Spanish king distances himself from scandal-hit father

Yahoo – AFP, March 15, 2020

Juan Carlos handed over power to his son, Felipe in 2014 (AFP Photo/Juanjo Martín)

Madrid (AFP) - King Felipe VI of Spain moved Sunday to distance himself from his scandal-hit father, stripping him of his palace allowance and renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

A statement from the palace announced that he had stripped the former king Juan Carlos, of his allowance and was himself renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

The announcement came after media reports that Juan Carlos had received 100 million dollars (90 million euros) from Saudi Arabia via an offshore account -- and that King Felipe himself was also a beneficiary.

The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account in the name of a Panamanian foundation.

In the palace statement, the reigning king said that in April he had made it clear to a notary that he would accept no money from the foundation in question.

He also that he had absolutely no knowledge of having been named as a beneficiary to another foundation, which according to press reports paid millions of euros towards his father's flights in private jets.

On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament decided against launching an investigation into suspected money laundering by the former king Juan Carlos.

Reported Saudi payments to ex-king

Spain's hard-left Podemos party had called for it after reports earlier this month that in 2008 Juan Carlos received $100 million from Saudi king Abdallah via the Swiss account of an entity listed in Panama.

The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve added that in 2012, $65 million of that sum was given by the king to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Then a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph said that 52-year-old King Felipe was also a beneficiary of the fund, which it said had been set up when Juan Carlos was still on the throne.

Juan Carlos, now 82, came to the throne after the death of the military dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and is widely respected for having favoured a transition to democracy.

But he lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, in June 2014 following a 39-year reign.

He resigned from public life last year after a series of scandals about his private life.

In 2012, he outraged Spaniards by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

Spanish reports say Juan Carlos has until now received an annual allowance from the state of more than 194,000 euros.

Australian caught up in Barcelona, Paris, London attacks

Yahoo – AFP, August 18, 2017

Australian citizen Julia Monaco was in barcelona during the terror attack on
August 17, 2017, and was also in London during the London Bridge attack and
in Paris during the attack outside Notre Dame, but she says that she still plans
to travel Europe (AFP Photo/Josep LAGO)

London (AFP) - An Australian woman who fled in fear from the Barcelona attack has told how she was caught up in two other recent terror incidents in Paris and London during her European travels.

"I was in London at the time of the London Bridge attack, and we were also at Notre Dame the day the attack took place there too," Julia Monaco, a 26-year-old from Melbourne, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

She recounted how she and her friends took refuge inside a shop as crowds ran from a vehicle as it ploughed through pedestrians on the famous Las Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona on Thursday afternoon.

"One minute everything was fine, and the next it was absolute pandemonium. Everyone just started screaming and running, being told to get away from the windows," she said.

They lay on the ground, without knowing what was going on, before they were eventually allowed to leave and walked back to their hostel.

It was the third time Monaco, who is travelling around Europe this summer, found herself caught up in a terror attack.

She told Australian radio station 3AW that she was "locked down on the Tube" on June 3 during a vehicular and knife attack at London Bridge, which left eight people dead.

Three days later, she was in Paris when a 40-year-old Algerian doctorate student who had pledged allegiance to IS attacked a policeman with a hammer outside Notre Dame cathedral.

"I'm not coming home, these thugs are not going to stop me," Monaco told 3AW, adding: "I still want to travel the world, maybe there is something wrong with me, but I am still going."

China steams ahead on clean energy

BBC News, by Richard Black, Environment correspondent

Projects like Donghai Bridge wind farm in Shanghai have pushed China ahead

China overtook the US during 2009 to become the leading investor in renewable energy technologies, according to a new analysis.

Researchers with the Pew Charitable Trusts calculate that China invested $34.6bn (£23.2bn) in clean energy over the year, almost double the US figure.

The UK emerges in third place among G20 nations, followed by Spain and Brazil.

The most spectacular growth has come in South Korea, which saw installed capacity rise by 250% in five years.

Globally, investment has more than doubled in the last five years, Pew finds, with the recent economic turmoil generating only a slight dip.

TOP FIVE INVESTORS 2009

• China - $34.6bn
• US - $18.6bn
• UK - $11.2bn
• Spain - $10.bn
• Brazil - $7.4bn

"Even in the midst of a global recession, the clean energy market has experienced impressive growth," said Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew's campaign on climate change.

"Countries are jockeying for leadership.

"They know that investing in clean energy can renew manufacturing bases, and create export opportunities, jobs and businesses."

The US still holds a marginal lead in the total amount of installed capacity, but will be overtaken by China during the course of this year if existing trends continue.

Diversification nation

China's target of having 30GW of installed renewable capacity in place by 2020 will soon be exceeded through wind alone, and new targets are in the process of being set.

"The government has taken a strategic decision that diversifying its energy supply should be a national priority," commented Steve Sawyer, secretary-general of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), who was not involved in the Pew report.

FASTEST GROWERS

• South Korea - 249%
• China - 79%
• Australia - 40%
• France - 31%
• India - 31%

(growth in installed capacity over last five years)

"It is now the world's leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic cells, and more wind turbines are made in China than anywhere else."

However, China's use of fossil fuels is also expanding fast.

So far, renewables account for a small share of its energy supply, although the overall target is a 15% share of total energy by 2020.

Wind was the dominant sector in most of the high-investing countries, the exceptions being Spain, Germany and Italy where solar technologies commanded a majority share.

US investment fell by 40% during from 2008 to 2009.

"The US's competitive position is at risk in the emerging clean energy economy," said Ms Cuttino.

Spain's investment also dropped due to the recession, following several years of rapid increases driven by the desire to cut greenhouse gas emissions very quickly in order to reach its Kyoto Protocol target.

Pew notes that the UK achieved its third place through "large offshore wind deals, backed by the government", and by being "at the forefront of marine energy investments."

Pew based its analysis on the database maintained by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the international analysis and consultancy group.

Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Outsiders flag intention to apply for club membership

The Australian, Dennis Shanahan, in New York | September 28, 2009

WHEN US President Barack Obama stood at the end of the leaders' summit in Pittsburgh and declared the G20 was the new premier economic forum in the world, there was a confusing background of 25 flags flying on the stage.

That there were so many flags when there are only 19 national members of the G20 is testimony to the tensions and infighting going on beneath the surface about who should be part of the new global economic order.

During months of diplomatic campaigning over the issue, there has been strong opposition, particularly from Europe, to any eclipsing of the G8 as the premier multilateral economic decision-maker, and even more dispute over how big any new body should be and which nations should be members of the group.

From an Australian, Chinese, Brazilian and US standpoint there was little doubt that the G20 - originally including finance ministers and central bankers from 19 countries and the European Union who were brought together to deal with the Asian financial crisis - should be the supreme new body.

Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan have been trying to ensure Australia would be at the table of whatever body was formed arising from the global financial crisis.

Officially the membership of the G20 is Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US, as well as the European Union, represented by the rotating council presidency and the European Central Bank.

So when Mr Obama strode across the stage at Pittsburgh, all 19 of those national flags, plus those of the EU and the UN were behind him, making 21. As the current European council president, Sweden was represented and had its flag flying.

Although temporarily at the G20 through Sweden, the Scandinavian countries want a permanent representative, which would make the G20 the G21.

But there was also the flag of Ethiopia - as a regional representative of the Organisation of African Unity, despite South Africa's permanent membership; and the flag of Thailand, a member of ASEAN, which was present as an Asian regional member, although there are four Asian members.

And then there were the leaders of Spain and The Netherlands. Both were invited guests and are keen to join the G20, although there are four separate European members plus the EU.

After the announcement of the new economic order, Mr Rudd said: "It's important for Australia that our voice be heard in the councils of the world. It's important for Australia that our voice is heard directly - not indirectly through the agency of others - on the major economic decisions of our time."

The Prime Minister went on to thank "the President of the United States and others, including the Prime Minister of India, President Hu Jintao of China, Prime Minister Hatoyama of Japan, President Lee of Korea, President Yodhoyono of Indonesia, President Zuma of South Africa and others for their strong support for the establishment of this new institution as a permanent part of the global governance system of the future".

Apart from naming those who had been helpful - it's also known the Latin American members were supportive - Mr Rudd would not be drawn on the tussle over membership.

Asked about the background to Australia becoming part of the G20, he said: "This was a consensus decision."

However, there are going to be continuing hidden ructions about just who gets to sit at the G20 table, and fly their flag on the group's stage.

Indonesian warship departs for Lebanon

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 03/20/2009 6:14 PM

Indonesian warship KRI Diponegoro-365 departed from Jakarta on Friday for Lebanon as a maritime task force to join the Marine Task Force of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (MTF-UNIFIL), Antara state news agency reported.

KRI Dipononegoro-365 will make stopovers at several seaports such as Cochin in India, Salalah in Oman, Port Said in Egypt, and Beirut in Lebanon, with a total distance of 6,555 miles.

In Lebanon, KRI Diponegoro will join the the MTF UNIFIL's Commander Task Force (CTF)-448, which has already had warships from France, Turkey, Greek, Italy, Belgium, Spain and Germany.

The Indonesian warship is among other things equipped with BO-105 NV-414 helicopter.

The commander of Konga XXVIII's Maritime Task Force is Colonel Aan Kurnia, while the commander of KRI Diponegoro-365 is Lieut. Col. Arsyad Abdullah.

General Djoko Santoso said it was for the first time that TNI, especially the Navy, sent its maritime task force to join the UN peace keeping force.

KRI Diponegoro will join the MTF UNIFIL for six months until October 2009, and if the mission is successful, TNI will send its second warship.

UNIFIL was created by the UN Security Council in 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore international peace and security and assist the Lebanese Government in restoring its effective authority in the area.

IBM Philippines tapped for Sara Lee's back office operations

GMANews.tv, Philippines, 03/04/2009 | 02:36 PM 

MANILA, Philippines - IBM Philippines will beef up its business in the country after its Manila-based global delivery center was chosen as one of the locations to provide the finance and accounting services for Sara Lee Corp.'s global back office operations. 

In a statement issued on Wednesday, IBM Philippines General Manager James Velasquez said the agreement is expected to boost the finance and accounting services of the global delivery center, whose multilingual workforce provides services in German, French, and Spanish aside from English and local dialects. 

Last December, IBM agreed to run some of Sara Lee’s transaction processing in North America and Europe aside from applications development and maintenance and global indirect procurement activities for seven years. 

“Sara Lee's move to globally integrated, back office shared services will be accelerated with this business transformation collaboration. This pact allows us to further grow our local finance and accounting business process services, and at the same time kick off our new supply chain management services locally," IBM Philippines Country General Manager James Velasquez said. 

Sara Lee is well known through its food, beverage, household and body care brands, including Ambi Pur, BallPark, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Kiwi, Sanex, Sara Lee, and Senseo. 

These brands generate more than $13 billion in annual net sales covering approximately 200 countries. The company has 44,000 employees worldwide. 

“A key point is that our Manila Center is building capabilities to deliver services not only in English, but in European languages as well. The availability of a wide range of multilingual talents in the Philippines serves as a competitive advantage for the country in which IBM will continue to leverage and work on further strengthening," adds Cassandra Soto, Manila Delivery Center Lead. 

The IBM statement said the transfer of activities would happen in a "phased approach in accordance with local consultation requirements" as Sara Lee "is simplifying its organization to achieve efficiencies through process discipline, functional centers of excellence, integrated supply chains and outsourcing work where appropriate." - Ruby Anne M. Rubio, GMANews.TV

China sending group to Europe to look for mergers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/03/2009 3:18 PM  

China will send a group to Europe this weekend to look for merger and investment targets following a visit by a multibillion-dollar Chinese buying delegation, the commerce minister said. 

Chinese companies have been stepping up investments abroad despite global financial turmoil and have signed a flurry of foreign energy and resource deals. 

"We will send a tour to Europe this weekend mainly for the purpose of investment and mergers, to take a look at what enterprises would be worth our taking shares in and operating together," Commerce Minister Chen Deming said Monday in comments shown on state television. 

The report said the delegation of businesspeople would visit Britain and other countries but gave no other details. Chen's ministry did not immediately respond to a request for more information. 

Chen led a 200-member group of Chinese businesspeople and officials on a buying mission to Switzerland, German, Britain and Spain last week. The total spent was not announced but the group said in Germany it signed contracts worth $10 billion. 

China's major companies have largely avoided the impact of the global financial crisis and are still flush with cash. 

In February, China signed multibillion-dollar deals to obtain oil from Russia, Venezuela and Brazil. China's biggest aluminum producer agreed to invest $19.5 billion in Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto Group.