pope Francis appeared before a crowd of an estimated 250,000 people to deliver his first Easter Sunday speech since being elected pontiff, during which he made a strong appeal for world peace.


Pope Francis stood before an audience of more than 250,000 people to give his first Easter Sunday speech since he was elected to the papacy, during which he called for world peace, urged respect for the environment and pushed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.
In his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) address, he also appealed for a resumption of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, an end to the civil war in Syria and political solutions to conflicts in several African countries.

Formally known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, Pope Francis has made the environment an early hallmark of his pontificate, condemning the “iniquitous exploitation of natural resources” and urging his followers to be “guardians” of creation.

Francis delivered his message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica – the same spot from where he first appeared to the world as pope after his election on March 13 – to a crowd estimated by the Vatican at more than a quarter of a million people.


VATICAN
WORLD’S FIRST JESUIT POPE MAKES CHURCH HISTORY

“Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow,” he said, speaking in Italian.

North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a “state of war” with South Korea. Tensions have been high since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered a third nuclear weapons test in February, breaching UN sanctions and ignoring warnings from North Korea’s sole major ally, China, not to do so.

People thronged the open jeep that carried Pope Francis around at the end of a Mass. He stopped to accept a jersey with his “Bergoglio” name on it from fans of an Argentine football club and to comfort a handicapped man.

Francis, who has brought a more simple and personal style to the papacy, said the message of Easter is that faith can help people transform their lives by letting “those desert places in our hearts bloom”.

Guardians of creation

“How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross?! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbour, when we fail to realise that we are guardians of all that the creator has given us and continues to give us,” he said.

Earlier, at a Mass in a square bedecked by more than 40,000 plants and flowers, he wore relatively simple white vestments, as opposed to his predecessor Benedict, who preferred elaborate robes.

The huge crowd spilled out of St. Peter’s Square and into surrounding streets. They included many who had come to see a pope counted on to rehabilitate a Church marred by scandals to do with sexual abuse of children and allegations of corruption.

Boris Berezovsky death: Chemical hazard police give house all-clear

Boris Berezovsky death: Chemical hazard police give house all-clear

Mr Berezovsky told a journalist from Forbes magazine that his life had lost its meaning
The home of the late exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has been given the all-clear after it was searched by police for chemical, biological and nuclear material.

A cordon around his Berkshire house has now mostly been lifted.

Mr Berezovsky, 67, was found dead on Saturday and police are currently treating his death as unexplained.

He emigrated to the UK in 2000 after falling out with Russia's president, and was granted asylum in 2003.

'Nothing of concern'

Mr Berezovsky's body was reportedly found in a bath at the house in Ascot on Saturday afternoon. An ambulance was called to his house at 15:18 GMT.

His body remained at the property while the search - described by police as a precaution - was carried out.

Supt Simon Bowden, of Thames Valley Police, thanked residents for their patience and apologised for the inconvenience.

"However, we needed to ensure that all precautions were taken prior to entering the property.


Steve Rosenberg: "The Russian media has been describing him as 'the great schemer' and 'an evil genius'"
"I am pleased to say the CBRN [Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear] officers found nothing of concern in the property and we are now progressing the investigation as normal," he said.

Boris Berezovsky amassed a fortune in the 1990s after the privatisation of state assets following the collapse of Soviet Communism.

He survived numerous assassination attempts, including a bomb that decapitated his chauffeur.

In 2003 he was granted political asylum in Britain on the grounds that his life would be in danger in Russia.

The tycoon's wealth is thought to have considerably diminished in recent years, leaving him struggling to pay debts in the wake of costly court cases.

Litvinenko's friend

In 2011, Mr Berezovsky reportedly lost more than £100m in a divorce settlement. And, last year, he lost a £3bn ($4.7bn) damages claim against Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.

In an informal interview with journalist Ilya Zhegule on the eve of his death, and published on Forbes' Russian language website, Mr Berezovsky reportedly said his life no longer made sense and spoke of his desire to return to Russia.

"There is nothing that I wish more today than to return to Russia," he is quoted as saying.

"I had underestimated how dear Russia is to me and how little I can stand being an emigre.

"I have changed my opinion on a lot of subjects. I had a very idealistic idea on how to build a democratic Russia. And I had an idealistic idea of what democracy is in the centre of Europe.

"I underestimated the inertia of Russia and greatly overestimated the West."

On Saturday a Kremlin spokesman said that Mr Berezovsky had recently written to Mr Putin, saying he wanted to go home.


Some police cordons have remained in place around Mr Berezovsky's property at Titness Park in Ascot
Mr Berezovsky was a close friend of murdered Russian emigre and former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006 after he was poisoned with the radioactive material polonium-210 while drinking tea at a London meeting.

Without naming Mr Berezovsky, the Kremlin has accused its foreign-based opponents of organising the assassination. It was thought that Russia was, in part referring, to Mr Berezovsky.

He denied the allegation and accused Mr Putin of personally being behind Mr Litvinenko's death. A former Russian intelligence officer, Andrei Lugovoi, has refused to attend the Litvinenko inquest, saying he will not receive "justice" in Britain.

Russian media have described Mr Berezovsky's death as "the end of an era".

On its website, the pro-Kremlin paper Komsomolskaya Pravda describes Mr Berezovsky as having been "clever, cunning, resourceful... a master of chaos".

Meanwhile, Novaya Gazeta - which is normally critical of the Kremlin - described him as someone who "viewed Russia as a chess board", albeit one on which "only he would be allowed to move the pieces".

Leftist Bersani asked to form new Italian government

Leftist Bersani asked to form new Italian government
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has asked Luigi Bersani (pictured), head of the country's left-wing coalition, to form a government. February’s elections produced no clear winner; the political deadlock has revived fears of new economic woes.


Italy's leftist leader Luigi Bersani was asked to form the country's next government on Friday after last month's elections left no clear winner in the eurozone's third largest economy.
President Giorgio Napolitano, who has been trying to resolve the political deadlock, called ex-communist Bersani to a meeting at 1600 GMT.
Napolitano gave Bersani a tentative mandate to investigate the possibility of forming a government after the centre-left narrowly won the February 24-25 elections, but failed to secure a majority in the upper house.

Leftist Bersani asked to form new Italian government

Leftist Bersani asked to form new Italian government
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has asked Luigi Bersani (pictured), head of the country's left-wing coalition, to form a government. February’s elections produced no clear winner; the political deadlock has revived fears of new economic woes.


Italy's leftist leader Luigi Bersani was asked to form the country's next government on Friday after last month's elections left no clear winner in the eurozone's third largest economy.
President Giorgio Napolitano, who has been trying to resolve the political deadlock, called ex-communist Bersani to a meeting at 1600 GMT.
Napolitano gave Bersani a tentative mandate to investigate the possibility of forming a government after the centre-left narrowly won the February 24-25 elections, but failed to secure a majority in the upper house.

Pope Francis meets predecessor Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo

Pope Francis meets predecessor Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo
In what is thought to be the first meeting between two popes in at least 600 years, Pope Francis came face-to-face with his predecessor, Benedict XVI, at the Castel Gandolfo papal residence near Rome on Saturday.


Pope Francis flew in to a papal residence near Rome on Saturday for a meeting with "pope emeritus" Benedict XVI -- an unprecedented encounter in the history of the Catholic Church.

Both men were in the white vestments reserved for popes as Benedict has been allowed to continue wearing his papal robes even after his resignation and is still addressed as "Your Holiness".

Francis took a helicopter to the lakeside Castel Gandolfo summer residence where Benedict has been living since stepping down last month.

Benedict came to greet him and Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi pointed out that in the car Francis sat on the right -- "the classic place for the pope" -- while Benedict sat on the left.

In the palace chapel, Lombardi said Benedict had offered Francis the place reserved for popes but that the pontiff had turned it down saying "We are brothers." They ended up kneeling side by side.

The talks round off a historic few weeks at the Vatican after Benedict became the first pope to resign in over 700 years and only the second to do so by choice in 2,000 years of Church history.

The last pope to resign -- Celestine V in 1294 -- was locked up and perhaps killed off by his successor Boniface VIII. There is no record of the two ever meeting post-resignation.

Cardinals in a conclave last week elected Francis -- Latin America's first pontiff and the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years.

The Vatican said Benedict followed television news coverage of Francis's election from Castel Gandolfo.

Saturday's talks were private and very little is likely to emerge about their content -- with any number of urgent issues for a troubled Roman Catholic Church possibly on the agenda.

The two leaders of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics are both preoccupied with issues ranging from rising secularism in Western countries to the reform of Vatican bureaucracy to the ongoing scandal over the sexual abuse of children by clerics.

The two men -- Francis is 76 and Benedict is 85 -- have very different styles but important core similarities on matters of doctrine and ways forward for the Church after Benedict's often difficult eight-year pontificate.

Francis has paid homage to Benedict and has called him twice since becoming pope.

Analysts say Francis will rely heavily on the theological legacy of the former pope.

Benedict, just before his momentous resignation, also pledged allegiance to whomever his successor might be.

He has said he will live "hidden from the world" as a "simple pilgrim" on life's last journey and is expected next month to move back and live in a former nunnery on Vatican grounds in a life of prayer and academic research.

But the Vatican has said he could also provide "spiritual guidance" to his successor when they live a stone's throw from each other -- an unprecedented and delicate situation for the Church.



-- 'Papacy rooted in Benedict's teachings' --



Benedict is living temporarily in Castel Gandolfo with his secretary Georg Gaenswein -- who confusingly is also the head of his successor's papal household -- and with the four housekeepers who looked after him when he was still pope.

Francis, formerly Jorge Bergoglio, has known Benedict for a long time.

At the 2005 conclave, Bergoglio was the "runner-up" to Joseph Ratzinger, the future Benedict XVI, and represented a more socially progressive current among the cardinals. But reports at the time indicated that he pulled out of the race.

While Ratzinger was reserved in public, Bergoglio is more spontaneous and people-friendly and has shunned some of the trappings of papal office.

Ratzinger was more a follower of tradition and never liked innovation.

But the two are very alike on doctrine and several of Francis's remarks in the first days of his papacy have been borrowed from his predecessor.

Both are opposed to gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia -- in line with the rest of the Catholic leadership.

"This papacy will be rooted in Benedict's teachings," Samuel Gregg from the US-based Acton Institute religious think tank said earlier.

"For the past 25 years, he has been the main intellectual force in the Church," he said.

Francis's popularity is being seen with bitterness in some quarters in the Vatican, where the memory of Benedict still shines strongly, unlike the many ordinary Catholics who have said they prefer the new pope's more direct style.

Postcards have gone on sale around the Vatican in recent days showing a smiling Francis next to a picture of the ever-popular John Paul II -- with no depiction of the pope in between, Benedict.