EU takes Greece to justice over taxation breaks

Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:00am EST Related News EU to investigate German tax support for weak firmsWed, Feb 24 2010

BRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The European Commission istaking Greece to court for failing to recover money given tohundreds of companies through illegal tax exemptions, the EUexecutive said on Wednesday.

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Under the scheme, companies were allowed tax breaks foractivities including car manufacturing, mining and fishing butthe Commission later ruled the benefit broke EU rules.

"The recovery of illegal aid is about restoring a levelplaying field in the single market," EU Competition CommissionerJoaquin Almunia said in a statement.

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Fossil of new dinosaur class discovered

Times Online & , : {}

Palaeontologists have unearthed the partial remains of a new plant-eating dinosaur which had a body the size of a sheep, a long neck and tail, and lived some 185 million years ago buried in a collapsed sand dune in the western US state of Utah.

The remains were discovered in 2004 by a local artist studying rock paintings and excavated the following year. The nearly complete skeleton is missing only its head, one toe and a lower shinbone.

Scientists said it was rare to find an almost complete skeleton of a new species of dinosaur, and suggestED that the rocks may reveal more extinct animals in the future.

Named Seitaad ruessi, the species is estimated to have been up to 15ft (4.5m) long and about 4ft (1.2m) high. When it was alive, the creature is believed to have weighed between 32-40kg (70-90lbs) and could walk on four legs or stand up and walk on its rear legs.

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Its bones were found protruding from sandstone at the base of a cliff, directly below an ancient Anasazi cliff dwelling in the red rocks of the Navajo Sandstone region.

Researchers believe the animal "was buried in a suddenly collapsing sand dune that engulfed the remains and stood them on their head".

The name Seitaad comes from the word Seit"aad which was a sand monster that buried its victims in dunes in Navajo legend, according to the researchers.

Seitaad ruessi is a sauropodomorph, a type of dinosaur common during the Early Jurassic period, when all of the continents were still joined together in the supercontinent of Pangaea.

It is an ancestor of the giant long-necked, long-tailed dinosaurs such as Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Brachiosaurus that roamed Earth in the late Jurassic period.

The study was conducted by palaeontologist Joseph Sertich, a Stony Brook University doctoral student, and Mark Loewen of the Utah Museum of Natural History.

The discovery "confirms the widespread success of sauropodomorph dinosaurs during the Early Jurassic Period," the scientists said.

While dinosaur remains have been found in other parts of Utah, fossils are rare in the Navajo sandstone areas and generally have been from smaller creatures.

This new find suggests that there may be more dinosaurs yet to be discovered in these rocks, said Mr Sertich, co-author of the report and currently a doctoral student at New York"s Stony Brook University.

New Zealand landowner who ran Ponzi fraud outlayed millions on prostitutes

Foreign Staff & , : {}

A New Zealand landowner who outlayed millions of stolen dollars on prostitutes was locked up for 6 years. Stephen Versalko, 51, who worked for the ASB Bank, stole $18 million (7 million).

Two prostitutes perceived $3.4 million from him and most of the rest went on booze and property, Auckland District Court was told; $1.2 million went to one of the prostitutes, who was blackmailing him.

Patrick McCann, the prosecutor, called Versalkos rascal a classical Ponzi, in that investors embrace seductiveness from their own collateral or from newer investors.

Versalko had told investigators that he felt he was Mr Invincible. His clients were especially aged women vital outward the country.

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Intercity sight ascent put on ice

Martin Waller & , : {}

The credit break is being blamed for the preference to carry over a multibillion-pound stipulate to reinstate Britain"s ageing swift of Intercity 125 trains until after the ubiquitous election.

Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, pronounced that the 30-year Intercity Express buying programme had run in to difficulties.

Agility Trains, a consortium comprising Hitachi, John Laing and Barclays Private Equity, was declared elite bidder a year ago but a grave stipulate is not nonetheless signed.

At the time, the consortium pronounced that the work would beget 2,500 learned engineering jobs in the UK in manufacturing, building a whole and maintenance.

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Lord Adonis pronounced this morning: "Over the march of the procurement, however, there has been a rebate in the genius of the debt marketplace to await the stipulate as creatively envisaged."

In addition, the Government and Network Rail were committed to outfit with electric wiring the Great Western Main Line from 2016, that had meant modifications to the strange programme.

"This has fundamentally lengthened the contractual arrangements, that are not nonetheless finish and would not be so until mid-March at the earliest.

In all the circumstances, the Government does not hold it would be suitable to come in in to this sold stipulate in the evident run up to a ubiquitous election.

Agility Trains pronounced that it was "disappointed" by the check but remarkable that it would go on rough formulation for the work in expectation of winning the stipulate underneath the subsequent parliament.

The Intercity Express programme, involving the deputy of Intercity 125 trains and work to urge the East Coast and Great Western main lines, was voiced in 2007.

Lord Adonis pronounced this sunrise that he had asked Sir Andrew Foster, former controller of the Audit Commission, to yield an eccentric inform on the "value for money" of the programme and of any alternatives, raising the awaiting that the plan could be heavily amended.

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Lord Ashcroft has since 4m whilst Cameron has been leader

Sam Coates, Chief Political Correspondent & , : {}

Contributions from Lord Ashcroft have up a limit of 10 per cent of the income that the Conservatives outlay on extrinsic seats, the celebration pronounced yesterday.

Since David Cameron became personality in 2005, Lord Ashcroft has given �4.13 million by his company, Bearwood Corporate Services. This creates him the partys greatest singular donor of the past five years, nonetheless it represents less than 5 per cent of all contributions to the Tories over this period.

No some-more than a tenth of the account outlayed on the 150 bridgehead seats comes from the peer, the celebration said, perplexing to fool around down Labour claims that Lord Ashcroft is shopping the ubiquitous election. With the initial tranche of possibilities in extrinsic seats comparison in 2006, however, a little have perceived up to 4 years of income from CCHQ, that Labour has been incompetent to match.

The row has gained new coercion given a squeezing of the inhabitant polls forked to a probable hung Parliament. Senior Tories endorse that the celebration is you do in between 2 and 8 per cent improved in extrinsic seats targeted by Lord Ashcroft than inhabitant polls suggest.

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Candidates are approaching to furnish commercial operation plans and embrace income if they strike concluded targets for the series of times they reach internal voters. In 2007 and 2008, the ultimate years for that internal celebration accounts are available, some-more than 50 seats perceived a sum of �1,145,484. Local parties lifted a serve �4,983,460, ensuing in a corner income of �6,128,944. The largest concession �55,777 was to Solihull Conservatives, that has a notional Tory infancy of 124. The income is used for leaflets, mail shots and promotion in internal newspapers.

Lord Ashcroft judges how successful his possibilities are by utilizing in isolation polling to sign name recognition. The claimant in Harlow, Robert Halfon, for instance, is the majority recognized in the nation with only underneath half observant they are wakeful he is station for the Conservatives.

Labour suggests that MPs inaugurated with the assistance of Lord Ashcroft will feel a faithfulness towards him if the celebration gets in to government. Other Tory MPs are distrustful about the worth of income spent, observant most of it goes to rubbish on ill-conceived leaflets.

GSK arch nets 76% compensate climb after one year

Catherine Boyle and Miles Costello & , : {}

Andrew Witty took home some-more than �8 million in compensate and share awards last year.

Mr Wittys initial full year as arch senior manager of GlaxoSmithKline was noted by a 76 per cent compensate climb to �3.128 million, and �5 million worth of shares in GSK a package that could revitalise the debate surrounding the compensate of JP Garnier, his predecessor. Mr Garnier was paid $5.9 million last year, notwithstanding withdrawal the association in May 2008, since of a share choice plan dating from the time that Glaxo Wellcome joined with SmithKlineBeecham.

In 2003, shareholders protested opposite a golden parachute understanding that would have since Mr Garnier $18 million if he had been dismissed. GSK was forced to devaluate the package after the shareholder dissent.

To equivocate being placed in a identical position, Mr Witty has pronounced that he would abstain his annual reward if he was sacked from the company.

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One big institutional financier pronounced that the organisation met dozens of shareholders, in a little cases multiform times, prior to settling Mr Wittys package.

They clinging a lot of time to consulting with shareholders. I dont think this is going to means vital concerns, he said, adding: The complaint with this industry is that it has regularly been really rarely paid. Garnier was lavish. But we do worth Andrew Wittys endeavours as a new-broom arch executive. I think he has shareholders support.

GSK has introduced a new senior manager compensate policy, that involves rewarding tip earners by a opening share plan rather than usually share options. The plan is formed on sum shareholder lapse and cashflow.

Mr Witty and Julian Heslop, the arch monetary officer, were the usually management team to be awarded underneath this intrigue last year. The complete senior manager team, together with Sir Christopher Gent, the chairman, will come underneath the powerful of the intrigue this year.

Mr Heslop perceived �3.2 million in income and shares in 2009.

A GSK mouthpiece said: The target is to daunt risk-taking and assistance to expostulate long-term earnings for shareholders.

The pharmaceuticals zone is scandalous for awarding large compensate packages to executives. Jeff Kindler, arch senior manager of Pfizer, the usually curative association bigger than GSK, warranted $14.8 million in money and shares in 2008, whilst Daniel Vasella, who not long ago stepped down as arch senior manager of Novartis, took home $15.1 million in the same year.

Mr Witty has won regard during his short time at the helm of GSK for doing a restructuring programme. His ultimate move is to stop investigate in to drug for basin and to concentration on suffering treatment. At the same time, the association is set to emanate 1,000 jobs in Britain in reply to a plan to cut taxation to 10 per cent on revenues from patents grown in the UK.

Yet there are multiform hangovers from the prior GSK regime. The share cost plunged this week after a inform from a US Senate cabinet claimed that receiving the Avandia diabetes diagnosis competence lift the possibility of a heart attack. In the past dual weeks there have additionally been health scares over the companys Poligrip denture thickk cream and the Advair asthma treatment. None of these products has been taken off the market.

Sledgehammer arrests show that to reject governments with guns is a crime

Suna Erdem: Commentary & , : {}

When the Turkish open were initial treated with colour to sum of the diaries of Ozden Ornek, the former army commander, surveying plans for a troops manoeuvre in 2004, the greeting was one of dishonesty dishonesty that the law should cruise a small tract to be of any importance.

When the Justice and Development Party (AK), founded by former domestic Islamists, initial came to energy in 2002, large numbers of presumably magnanimous people believed, in their heart of hearts, that if the misfortune came to the misfortune there would be a troops manoeuvre to remove the Government and to strengthen Turkeys secularist identity.

The troops has already suspended 4 governments, together with an Islamist one, and nobody has ever been punished for this nor is there a drawn out feeling that any one should be. The armed forces are the supposed guardians of complicated Turkey, that itself was founded by a former general, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

What is distinguished about the purported Sledgehammer plotters is the sum parole with that they went about their business, even utilizing a well-attended troops convention as a thinly sheltered rehearsal. In this light it is tough to overreach the significance of yesterdays detentions of dual former forces chiefs, together with General Ornek, in tie with Sledgehammer, that was programmed even prior to he wrote his important diaries.

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Even if the arrests do not outcome in grave charges, they paint an attack on the longstanding genius that formulation to get absolved of a supervision with armoured column and guns is not a crime.

The trials and arrests have been criticised as a ploy by deceit Islamists and their genuine magnanimous backers to destabilise Turkey, but this is a warding off to see the wider picture.

Nobody can repudiate the militarys gusto for coups, and people have regularly believed in the life of a rapist Deep State. Turkeys enterprise to go after the plotters, however haphazardly, shows that it has eventually motionless to transparent out the waste of the mind, as well as the waste of the past.

As one writer said, the usually thing that can stop the routine right away would be a troops coup.