A judge in Paris has ordered former French President Jacques Chirac,77, to stand trial on charges of misuse of public funds and abuse of trust, while he was the mayor of Paris from 1977-1995. It is the first time that a former head of state is ordered to stand trial.
Chirac has always denied any wrong-doing, and issued a statement from Morocco, where he is on holiday with his family, saying that he faces the charges with serenity and determination to prove his innocence. Dominque Paille, a spokesman for the ruling UMP party said it was “regrettable” that Jacques Chirac should be sent to stand trial at the end of his life.
Chirac was elected president of France in 1995, and as reports began to surface that the Paris mayor’s office had illegally financed his RPR political party in the early 19990s, he ran again in 2002, assured of immunity from prosecution by a controversial new law. He was re-elected by a landslide, only because many voted for him to exclude his far-right opponent in the run-off, Jean-Marie LePen.
Max and her partner, nesting, summer 2009
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Max, the white stork who has been tracked for longer than any other bird of her kind, 11 years, may have completed her winter migratory trip, and she is now 110 km south of Madrid.
Max and mate, June 2009, © Heide Bürgermeister
Lunel, France (GenevaLunch) – Max, a white stork born in 1999 and tracked via radio signals in a ring around her leg that are picked up by satellite, is underway again on her yearly migration.
She left her nest in Tuefingen, Germany near Lake Constance last Thursday 27 August, and after a slow start, crossed Switzerland Saturday 29 August and spent the night 30 August in Lunel in the south of France, a flight of 450 km in a day, thanks to northerly winds down the valley of the Rhone.
Eleven people died in Rabat, Morocco Saturday 23 May, the closing night of the eight-day Mawazine music festival in Morocco, but details about what caused the stampede are sketchy, although The Times, UK, reports that a wire fence collapsed, provoking the stampede. At least 30 people were injured. The festival was held in several locations and featured several well-known singers, including Stevie Wonder and Kylie Minogue. CNN, and Mawazine festival site, in French
Geneva, Switzerland (20 Minutes, Fre) – Two people who are political refugees in Renens, Switzerland are reported by 20 Minutes, which interviewed them, to have been turned back at the airport in Marrakesh, Morocco after one of them was searched.
