Somali pirates get 439-year sentences

Somali pirates get 439-year sentences

The Alakrana fishing vessel on route to Victoria Port in the Seychelles Islands on November 17, 2009.

Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- In a rare case, a Spanish court convicted two Somalia men of piracy in the 2009 takeover of a Spanish fishing vessel and sentenced each to 439 years in prison, according to a copy of the sentence viewed by CNN on Tuesday.

The long prison terms stem mainly from the conviction for illegal detention of the vessel's 36 crew members, with a sentence of 11 years for each count of piracy, or 396 years.

In addition, the defendants were convicted on three other counts, including armed robbery and belonging to a criminal gang, which boosted the overall sentence to 439 years.

The vessel, the Alakrana, was freed in November 2009 after being held for 47 days off the coast of Somalia. The crew included 16 Spanish sailors and 20 from Africa and Asia.

A day after the hijacking by 12 armed pirates, Spanish military monitoring the situation captured two pirate suspects on Oct. 3, 2009 as they left the fishing vessel. Then authorities took the unusual step of bringing them to Madrid.

Many other pirate suspects who have been captured by international military forces --- trying to ensure the safety of merchant shipping and fishing off the coast of Somalia --- have been taken to African nations for court procedures, but not to Europe.

The Spanish court identified the two as Raageggesey Hassan Aji, of Ceel Maccan, Somalia, who was born in 1978, although his birthdate was not disclosed; and Cabdiweli Cabdullahi, of Marka, Somalia, with no age given, although the court determined before the trial that was an adult.

Defense lawyers argued unsuccessfully for their acquittal.

Despite the 439-year sentences, a court official told CNN that the likely maximum that could be served for such convictions is about 30 years.

Spanish media reported in 2009 that a ransom had been paid to free the ship, and a leading Spanish fishing industry executive, Juan Manuel Vietes, told CNN at the time he was certain a ransom was paid for the release of the tuna trawler, but he didn't know the amount.

The Spanish government did not say how the ship had been freed.

Portugal reaches deal on bail-out

Portugal reaches deal on bail-out

Portugal's caretaker prime minister José Sócrates.

Lisbon, Portugal (FT.COM) -- Portugal has reached an agreement with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund on a €78 billion ($116 billion) financial rescue package, becoming the third eurozone country to be bailed out of a sovereign debt crisis.

In a brief television address on Tuesday night, José Sócrates, the country's caretaker prime minister, said the deal was demanding, but indicated that the terms were not as tough as those agreed with Greece and Ireland.

The EU and IMF had recognized that "the situation in Portugal is far from being [as serious] as in other countries," he said. "Knowing other external assistance programs, Portugal can feel reassured."

After the prime minister's address, his office said the bail-out funds would total €78 billion over three years, including financial support for Portugal's banking system. The interest rate to be charged was not specified.

Mr Sócrates said the program would not involve any additional fiscal measures in 2011 and would set out less demanding deficit reduction targets than previously fixed by the government.

Under the plan, Portugal has agreed to reduce its budget deficit from 9.1% of gross domestic product in 2010 to 5.9% this year. The previous target for 2011 had been 4.6% of GDP.

Portugal is now committed to cutting the deficit to 3% of GDP by 2013, a year later than envisaged under the government's previous plan.

Mr Sócrates said the package would not involve any cuts in public sector wages or the the minimum national wage, nor any public sector dismissals.

State-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the country's biggest bank by deposits, would not be privatized. No special taxes would be introduced on holiday bonuses and no change made to the minimum retirement age, he added.

The caretaker prime minister said he would not release further details until the country's main opposition parties had been informed. Opposition leaders are expected to express their approval of the agreement ahead of a general election on June 5.

The agreement follows almost a month of negotiations between the Lisbon government and officials from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF.

Portugal was under pressure to reach an agreement so that it could receive bail-out funds in time to meet €7 billion in government bond redemptions and interest payments that fall due on June 15.

EU officials want the package to be approved at a May 16-17 meeting of EU finance ministers. But approval could be delayed by disagreements over the package among Finnish political parties, who are trying to form a new coalition government.

Legislation required to implement the program will not go before the Portuguese parliament until after the June ballot.

Portugal was forced to seek a bail-out after the minority Socialists government was defeated over an austerity program in March, forcing Mr Sócrates to resign and sending government borrowing costs soaring.

Earlier a Commission spokesman denied Portuguese media reports that the negotiations had been held up by disagreements between European and IMF negotiators over the terms of the agreement.

"There are no divergences among members of the troika," said Amadeu Altafaj.

The EU will provide about two-thirds of the total funds, the remainder coming for the IMF.

EU loans will come from the European financial stability facility, the bloc's bail-out fund, and later from the European Stability Mechanism, the permanent crisis resolution instrument due to replace it in 2013.

Spain's jobless rate tops 21% as all major sectors lose jobs

Spain's jobless rate tops 21% as all major sectors lose jobs

Young people with placards reading 'Without a house, without a job, without pension' during protests in April.

Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- Spain's unemployment rate rose nearly a point to 21.29%, with 4.9 million jobless for the first quarter of 2011, the government reported Friday, as the prolonged economic crisis continues to squeeze the nation.

Some analysts had predicted the number of jobless might surpass 5 million. But while that didn't happen, the latest statistics were another blow to the economy and to the embattled socialist government.

The numbers for the fourth quarter of 2010 -- 20.33% unemployment and almost 4.7 million jobless --- already represented the highest joblessness rate in 13 years.

The latest numbers, for the first quarter of this year, added more somber news. The number of unemployed increased by 213,000, pushing the overall number to 4.9 million.

All major sectors --- industry, construction, services and agriculture --- shed jobs during the quarter. The number of Spanish households in which no adult had a job increased by 58,000, to a new total of 1.38 million, the government said.

Earlier this month, embattled Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced he would not seek a third term. Elections are due by March 2012.

For months, Zapatero's Socialists have trailed in opinion polls behind the main opposition conservative Popular Party.

In announcing his decision on April 2 to Socialist Party leaders, Zapatero said, "We have made mistakes."

He added that "recent months have been very difficult for the work of the government" because even after enacting a budget austerity plan to reduce the public deficit that put Spain under pressure from international financial markets, the destruction of jobs continued.

Local elections in all Spanish cities and for 13 of its 17 regional parliaments will be held May 22. They are widely seen as a bellwether of voter sentiment for the general elections to follow.

The town that wants nuclear waste

The town that wants nuclear waste

(CNN) -- Like the energy source itself, it's the question that won't go away: what can be done with spent nuclear fuel?

Sweden believes it has the answer.

The plan is to bury the country's expected 12,000 tons of nuclear waste in corrosion-resistant copper canisters under 500 meters of crystalline bedrock. There it will remain isolated from human contact for at least 100,000 years.

The idea, which still needs final approval, was developed by Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management company (SKB) -- a collective of Sweden's nuclear power companies.

After three decades of research, SKB believes that Osthammar in central Sweden is the perfect final resting place for the country's nuclear waste. Not only is the 1.9 billion year old bedrock ideal says SKB, but the locals are largely in favor of the plan and it is close to the nuclear power plant at Forsmark.

I grew up not far from the Forsmark nuclear power plant. In school they took us on tours of the facility and many friends' parents worked at the plant. The region also has a long history of mining and ironworks, so having the nuclear industry as neighbor was nothing strange.

My parents still live there and recently my mother got a call from a researcher asking her what she thought of the planned repository.

"Do you trust the authorities to solve the problem today in your neighborhood, or do you want to wait for a better technology and leave the waste to future generations who did not actually benefit from the nuclear power?" she was asked.

The latest poll showed that 88% of Osthammar residents are in favor of having the storage site in their community.

Swedes have a complicated relationship to nuclear power. Following the Three Mile Island incident in the U.S. in 1979, Sweden voted to shut down all its nuclear reactors by 2010.

However the decision was overturned by a new government and only two reactors were decommissioned. Today Sweden's 10 nuclear reactors produce almost half of the country's electricity.

Sweden has so far accumulated more than 5,000 tons of spent fuel. It is stored in a bright blue water tank, 40 meters underground in the southern city of Oskarshamn. But even though the radiation is shielded by eight meters of water, this facility has to be monitored 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

"And we will certainly not do that for the next 100.000 years," Brita Freudenthal, SKB's guide at the facility told me.

After a few mishaps in the early stages of looking for a community that would be willing to accept the final repository, SKB started visiting the locals in their homes to have a face-to-face dialogue over some coffee and biscuits.

"The women talk more about the water, if they can eat the berries in the forest, if they can eat the moose they hunt. Men are more interested in the technology, if the canister will be safe. If there is a question, I've heard it," said Saida Laârouchi Engstrom from SKB.

Erik and Catharina Waernulf live in Forsmark with their four young children.

"SKB are very good at giving information" Catharina said.

"I think the closer you live the less scared you are. The waste has to be stored somewhere, so why not here?" Erik added.

For the mayor of Osthammar, Jacob Spangenberg, whether or not to accept the repository has nothing to do with the new investment and the new jobs it would generate.

"This is a possibility for our nation and our society to solve a very, very difficult problem," he said.

The industry's application is now undergoing a thorough review by the Swedish authorities. Mayor Spangenberg has the ultimate right of veto if he is not satisfied with the results.

There was another community, Oskarshamn, that also wanted the repository, but SKB's geological surveys showed that the bedrock was much safer near Forsmark.

But if the application doesn't go through, or Osthammar doesn't accept the results of the review, what is Sweden going to do with the waste? It's a tricky question that not only for this Nordic country has to face.

European Central Bank 'encouraged' Portugal to seek aid

European Central Bank 'encouraged' Portugal to seek aid

European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet has said that it encouraged crisis-hit Portuguese authorities to seek financial aid.

Portugal is braced for austerity measures following the EU bail-out

He was speaking after the ECB raised rates to 1.25%, which may add to the problems of debt-ridden countries.

Portugal's troubles are also expected to be discussed at a two-day meeting of EU finance ministers in Budapest.

Portugal's caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates said on Wednesday he would ask for financial assistance.

"We have encouraged the Portuguese authorities to ask for support and that was commanded by the situation after what has happened previously in Portugal," said ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet.

A European Commission spokesman said that a formal request for aid had not yet been received, but that the EU would be negotiating a deal with Portuguese authorities even though there is only a caretaker government in place at the moment.

"The Commission stands ready to send a mission to Lisbon along with European Central Bank staff as soon as we are asked to do so," said spokesman Amadeu Altafaj.

The finance ministers' meeting will begin on Friday.

'No contagion risk'

Portugal follows Greece and the Irish Republic in seeking a bail-out.

However, Spain was quick to say it would not be following these countries in seeking assistance.

Analysts have expressed concerns about Spain as it has EU's highest unemployment rate and is struggling to deal with a banking crisis and the collapse of its property boom.

But Spain's Economy Minister Elena Salgado said that financial markets were perfectly capable of distinguishing between the situations in Portugal and Spain.

In an interview on the national radio station SER, she said that the risk of contagion was "absolutely ruled out", and added it was clear that Spain's economy was much more competitive than Portugal's.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde later supported this view.

"I don't think that there is any risk of contagion to Spain at all because Spain has led a number of reforms, in particular to its banking system, and is much more solid as an economy given the measures that have been taken, and the markets know that," she told France 3 television.

Ms Lagarde also said she was relieved at Portugal's request for aid.

In Portugal, Mr Socrates had put off a bail-out request for as long as he could, having stepped down as prime minister after failing to pass austerity measures.

"I always said asking for foreign aid would be the final way to go but we have reached the moment," he said.

"Above all, it's in the national interest."


Borrowing costs

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement that Portugal's request would be processed "in the swiftest possible manner, according to the rules applicable".

He also reaffirmed his "confidence in Portugal's capacity to overcome the present difficulties, with the solidarity of its partners".

Mr Socrates did not say how much aid Portugal would ask for. Negotiations will now be under way and the BBC's business editor Robert Peston said rescue loans could amount to as much as 80bn euros ($115bn; £70bn).

That amount would be equivalent to nearly half of the country's entire economic output in 2010.

On Wednesday, the government raised about 1bn euros after tapping the financial markets in order to repay loans, but will have to pay a higher interest rate to lenders.

Portugal's cost of borrowing has risen sharply since the minority socialist government resigned last month after its proposed tougher austerity measures were defeated in parliament.

Since then several rating agencies have downgraded the country's debt.

Elections are due to take place on 5 June.

Low growth 

Portugal's problems have been different from those of the other countries that have needed bailing out.

Low economic growth and high wages have meant that the country has struggled to raise enough money through taxation to pay for government spending.

When the banking crisis came, it found itself dealing with the same rising costs of debt that other countries had to deal with, and has finally had to concede that it cannot raise the money it needs through financial markets.

The UK has said that it will not be extending the sort of bilateral loans it offered to the Irish Republic, because it does not have such a close relationship.

But the UK is committed to contribute to one of the EU's temporary bail-out funds as well as the International Monetary Fund's scheme, either of which could be used to assist Portugal.

It will not be clear how much the UK will have to contribute until the details of the bail-out have been agreed.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who will face criticism if the UK ends up supporting Portugal, said that Portugal's problems showed why it was so important for the UK to cut its own budget deficit.

"If you hear the stories about the cuts and still wonder why our country needs to take these difficult decisions, then look at what is happening around us," he said.

Berlusconi: Migrants to leave Lampedusa in 48 hours

Berlusconi: Migrants to leave Lampedusa in 48 hours

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has promised that the island of Lampedusa will soon be free of migrants.

Mr Berlusconi had earlier described the immigrants as "poor wretches"

Thousands of people have arrived on the island south of Sicily since January, travelling from Tunisia and Libya.

Officials say sanitary conditions have become "desperate" and islanders have staged protests at the town hall.

On a visit to the island, Mr Berlusconi announced to a crowd that in "48 to 60 hours Lampedusa will be inhabited only by Lampedusans".

About 20,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean since the upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East began in January.

Emergency

Some 6,000 migrants - more than the total population of the island - are now living there in makeshift camps.

There were no new arrivals on Tuesday night, Italian media reported, the first night with no new immigrants for some time.

On Wednesday morning, five ships arrived, sent by the Italian government to Lampedusa to take migrants to camps on the mainland. One of the ships was the naval vessel San Marco and the rest were civilian ferries, reports said. Another boat was expected later.

Mr Berlusconi's plane arrived on the island shortly after 1300 local time.

After meeting the regional governor and mayor of Lampedusa, he addressed a crowd of islanders outside the town hall, promising a series of measures including tax breaks and welfare benefits.

He also said there would be a plan to relaunch Lampedusa's tourist industry, which has been badly hit by the influx from North Africa.

The previous evening, he had described the immigrants arriving on Lampedusa as "poor wretches" fleeing a world without freedom and democracy.

Repatriation

Although most of the immigrants on the island are expected to be transferred to Sicily or camps on mainland Italy, negotiations are said to be under way to repatriate a number of people to Tunisia.

Most of the arrivals since January have sailed from Tunisia, but in recent days boats have come from Libya as well.

he BBC's Duncan Kennedy, in Rome, says that Italy, as the former colonial power in Libya, does not want to provoke the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, into sending thousands more migrants fleeing.

Early on in the crisis, Col Gaddafi threatened to do just that, if the EU backed military action.

Migrants who can prove they are refugees from a conflict are eligible for asylum in the EU under human rights conventions.

The European Commission says EU member states must address the surge in migration produced by the unrest in North Africa.

Some 20,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean since the upheavals began

FIFA investigates officials amid match-fixing claims

FIFA investigates officials amid match-fixing claims

Bolivia beat Latvia 2-1 in the first of two international friendlies played in Antalya last month.

(CNN) -- FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against six match officials after claims that two international friendly games fell victim to match-fixing.

The games under suspicion are Bulgaria against Estonia and Latvia against Bolivia, two friendlies which took place last month.

Football's world governing body was alerted after unusual betting patterns on the two games, which were both held at the Turkish resort of Antalya.

A FIFA statement Wednesday read: "FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against six match officials in relation to the international friendly matches Bolivia v Latvia and Estonia v Bulgaria played in Antalya (Turkey) on 9 February 2011."

It continued: "The proceedings were opened following an evaluation of all documentation and information received by FIFA, in relation to a possible match-fixing situation in these matches.

"The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be in charge to deal with the matter."

Latvia beat Bolivia 2-1 before Bulgaria and Estonia played out a 2-2 draw, with all seven goals coming from the penalty spot.

At the time, Estonian Football Association spokesman Mihkel Uiboleht admitted there had been concern about the matches.

He told CNN: "The friendly was organized by an agency with whom we will not work any more.

"We received information of possible manipulation even before the game as the same agency also organized the match between Latvia and Bolivia and there was the same scenario there."

FIFA has demanded a detailed report on the matches from both the Bulgarian and Estonian football federations.

Condom Stunt Arouses Anger in Polish Town

Condom Stunt Arouses Anger in Polish Town

Latex condoms were created by Julius Fromm, who was born in Konin in present-day Poland.

Julius Fromm is perhaps the Polish town of Konin's most famous son. But a tribute to the inventor of the latex condom has caused controversy in the Catholic country. Locals objected when an activist group pulled a giant sheath over a phallic public statue.

Fitting a giant condom on a public statue may appear to be a creative way of commemorating the creator of the latex sheath -- but not in Catholic Poland, it seems.

An action group pulled off the stunt in the central Polish town of Konin, but in doing so aroused the ire of local civic leaders. The enormous sheath, conceived by a group called Akcja Konin (Action Konin) and consisting of a plastic bag, was placed over a phallic fountain sculpture to commemorate the birth of Julius Fromm.


Fromm was born in the town -- then part of the Russian Empire -- in 1883. He moved with his family to Berlin as a child, and eventually came up with a revolutionary new way of producing a seamless, thinner condom. He patented the invention in 1916 and started producing them on a large scale after World War I.

They met with such success that his name became synonymous in Germany with latex condoms. But in 1938, the Nazis forced Fromm, who was Jewish, to sell his business for a pittance to Hermann Göring's godmother. He later fled to London, but died of a heart attack just four days after Germany's final surrender in 1945.

A fitting figure, many would think, for a public memorial. After all, the latex condom has helped save millions of lives by preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. But it is also a form of birth control that is frowned upon by the Catholic Church, which is influential in Poland. Now public officials as well as local religious leaders in Konin have come out against the rubber salute.

Not an Advert for Birth Control

Akcja Konin pulled a transparent plastic bag over a man-sized column in the middle of an inactive public fountain. For a few hours the column -- nicknamed "the penis" by many in Konin -- sported a proud sheath bearing the name "Julius Fromm," and his date of birth.

According to the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Dariusz Wilczewski, the deputy mayor of Konin, claims the town has been turned into a laughing stock, while another local official, Marek Zawidzki, says: "One could choose a different way of promoting Fromm."

But renowned Polish sexologist Zbigniew Lew-Starowicz disagreed. He was quoted by Polish TV station TVN24 as saying: "The town of Konin should build a memorial to the creator of the latex condom. The town should be proud of him. There is nothing to be ashamed of."

The group has defended its actions. "Not many know that right here in Konin, the inventor of the latex condom was brought into the world," Akcja Konin member Waldemar Duczmal said, according to Rzeczpospolita.

"We discovered him a year ago and tried to bring him to the attention of the town," Duczmal says. "When that was not successful, we came up with the idea for this event." He was, however, keen to stress that it "was not an advertisement for birth control."


Akcja Konin, meanwhile, are already preparing a new initiative. "This time we will try to pay tribute to Mieczyslaw Bekker, the creator of NASA's lunar rover vehicle. He graduated from school in Konin," Duczmal says.

However, he declined to reveal the nature of the tribute.

Marta Solarz contributed to this report from Warsaw.

Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi plans to attend his trials

Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi plans to attend his trials 

The Italian prime minister plans to attend all hearings in his upcoming trials, his lawyer has said.

The prime minister denies all the allegations against him

Lawyer Niccolo Ghedini said the Milan court had been asked to schedule hearings on Mondays alone.

Silvio Berlusconi is facing four trials over the coming months, including one linked to allegations that he paid an underage prostitute for sex.

Mr Berlusconi has denied all allegations against him, saying the cases are politically motivated.

Mr Ghedini said the attendance of the prime minister at hearings on Mondays was "the utmost one could expect from a president" of the Italian council of ministers, according to Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

He said that in exceptional circumstances, Mr Berlusconi would also be willing to make himself available on Saturdays, if needed.

"The premier feels it is right that he should take to the stage in person to defend himself," Mr Ghedini said, adding that because of this the various hearings would need to co-ordinated in order to allow himself to attend.

Mr Berlusconi is not obliged to turn up in court and has, so far, only rarely appeared in person. Mondays, analysts say, are often particularly busy days in the parliamentary calendar.

His lawyer added that due to a procedural error, the first hearing for a case of alleged corruption - scheduled for this Saturday - has been postponed until the end of the month.

Mr Berlusconi's immunity from prosecution was largely withdrawn in January.

In this latest trial Silvio Berlusconi is accused of fraud and embezzlement over the acquisition of television rights involving one of his media companies.

It is claimed that with his son and others Mr Berlusconi overpaid for television rights and then avoided paying tax on the transaction.

The case is related to another fraud trial involving the prime minister that began a week ago.

A third trial where Mr Berlusconi is accused of bribery is due to begin later this month.

The fourth trial is scheduled for next month in which the prime minister has been indicted for paying an underage prostitute for sex and abusing his powers.

The 74-year-old leader recently said that he had undergone more trials than anyone in the history of the universe, claiming he had been a defendant in more than 50 cases.

The prime minister also revealed that he had given up his mobile phone because he feared he might be the target of wire tapping by prosecutors who have been investigating him.

The BBC's Duncan Kennedy, in Rome, says that while his legal troubles and alleged scandals involving young women have eroded his popularity, the prime minister seems to be gathering strength in parliament, as a breakaway party set up to challenge his leadership has itself become disunited.