French...*

© AFP | Former Tours mayor Jean Germain in 2009 with 31 Chinese couples

Jean Germain, 67, who had been mayor of Tours from 1995 to 2014 and was also a serving Socialist senator, was voted out of office in the wake of the scandal.
Co-accused Lise Han, a Taiwanese businesswoman employed by the city to promote “relationships with China”, allegedly used her position to make tens of thousands of euros for herself. She is accused of fraud, collusion and mishandling public funds.

Han was the brainchild behind schemes that included inviting groups of Chinese newly-weds to visit Tours and the surrounding Loire Valley, and “remarry” in fake ceremonies presided over by Germain. The fake weddings took place between 2007 and 2011.

While the fake ceremonies were not illegal, Han, who was a full-time employee of Tours city hall, is accused of enriching herself at the local taxpayer’s expense by continuing to run firm Time-Lotus Bleu, subcontracted to the city to organise the tours.

President Francois Hollande expressed his sadness, saying Germain had taken his own life "because he didn't want his honor sullied" .

The Game...*

Lori Conley was arrested on charges of murder and child endangering. She was arraigned in Franklin County Municipal Court and jailed.  Police say Conley gave the baby the Benadryl to put him to sleep.

Authorities say the 43-year-old Conley was baby-sitting eight toddlers and infants at her Reynoldsburg, Ohio, home when she found Haddix Mulkey unresponsive. He died at a Columbus hospital.

An Ohio baby sitter accused of giving an 8-month-old boy a fatal dose of Benadryl has been told to have no contact with children and no unsupervised contact with her own children.

Police say the charges were delayed until toxicology tests confirmed the baby received a fatal dose of the over-the-counter allergy drug.

For children and adults, this over the Counter Medication is a serious drug, similar to many other Over the Counters or RX prescription medication. Ask the pharmacist on premises.      Just a thought

Crash...

Cafe...

Quake...*

Ukraine's intelligence agency SBU said it has thwarted a plot to attack soccer's European Championships in France by arresting a Frenchman who wanted to cross from Ukraine into the European Union armed to the teeth.

The SBU followed the man and allowed him to purchase five machine guns, two rocket propelled grenades and other weapons before he was arrested on the border between Ukraine and Poland last month.

The SBU said he was driven by ultra-nationalist views and planned 15 attacks on bridges, railways and other pieces of infrastructure for Euro 2016 that will be held in France.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks by extremists in recent years in France and Belgium, and with the wars in Iraq, Syrian and Afghanistan fueling an almost unprecedented influx of refugees and migrants to the continent, far-right and Euroskeptic parties have made sweeping gains.

lately, far-right politicians gained many seats in the European Parliament triggering what one prime minister called a political "earthquake" by those who want to slash the powers of the European Union or abolish it altogether. What to do to keep citizens safe at home is a key.

It is political Earthquake here also in the USA.  Just a thought.

Sides...

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates made no demands of Qatar as their decision plunged the international travel hub into chaos and ignited the biggest diplomatic crisis in the Gulf since the 1991 war against Iraq

Saudi Arabia said it took the decision to cut diplomatic ties due to Qatar's "embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilizing the region" including the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) and groups supported by Iran in the kingdom's restive Eastern Province. Egypt's Foreign Ministry accused Qatar of taking an "antagonist approach" toward Cairo and said "all attempts to stop it from supporting terrorist groups failed."

Too bad that US has the biggest base in the region in Qatar.  Just a thought.

Interrupt...

Seed...

           

How to integrate immigrants into British society, so that they participate fully in it, sharing and respecting its values? Ray Honeyford first raised it publicly in 1984 .

Immigration from non-EU countries has increased enormously in the last 30 years, many come from what are categorised as ethnic minorities. Labour ministers, dismantled almost all immigration controls, imagined that there would be no problem about integration. 

Some of the arriving groups have deep commitments to religious or own views that place women in a subordinate position.  Values that most of us would think of as essential elements of being British  tolerance, equality before the law, or even the primacy of democratic elections as the way of deciding who should govern – have not been accepted by a significant minority of immigrants.

Some even wish to cut themselves off from liberal and tolerant Britain completely. They hope to perpetuate their own religious values by having their own education system.

Does it matter?                                         [By Alasdair Palmer  7:00PM GMT 11 Feb 2012]

While...

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