Man arrested in Spain over Madonna song leak

 

Spanish police have arrested and charged a man with illegally leaking an early version of a new Madonna song. The 31-year-old is alleged to have put a demo of Gimme All Your Luvin on the internet in November. The investigation began after lawyers traced the recording to Spain. The man, described by police as a big fan of the singer, was arrested in Zaragoza. Madonna's first studio album in five years is due for release in late March, with the first single out next month. Police have not named the man arrested, but confirmed his initials as J.M.R. Officers in the northern Spanish city said they found recordings of the song in a search of the suspect's belongings. Madonna, 53, was said to have been "very upset" when the song first leaked last month. Her manager, Guy Oseary, tweeted about the incident and asked fans to help police any further leaks. The singer's upcoming album, her first since 2008's Hard Candy, has already been completed and will be released as part of a new three album deal with Interscope Records. It was also recently announced that the star will perform during the high profile Superbowl half-time show on 5 February.

Britons win case against Spanish developers

 

Peter and Benjamin Schmidt were found guilty by an Alicante court of fraud, sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to repay the £50,000 deposit taken from Keith and Marilyn Brown in 2004. A total of 60 people, mostly British, paid deposits in excess of £50,000 for property sold off-plan via the German father and son company Construciones Monte Puchol S.L. Within the space of a year the expectant homeowners began to realise that building licenses had not and would not be granted to the Schmidts, who had illegally earmarked 'rustic' land on which to build the 60 properties. It remains to be seen whether the decision will set a legal precedent and enable remaining victims, not just of the Schmidts, but of all fraudulent developers in Spain, to claw back their losses. Despite the allegations of fraud and the evidence against the Schmidts, the Browns were required to fund the six-year legal action themselves – something that has left a bad taste in the mouth of Mr Brown, particularly as there is no guarantee that the Schmidts will actually pay back what they owe. "In the UK, if a fraud is committed the police investigate the case and the Crown Prosecution Service pays the cost of the action," he said. "Here we have had to pay for everything ourselves. "Many of the other victims of this scam lost everything and were unable to pay legal fees so just had to walk away. From meeting and talking to other people who were involved there has been an immense amount of heartache and distress caused. I wonder why the Spanish authorities do not provide a legal system that is responsive to the need for a quick legal remedy." Mr Brown said that if it had happened in the UK, UK law would allow an action to sue the conveyancing lawyer directly for not checking the validity of the building licence. Under Spanish law they were unable to take that action. "It is about time the Spanish authorities and lawmakers woke up to the fact that the delay in getting a fair and just outcome is seriously detrimental to the Spanish economy," he said. Despite the positive result there is still the possibility of the Browns having to pay legal fees for an appeal hearing in Madrid and further fees for recovering their losses from the Schmidts and/or the lawyers from Javea. "Our resolve continues to be tested but we intend to continue in our search for justice," said Mr Brown. The Schmidts have been linked to a number of similarly bogus developments along the southern Spanish coastline during the early 2000 boom years of Spanish development and construction. When it became clear to investors that their homes would never materialise, the Schmidts attempted to maintain the fraud by offering to transfer investors' interest to their other property developments in Sagra and Benidoleig. At one stage the Browns were sent a cheque from the Schmidts to cover the airfare to visit one of their alternative developments, only for the cheque to bounce. After that, the Browns decided to instruct a new firm of lawyers to recover their deposit on the original development. Telegraph Expat's Spanish Planning Scandal campaign is supporting the thousands of expats who have been affected by the illegal homes crisis in Spain. You can find all the latest news on the situation here. Share:     inShare 1 Expat Property Overseas Property » Expat » Expat News » Spanish Planning Scandal »   Spanish planning scandal campaign   The Telegraph Weekly World Edition   Expat Directory   Expat picture galleries

On the run, U.S. financier finds Spanish refuge

 

He's wanted for contempt of court in Arizona. He is under investigation by Italian police over his connection with an international bond scandal exposed by Reuters in August and totalling at least $500 million (320 million pounds). And he is named as a key player in one of the first criminal indictments following the collapse of Iceland's economy. But last week you could find David Spargo in a holiday resort on the Spanish island of Majorca. He's a regular at La Batucada cocktail bar, where he might be drinking anything from a cocktail to a beer or whisky. Locals say he also enjoys playing on the 95-euro-a-round (81 pound) Alcanada golf course, which overlooks the sparkling Mediterranean. Since he arrived in Majorca early this year he has even tried to issue more bonds, one source told Reuters. Spargo's case shows how tough it is for regulators and law enforcement agencies to track and punish alleged financial crimes across borders. Networks of 'shell companies' -- paper-only firms with few real operations -- make it hard enough to identify suspects. Even if regulators can identify them, they are often hard to bring to justice. Spargo may be of interest to officials in at least four jurisdictions around the world but police and civil guard officials on Majorca said they were unaware of the fraud investigation. The 44-year old American is sought by U.S. Marshals for failing to repay $5.5 million to investors in Texas and Virginia who had bought bonds issued by his company. But because the charges against him are civil ones, the United States is not able to extradite him and the U.S. embassy in Madrid says they are not aware of Spargo's presence in Spain. Iceland and Britain (whose top financial services regulator recently called $500 million of bonds Spargo issued in 2008 a "fraudulent instrument") have also not tried to extradite him. A prosecutor in Italy declined to say whether authorities had tried to extradite anyone in connection with the case. "There are likely to be hundreds of suspected white-collar criminals who have moved to other countries and are now living off the proceeds from their alleged crimes," says Andrew Gordon, forensic services partner at accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Police in the City of London say more and more criminals are trying to hide their operations in different countries, using myriad bank accounts to siphon off the profits. Spargo himself denies any fraud. "A lot of your information is extremely incorrect," he told a Reuters reporter from the balcony of his second-floor apartment on November 28. "You'll find out in the next three days."

Spanish royal family hit by fraud scandal

 

The once squeaky-clean Spanish royal family has become immersed in a growing fraud scandal that reveals how members of King Juan Carlos's family may have cashed in on the monarchy's good name. At the centre of the scandal is the king's son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin, a former Olympic-medal-winning handball player who became the Duke of Palma after marrying Juan Carlos's sporty daughter, the infanta Cristina. Urdangarin and his business partners are the subject of daily leaks from a fraud investigation involving millions of euros of public money as Spain's royal family struggles to hold on to its popularity. Police have raided the offices of his private companies and of a foundation he once presided over, taking away documents. El País newspaper reported this week that prosecutors believe Urdangarin, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, will be named as a formal suspect in the case within two months. That could be a first step towards formal charges being placed. The royal palace, meanwhile, added fuel to the scandal this week by suggesting Juan Carlos planned to cut the official royal family down to a nuclear core – in effect casting off his son-in-law and daughter. On Thursday morning the palace press office appeared to have received a royal ticking off and publicly backtracked, saying "it deeply regretted having contributed to the fact that some media outlets reported this erroneously". Urdangarin himself, who now works for Spain's Telefonica phone company in Washington DC, has said he is innocent. "When I know the details of the investigations being carried out … I will be able to comment on their contents," he said last month. "My professional behaviour has always been correct." Queen Sofia, meanwhile, has showed public support for her beleaguered daughter and son-in-law, allowing the latest edition of Hola magazine to publish pictures of her visiting them at their home in the US. Speculation in Spanish newspapers has included predictions that Urdangarin will drop his aristocratic title so he can continue as a businessman or that Cristina will renounce her position as seventh in the line to the throne. Within a few years of abandoning his sports career in 2000, and after studying at a prestigious business school, Urdangarin became the owner of a €6m (£5m) house in Barcelona. He set up various companies and became president of a nonprofit foundation, the Nóos Institute. The institute boasted that its patrons included Urdangarin, his wife, an accountant described as an "assessor to the royal household" and professors from two of the world's top business schools, the Barcelona-based Iese and Esade schools. Nóos landed multimillion-euro contracts to organise events for regional governments in the Balearic Islands and Valencia. But public prosecutors in Palma, the capital of the Balearics, have said there is evidence the institute was a front, charging hugely inflated fees and siphoning money off to Urdangarin's private companies. A €1.2m contract with the Balearic Islands was, prosecutors told investigating magistrate José Castro, "totally disproportionate to the task … based exclusively on a fictitious budget which did not analyse a single cost". They said evidence pointed to the foundation being used exclusively to channel money to other companies – many in the names of Urdangarin or his business partners. "That was the sole aim," they said. At least €3.2m out of €5m was passed on from Nóos to Urdangarin's companies, according to Publico newspaper. The scandal comes as the royal family loses support among ordinary Spaniards. A regular poll by the state-run Centre for Sociological Investigation shows that, for the first time since polling started 17 years ago, trust in the royals has fallen below the halfway mark. Spaniards now place greater trust in the press.

Marvel character, Erik Lensherr a.k.a. Magneto, has apparently infringed the copyright of the King of Spain

Marvel character, Erik Lensherr a.k.a. Magneto, has apparently infringed the copyright of the King of Spain in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, with the Zarzuela Palace claiming the X-Men villain's alternate costume is identical to the military uniform worn by King Juan Carlos.

Representitives for the Zazuela Palace have contacted the Spanish distributor of the game in the region, Koch Media, to warn them of possible copyright infringement.

This isn't the first time the Spanish Royal's has stamped their feet over the strong resemblences, as Marvel faced a similar dispute when Magneto first donned the uniform in The Pulse: House of M Special X-Men special.

New ecstasy fears after two dead and one seriously ill following club weekend

 

The clubbers, aged 20 and 21, died within hours of each other at the same hospital after attending separate dance music events at Alexandra Palace in north London over the weekend. Another 20-year-old man, also thought to have attended an event at the venue, is also being treated at the same hospital where he is said to be in a serious but stable condition. Last night Scotland Yard issued a special appeal to any young people who may have taken drugs at or before either of the events to seek immediate medical attention amid fears dealers may have been peddling an ultra-strong batch. It comes just a week after the charity Drugscope, which monitors trends in underground the drug trade, warned of an alarming rise in the popularity of ecstasy which dominated the 1990s rave scene but fell out of fashion. A surge in use follows an influx of a more-potent Chinese variants of the drug which is based on the chemical MDMA, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

Ecstasy alert after club deaths

 

wo young clubbers suspected of taking ecstasy died after separate dance music events at London's Alexandra Palace, police said. The men, aged 20 and 21, were admitted to a north London hospital on Sunday and were pronounced dead within seven hours of each other. The 21-year-old is thought to have attended an all-night party called Bass Culture, which started on Friday and continued into Saturday. The 20-year-old is believed to have attended a night called Epic, starting on Saturday night and running into Sunday. A second 20-year-old man who was also believed to have attended the event on Saturday night was admitted to hospital as well and remains in a serious but stable condition. The Metropolitan Police said the cause of the deaths and injury was yet to be established but confirmed that one line of inquiry was that the men may have taken illegal substances, possibly MDMA - the chemical name for ecstasy. They issued an urgent appeal for other clubbers to seek medical attention following the unexplained deaths. Detective Inspector Rita Tierney said: "Although it is too early to say what caused these men's health to deteriorate, we are investigating the possibility that illegal drugs may have been involved. "If you have taken what you believed to be MDMA, or any other substance, during this weekend's events at Alexandra Palace, and are now feeling unwell, I would strongly urge you to attend your nearest hospital as soon as possible."

Entertainer Michael Barrymore has been charged with posession of cocaine and being drunk and disorderly following a car crash, police have confirmed. It follows an incident in Acton, west London, on Tuesday, Scotland Yard said. Details of the incident have just emerged. The 59-year-old was arrested alongside another man at 4.30am on Tuesday after a Citroen DS3 hit a kerb. . Barrymore - whose real name Michael Parker - is due to appear at Ealing Magistrates' Court on December 7.

Entertainer Michael Barrymore has been charged with posession of cocaine and being drunk and disorderly following a car crash, police have confirmed.

It follows an incident in Acton, west London, on Tuesday, Scotland Yard said. Details of the incident have just emerged.

The 59-year-old was arrested alongside another man at 4.30am on Tuesday after a Citroen DS3 hit a kerb.

Officers on a routine patrol discovered the crash scene at the junction of The Vale and Dordrecht Road. It is understood police were unclear on who had been behind the wheel.

Both men have been bailed pending further inquiries. Barrymore - whose real name Michael Parker - is due to appear at Ealing Magistrates' Court on December 7.

Barrymore, who was once one of the country's most high-profile TV stars, has had a controversial career.

In the 1980s shows such as Strike It Lucky and My Kind Of People attracted many millions of viewers and gave him a salary to match.

He announced he was gay in 1995 and split from Cheryl, his manager and wife of 19 years, after which his career floundered.

He appeared on the small screen as a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006 and was popular enough with viewers to take second place behind "spoof" celebrity Chantelle Houghton.

I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! contestant Freddie Starr has been taken to hospital after suffering a severe allergic reaction in the jungle

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! contestant Freddie Starr has been taken to hospital after suffering a severe allergic reaction in the jungle. According to the Daily Mail, Starr started feeling sick after completing the Greasy Spoon Bushtucker trial with The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright and doctors were called to assess the 68-year old's condition. An ITV spokesman has since confirmed the comedian's illness, stating: "Freddie Starr was taken unwell in the jungle. He was immediately attended to by on-site medics and taken to hospital where he was assessed by doctors." They added: "He will remain in hospital overnight as a precaution, and further tests continue. However, Freddie is in great spirits and keeping nursing staff entertained." A show-insider Down Under also explained to the newspaper that Starr's bout of ill-health has nothing to do with his well-documented heart problems, explaining: "Doctors have told us that it’s highly unlikely that what’s happened is related to any pre-existing condition, cardiac or otherwise." "They think he’s had a severe allergic reaction, but they may not be able to pinpoint the cause. The reaction could be due to a spider bite, he might have reacted badly to a leech or a tic, or even a snake he hadn’t noticed." They continued: "He might have reacted badly to the bark of a tree he leant on, or a leaf he touched in passing. Doctors are testing all of these things. The jungle is an alien environment for most of us, but the show is always prepared for all eventualities and this is no exception." "The unpredictability of the jungle is what sets this programme apart from other shows. The element of jeopardy is always there. However, the  celebs are watched 24-hours a day by a huge team of people." The Mail's source added: "There are dozens of cameras on the celebs, as well as 24-hour security in the camp and a huge crew around them. There are also on-site medics around the clock." As for weather the gruesome bug eating task was to blame, the mole claimed: "The foods are all tested on people before they reach the celebrities." "Extreme precautions are taken and bush tucker like the cockroaches are all bred hygienically. It’s unlikely that this is the cause of his reaction, but tests are continuing and we can't rule out anything."

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! contestant Freddie Starr has been taken to hospital after suffering a severe allergic reaction in the jungle. According to the Daily Mail, Starr started feeling sick after completing the Greasy Spoon Bushtucker trial with The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright and doctors were called to assess the 68-year old's condition. An ITV spokesman has since confirmed the comedian's illness, stating: "Freddie Starr was taken unwell in the jungle. He was immediately attended to by on-site medics and taken to hospital where he was assessed by doctors." They added: "He will remain in hospital overnight as a precaution, and further tests continue. However, Freddie is in great spirits and keeping nursing staff entertained." A show-insider Down Under also explained to the newspaper that Starr's bout of ill-health has nothing to do with his well-documented heart problems, explaining: "Doctors have told us that it’s highly unlikely that what’s happened is related to any pre-existing condition, cardiac or otherwise." "They think he’s had a severe allergic reaction, but they may not be able to pinpoint the cause. The reaction could be due to a spider bite, he might have reacted badly to a leech or a tic, or even a snake he hadn’t noticed." They continued: "He might have reacted badly to the bark of a tree he leant on, or a leaf he touched in passing. Doctors are testing all of these things. The jungle is an alien environment for most of us, but the show is always prepared for all eventualities and this is no exception." "The unpredictability of the jungle is what sets this programme apart from other shows. The element of jeopardy is always there. However, the  celebs are watched 24-hours a day by a huge team of people." The Mail's source added: "There are dozens of cameras on the celebs, as well as 24-hour security in the camp and a huge crew around them. There are also on-site medics around the clock." As for weather the gruesome bug eating task was to blame, the mole claimed: "The foods are all tested on people before they reach the celebrities." "Extreme precautions are taken and bush tucker like the cockroaches are all bred hygienically. It’s unlikely that this is the cause of his reaction, but tests are continuing and we can't rule out anything."

Phone hacking: the names of nearly 30 News International staff appear in Glenn Mulcaire's notebooks

Phone hacking: the names of nearly 30 News International staff appear in Glenn Mulcaire's notebooks, the Leveson inquiry has heard. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

The names of 28 News International employees appear in notebooks belonging to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who worked for theNews of the World, the Leveson inquiry into press standards heard on its first day at London's high court.

 

Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry also heard that Mulcaire wrote the words "Daily Mirror" in his notepad, which suggests he may have carried out work for the paper.

 

Robert Jay QC, counsel for the inquiry, told the high court that "at least 27 other News International employees" are named in Mulcaire's paperwork, as well as former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed for phone hacking along with the private investigator in January 2007.

 

Jay also told the inquiry, which began formal hearings at the high court on Monday: "The inquiry is beginning to receive evidence to indicate that phone hacking was not limited to that organisation [News International]."

 

He said the number of News International names and the scale of the activity indicated there was a culture of phone hacking at the company. "Either management knew what was going on at the time and therefore, at the very least, condoned this illegal activity," he said, or there was "a failure of supervision and oversight".

 

Mulcaire received a total of 2,266 requests from News International journalists, Jay said, 2,142 of which were made by four unnamed reporters. The most prolific of them made 1,453 of those requests.

 

A total of 690 audio tapes were also recovered from Mulcaire's office, Jay revealed, and there was a record of 586 recordings of voicemail messages intended for 64 individuals. The evidence was seized by Metropolitan police officers during a raid in 2006.

 

Mulcaire's 11,000 pages of notes mentioned 5,795 names, he confirmed, who could be potential phone-hacking victims.

 

Jay also said the inquiry had seen documents that suggest Mulcaire was hacking into phone messages ago as early as May 2001.

 

It had been thought until today that the earliest phone hacking by Mulcaire occurred in 2002. The new date is potentially significant because it falls before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

 

It has been alleged that News International instructed private investigators in the US to target relatives of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, although no proof has so far emerged that this took place.

 

The Sun is also named in Mulcaire's notes, Jay said. Jude Law had cited the Sun along with its former sister paper the News of the World in his civil case against News International, although the Sun has since been dropped from his claim.

 

Several public figures are believed to be preparing civil cases against the Daily Mirror, but none have so far come to court.

 

The paper's publisher, Trinity Mirror, continues to insist that its journalists operate within the law and follow the Press Complaints Commission's code of conduct.

 

A Trinity Mirror spokesman said the company has "no knowledge of ever using Glenn Mulcaire".

 

Jay said the Mulcaire notes showed a "thriving cottage industry" and the "scale of activity gives rise to the powerful inference that it must have occupied Mulcaire full time".

 

Outlining the vast remit of the inquiry, Jay described a "root and branch" investigation of the press that would not be cowed by the powerful range of institutions in the media.

 

He said the inquiry would consider granting "protected measures" to whistleblowers who were afraid of criticising their employer or speaking truthfully about press ethics.

 

The inquiry will not be limited to phone hacking, Jay said, adding that Leveson was keen to learn about all "unlawful and unethical" newsgathering methods, including subterfuge and blagging.

 

The former News of the World undercover reporter, Mazher Mahmood, has submitted written evidence and will give oral evidence to the inquiry at a later date, Jay said.

 

Opening the hearing, Leveson said he had "absolutely no wish" to stifle freedom of speech and expression, and that the inquiry would monitor media coverage to see if it appears that anyone who speaks out is being "targeted adversely".

Gaga may once again have offended the pious as she emerged as a decapitated corpse from a confession box

Gaga may once again have offended the pious as she emerged as a decapitated corpse from a confession box, and that too with a crucifix in the background. No doubt the elaborate attire came off as she began to perform and came to a more natural avatar of fishnet stockings and a black lace bodice.

The Grammy-winner was clearly excited about performance when she tweeted earlier, "So excited to perform Marry The Night on X Factor UK tonight! Will sing my head off for England!! Almost time X-FACTOR! Also get ready monsters cuz #MarryTheNight officially impacts radio next week! Thanku to stations that added it early!"

Now we realise she meant it quite literally!

 

 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has demanded to be questioned by judges investigating an alleged prostitution ring, after media reports linked him to the case.

 Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

He is keeping a low profile in Paris, has grown a white beard, and polls show he is the least popular politician in France.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, forced to quit as head of the IMF and shelve aspirations to become the next French president, had hoped to find solace in France after criminal charges were dropped against him in New York over the alleged attempted rape of a hotel cleaner. But he is dominating the front pages again after his name was linked to a high-profile investigation into an alleged prostitution ring at a luxury hotel in Lille.

The Hotel Carlton affair centres on allegations of pimping at top hotels in the northern French city, where women from France and massage parlours in Belgium were allegedly supplied for hotel customers and local officials. Eight people are under formal investigation, including a senior police officer, a local barrister and businessmen. Five have been imprisoned as the inquiry continues.

The investigation raises questions about the links between police and business figures and the underworld of sex work in France and Belgium. Prostitution involving people over the age of 18 is not illegal in France but pimping and living off the benefits of it is.

The affair took a new turn after Strauss-Kahn's name came up in statements made to investigators, according to a series of leaked transcripts published in the French media in recent weeks.

Businessmen were alleged to have paid women to travel to Paris and the US to take part in "soirées" with Strauss-Kahn at his own request, including when he was head of the IMF and tipped to become the next French president. Le Monde reported that one senior French police officer had travelled twice to Washington DC last year with businessmen, including the head of a Lille-based construction firm, to accompany a group of women who worked in massage parlours in Belgium to see Strauss-Kahn. The former head of the IMF was said to have received three visits from the group in Washington. The last visit ended on 13 May, the day before he was arrested over the attempted rape of a hotel maid in New York.

The senior Lille police officer and two businessmen deny involvement in prostitution.

The first evening organised for Strauss-Kahn was said to have taken place at a luxury Paris hotel in 2009. One sex worker, whose testimony was published by the weekly Le Point, described being accompanied by businessmen on the train from Lille to Paris to meet Strauss-Kahn, who was wearing a bathrobe, and others in a duplex hotel apartment with a pool. She said she was paid €900 (£770) by a businessman on the way back to Lille that night. Other alleged encounters took place in 2010.

A Belgian sex worker in her 30s, known as Jade, told the French newspaper, Nord Eclair, she was taken to Washington for an encounter with Strauss-Kahn in a hotel in January 2010 and paid by businessmen on her return to France. She said Strauss-Kahn showed her around the IMF building and posed for a photograph with her in his office the next day.

But the saga took another twist this week when French media, including Liberation and Le Point, published text messages allegedly sent by Strauss-Kahn to a businessman in the case, which are being investigated by police. In one message, Strauss-Kahn, then head of the IMF, asked if the man wanted to accompany him to a "magnificent" swingers club in Madrid, suggesting he bring "material" – thought to mean women. In another, he said he was taking a girl, "une petite", to clubs in Vienna and would the man like to come with a "demoiselle", or "Miss". A few days later he asked if the "suite with pool" had been booked. The text messages do not explicitly refer to prostitution.

Strauss-Kahn issued a statement through his lawyers on Friday demanding to be interviewed by investigative judges in the case as soon as possible, and denouncing a "media lynching". The statement said Strauss-Kahn was ready to "explain himself" not before the tribunal of public opinion but "in front of those running the judicial inquiry". Last month, his lawyers urged judges to interview him so he could answer what he deemed "hasty and malevolent" accusations.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Henri Leclerc, told the Guardian he had no comment to make on the case. He said his client had not yet been interviewed by investigators.

If Strauss-Kahn had consenting, paid-for encounters with sex workers aged over 18, it would not be a crime in France. But the publication this week of text messages to one businessman mentioning meetings with other top Socialists, raised questions about whether the men could expect political access or favours in exchange for providing what one had termed "girlfriends, meaning prostitutes" for him.

One businessman in the case said he paid for flights and costs. He is believed to have spent thousands of euros of company money on organising soirées for Strauss-Kahn, putting receipts marked with the initials DSK through his expense accounts. He told investigators Strauss-Kahn had not paid for anything.

The French media questioned Strauss-Kahn's behaviour during a period in which he was tipped to become the next president of France. "The net is tightening around DSK," said the daily Le Parisien on Friday.

Sarah Harding has completed her 2-month stint in rehab

Sarah Harding's ex Calum Best is glad she got the help she needed

 

 

The Girls Aloud star, 29, was treated for alcohol abuse and depression after calling off her engagement to DJ Tom Crane, 31.

Sarah and Tom were due to marry next summer after getting engaged this New Year.

'They've been in regular contact throughout her time away but only on the phone. They've spoken most days and it seems like they could have a chance of giving it another shot,' a source tells the Sunday Mirror.

Sarah's ex Calum Best, 30, is glad that Sarah got professional help.

'Everyone has their dark times, but Sarah's strong and will come out of this period even stronger, he told us last month

How a Financial Pro Lost His House

 

ONE night a few years ago, when the value of our home had collapsed, our debt was out of control and my financial planning business was shaky, I went to take out the trash. He wrote a book based in part on lessons learned by losing his Las Vegas home in the housing crisis. There was this enormous window that looked right in on the kitchen table, and through it I could see my wife, Cori, and our four children eating dinner. It was dark outside, so they couldn’t see me, and I just stood there looking at them. After a while, I pulled up a bucket and I sat on it, just watching my children eat. I found myself wishing that I could get back there, connected to the simple ordinary stuff of my family’s life. And as I sat and watched, filled with longing and guilt, two questions kept arising: How did I get here? And how am I going to get out of this? There are many stories these days of people who lost their financial bearings during the housing boom and the crisis that followed, but my story is a bit different from most. I’m a financial adviser. I get paid to help people make smart financial choices, and I speak and write about personal finance issues for this publication and others. My first book comes out in January, “The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things With Money” (Portfolio, a Penguin imprint). The thing that few people know, though, is that I learned a lot of this from experience. I made a bunch of mistakes, the very same ones that I now go around warning people to avoid. So this is the story of how I lost my home, the profound ethical questions that arose along the way, and what my wife and I learned from the mistakes that led us to that point. It made me better at what I do, but it wasn’t much fun getting there. Like most financial stories, this one is personal. It starts with me getting into the financial services industry more or less by accident. I answered an ad in 1995 that I thought was for a job related to “security” (as in security guard) but was in fact related to “securities.” That’s how little I knew about the stock market. A few months later I found myself working a phone at a Fidelity Investments call center. Things went well, and by 1999 I was a Merrill Lynch financial adviser and a certified financial planner. By then, we also owned a house in Salt Lake City. We’d bought it two years earlier, with a $25,000 down payment. A few years later, an opportunity arose to form a partnership with a successful Merrill adviser in Las Vegas. The place was on our top 10 list of never-move-to cities because we had always associated it with the Strip. But Cori and I were looking for an opportunity to have an experience somewhere else, and we met some great people when we visited the city. I took the job, and we moved down there. That was May 2003. Housing prices were already crazy, so we rented. But our neighborhood had zero character and lots of cookie-cutter houses. Within a few weeks, we were looking for a place to buy. I felt we could afford around $350,000. We called a real estate agent named Mitch, who had signs on all the bus stops: Talk to Mitch! He picked us up in a gold Jaguar, and suddenly we were looking at houses that listed at $500,000 or more. It felt a little crazy to be shopping for houses that cost half a million dollars, but my income was growing rapidly. Everywhere I looked, people were being rewarded for buying as much house as they could possibly afford, and then some. There was this excitement in the air, almost like static. I started to think that if I didn’t buy a house right then, I would never be able to afford one. At moments during our house hunt, I felt in my gut that something wasn’t right. We’d go to open houses for $400,000 homes and see lines of couples in their late 20s — younger than we were — waiting to get inside. I kept wondering where all the money was coming from. How did all these people make so much?

BOTTOM five most hated airports

5. Ninoy Aquino International, Manila, Philippines

 

Wear a helmet -- the first collapsed ceiling in 2006 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Beleaguered by ground crew strikes, unkempt conditions, soup kitchen-style lines that feed into more lines and an overall sense of futility, NAIA brings the term “Stuck in the 1970s” to a new level.

 

At Terminal 1 all non-Philippine Airlines remain crammed despite serious overcapacity issues and a new and underused Terminal 3 is occupied by a few minor carriers. 

A rash of bad press this year (including a “Worst in the World” ribbon from Sleeping in Airports) was capped by a collapsed ceiling in T1, a paralyzing ground service strike at T2, and the usual charges of tampered luggage, filthy restrooms, seat shortages at gates, re-sealed water bottles sold in retail shops and an Amazing Race-style check-in routine spiked with bureaucracy, broken escalators, lengthy Dot Matrix passenger lists and creative airport departure fees. 

Read more on CNNGo: World's busiest airports announced

4. Toncontín International, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

 

Over-priced corn chips will be the least of your worries.

When do the most common airport gripes about inefficiency, uncomfortable gate chairs, dirty floors and lousy dining options suddenly become irrelevant? When you’re preoccupied about whether your 757 will actually be able to stop before the runway does. 

 

Nestled in a bowl-shaped valley at 957 meters above sea level, Toncontín’s notoriously stubby, mountain-cloaked landing strip was recently lengthened another 300 meters following a fatal TACA aircraft overshoot in 2008.

Not enough though to avoid being named the “second most dangerous airport in the world” by the History Channel. 

Nepal’s hair-raising Tenzing-Hillary Airport in the Himalayas is the top seed, but receives fewer gripes from its thrill-seeking Everest-bound clientele.

Read more on CNNGo: Shanghai Pudong International Airport: Fifth best in the world

3. London Heathrow, London, England

 

"You'll fly through departures -- at the speed of a penguin."

Depending on which of Heathrow’s five terminals one is funneled through, the average experience at the world’s third-busiest airport ranges from mildly tedious to "Fawlty Towers" ridiculous. 

 

With its rash of -- as they were politely called -- “teething problems” in bright and airy T5 (remember that riotous grand opening with 34 canceled flights?) and nicely matured problems in Ts 1, 2 and 3, the issues passengers are beset with run the gamut.

Parking messes. Busted baggage carousels. Deadlocked security lines. Long walks (or, more commonly, runs) between gates to a frenzied soundtrack of “last call” announcements. Realizations that getting out of Heathrow took longer than actually flying here from Madrid. 

In the airport “where the world changes planes,” it all boils down to a chronic inability to cope with this many people. Plans for a sixth terminal should help sever even more nerves.

2. Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, United States

 

It's not even a good spot for celebrity sightings.

If the world’s seventh-busiest flight hub was an old ballpark resting on the stale reputation of its Dodger Dogs and that great 1959 series, LAX might have some endearment value. 

 

But it’s an airport -- a dramatically undersized and moribund one with the architectural élan of a 1960s correctional facility and several publicized concerns about how its 1,700 takeoffs and landings a day can be sustained in a facility a fifth the size of healthier cousins like Dallas/Fort Worth. 

The unsupportive donut-shaped design -- it’s been called “eight terminals connected by a traffic jam” -- makes dashing between airlines feel like a diesel-scented cardio test. 

Plunked in the middle is the airport’s landmark Jetsons-style restaurant and only mentionable amenity, Encounter, but how does one actually get inside this place -- at least before being nailed for a petty traffic violation by some of the most ticket-hungry airport cops west of the Mississippi?

Read more on CNNGo: World's most terrifying airports

1. Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France

 

Don't expect to make friends during a storm closure.

“A great country worthy of the name,” President Charles de Gaulle once opined, “does not have any friends.” 

 

True or not, it’s this sort of attitude that has helped CDG become the most maligned major airport on earth. What’s fueling it? 

Grimy washrooms with missing toilet seats don’t help. Nor do broken scanning machines and an overall lack of signage, gate information screens and Paris-worthy bars, restaurants or cafés.

The baffling circular layout is worsened by warrens of tunnel-like structures, dismissive staff and seething travelers waiting forever in the wrong queue. 

The worst part may be this airport’s aura of indifference to it all. “Waiting for a connection here,” notes one commuter, “is like being in custody.”  

If you’re actually staying in Paris, you may be okay. If you have the gall to just be passing through between Malaga and Montreal, you can cut the spite of this place with a cheese knife.

Top five most hated Airports

10. São Paulo-Guarulhos International, São Paulo, Brazil

 

Whether it's 9 a.m. or 9 p.m. this airport experiences round-the-clock rush hour.

Why is this place on our list after scoring third best airport in South America at the 2011 World Airport Awards? 

 

Because, shockingly enough, it turns out that corporate medal ceremonies aren’t always in sync with what people are thinking when they're standing in two-hour immigration lines, suffering routinely unannounced gate changes and paying through the teeth for a stale Brazilian cheese roll and beer inside an understaffed and over-aged aviation facility. 

In a country where flight delays (departing or arriving) are just part of the deal, some recent numbers would give pause to the most unflappable traveler at Brazil’s largest airport.

Just 41 percent of all flights leave on time. Only 59 percent of flights arrive on schedule, according to Forbes.  

São Paulo-Guarulhos has announced plans to add runways and terminals -- what airport hasn’t? -- but with nearly 30 million passengers traipsing through every year (the figure has reportedly doubled in under a decade) the urgency is palpable and, sadly enough, unsolved by upping prices at musty duty-free shops.

But does this really constitute bronze medal status? When the best unofficial advice for surviving Brazil’s pin-up airport is to try and learn a little Portuguese and not lose your temper, something’s gotta give. 

Read more on CNNGo: World's biggest airport planned

9. Perth Airport, Perth, Australia

 

Kick a dog while it's down: The Qantas strike didn't help PER's reputation.

If there’s one thing Australians love, it’s hating their airports.

 

But while the big guns in Sydney, Melbourne and also-rans in Darwin, Cairns and Hobart get routinely lambasted for various inefficiencies and rip-off tactics, passengers in Western Australia have a special place in their spleens for Perth. 

“The only advantage over some other airports is the lack of nearby combat,” notes one of several miffed passengers on airportquality.com. 

With a reviled pair of domestic terminals (home of two-hour taxi-line queues, atrocious check-in lines, overpopulated gates and meager lounges) and a slightly more palatable international terminal five kilometers away, Perth’s brittle facilities can be overwhelmed just by a trio of aircraft arriving within 20 minutes of each other. 

Now that an ambitious “billion-dollar” redevelopment project has been significantly scaled back, who would ever want to leave Changi for this place? 

Read more on CNNGo: Transit hotels: How to get to sleep during your stopover

8. Tribhuvan International, Kathmandu, Nepal

 

Don't look the officers -- or the dogs -- in the eye.

For a small airport in a pretty country, Tribhuvan has it all: the interminable weather delays of Boston Logan, the shoddy restroom maintenance of a Glasgow sports bar, the departure board sparsity of McMurdo Airfield and the chronic chaos of a kids' soccer match. 

 

Some airport improvements have been underway for the Visit Nepal 2011 tourism campaign, including things most passengers don’t much care about (e.g., the new helicopter base). 

The most serious beefs with Nepal’s only international airport revolve around its primitive yet officious check-in procedure, starring a roulette wheel of underpaid security agents. 

“Departure is an endless game of body searches and silly questions,” notes one passenger.

“Those who didn’t have their e-tickets printed out had to argue their way in,” says another, who was checked seven times and scolded for not having a baggage tag on a carry-on before eventually boarding. 

Never mind. The city’s markets and surrounding mountains are lovely.

7. John F. Kennedy International, New York, United States

 

Fans flooded the airport to welcome the 1964 British Invasion, but it seems they never left.

You’d think it would be one of the greatest humiliations any major airport would never allow itself to live down -- getting routinely abandoned by fed-up folks opting to fly out of Newark (Newark!) instead, where at least the ground staff cop less attitude and fewer people outside are pretending to be cab drivers.  

 

But, nah, JFK really couldn’t really care less.

Every year, more than 21 million passengers stumble through worn, mid-century terminals that peaked when The Beatles arrived in the United States and rooftop parking was all the rage; JFK proudly remains the world’s busiest international air gateway.

So if you’re not into a dim, surly, unbearably congested airport reeking with attitude and unapologetically long immigration lines -- good riddance. 

“JFK had a piece of my luggage sitting in a little detention room for bags -- for over a year,” notes one passenger. “No one noticed it was there, until finally an observant Air France employee wondered what the dusty little green bag in the corner was.” 

Read more on CNNGo: Secret Report: Singapore's Chiangi Airport world's favorite 

6. Jomo Kenyatta International, Nairobi, Kenya

 

Can't be disappointed if you're not expecting much.

“As African airports go, it’s not that bad -- but as an international hub, it may be one of the worst out there.” 

 

This is the common refrain among travelers through JKIA, who either don’t have the heart or the expectations to give this dated aviation facility the kind of pounding reserved for the JFKs and Charles de Gaulles of the world. 

Saddled with a 1958 blueprint designed for 2.5 million passengers, JKIA receives close to twice that many. Hence the airport’s 2005, Three Phase, US$100 million expansion project which has seen long delays (something about the rain) and has been spinning its tires somewhere in Phase Two for the last few years. 

For now, that means business as usual: cramped spaces; long lines; inadequate seating; frequent power outages; tiny washrooms hiding up several flights of stairs; shabby duty free shops; overpriced food outlets; and business class lounges worthy of a shelter in mid-city Los Angeles.

Sure, it’s a breeze compared to Lagos. But it could be so much better. The confusing result: grateful disappointment?

Fall of richest man in Ireland as Quinn is declared bankrupt

 

TROUBLED tycoon Sean Quinn, once Ireland’s richest man, was declared bankrupt yesterday at the High Court in Belfast. The 64-year-old businessman was granted a voluntary adjudication over an alleged E2.8bn debt owed to Anglo Irish Bank. It is believed to be one of the biggest bankruptcy orders of its kind ever made in either the United Kingdom or Ireland. Mr Quinn said he brought the application north of the border because he was born, reared and worked all his life in Co Fermanagh. But by declaring himself bankrupt in Northern Ireland it also means he only has to wait a year before going back into business – rather than 12 years in the Republic. He claimed to have been left with no alternative but to take the “drastic decision” over problems which stemmed from “ill-fated investments in Anglo”. The former billionaire was stripped of control of his manufacturing and insurance business empire in April. He had been plunged into financial trouble by purchasing bank shares which then became worthless. As a consequence, receivers were installed and he and his family lost any role in the management of the Quinn Group. Mr Quinn accepts that he owes around E194m to Anglo for property loans which he cannot repay. But the rest of the alleged debt, which relates to Contracts for Difference (CFDs) used to buy bank shares, is disputed. The Quinn family are currently suing Anglo, claiming the CFDs were tainted with illegality. Mr Quinn applied for voluntary bankruptcy through his lawyer and licensed insolvency practitioner, John Gordon of Napier and Sons. The order was granted during a brief hearing before a Master at the High Court in Belfast. Mr Quinn said in a statement: “I have done absolutely everything in my power to avoid taking this drastic decision. The vast majority of debt that Anglo maintains is owed is strenuously disputed. I cannot, however, now pay those loans which are due.” He added: “Following Anglo taking control of the Quinn Group of companies, which I and a loyal team spent a lifetime building, I find myself left with no alternative.” The businessman said he had “worked tirelessly” to find a solution to the problems. He claimed: “Anglo, and more recently the Irish Government, are intent on making scapegoats of my family and I.” According to him, the bank has attempted to avoid acknowledging “a lack of corporate responsibility, self-interest and lack of regulation that prevailed at the time”. His allegations are now the subject of High Court proceedings. Mr Quinn accepted: “I am certainly not without blame. I am not in the business of pointing fingers or making excuses. “However, recent history has shown that I, like thousands of others in Ireland, incorrectly relied upon the persons who guided Anglo and who wrongfully sought to portray a ‘blue chip’ Irish banking stock.” He said that he and his team had developed one of the most successful businesses in Irish history, with the group generating more than 5,000 jobs and contributing in excess of E1bn in tax revenues. Mr Quinn rejected any suggestion that he had brought down the empire. He also claimed: “Anglo has supported and promoted an ill-conceived and highly damaging receivership programme which I believe, if it continues on its current road, is destined for certain and catastrophic failure.” The statement added: “My family and I have been subjected to relentless negative media coverage over the past three years. “I have been portrayed as a reckless gambler who bet on a bank. I have never sought publicity, nor have I courted the media. “Sadly this now seems to have worked very much to my disadvantage, especially when compared with the sophisticated and massively expensive publicity campaign operated for, and on behalf of Anglo.