Couple slain in Mexico[ 731 ]

Couple slain in Mexico shooting had baby on the way

By Jim Kavanagh, CNN

March 16, 2010 12:52 p.m. EDT

Arthur Redelfs and Lesley Enriquez lived in El Paso, Texas.

(CNN) -- Lesley Enriquez went to a birthday party and brought her husband and baby daughter along. After the food and cake and singing and children's games were done, the family piled into the car and headed home.

They never made it.

As Enriquez's husband, Arthur Redelfs, pulled away from the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, where the party took place Saturday, a car full of gang members fell in behind them, authorities said.

For unknown reasons, the gang followed the family car through the streets and riddled it with bullets, authorities said. When it was over, 35-year-old Enriquez and Redelfs, who was 34, were dead. Their orphaned daughter was unhurt but terrified in her car seat in back, authorities said.

Enriquez, an employee at the busy consulate, had been four months pregnant.

"Can't wait to go to bed," she had posted with multiple exclamation points on her Facebook page in January. "Between Sweet Pea and our little one on the way I'm getting extremely tired!!!"

Video: Two Americans killed in Mexico

3 associated with U.S. consulate killed

The family lived in El Paso, Texas, just across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juárez. Witnesses said Redelfs, a detention officer for the El Paso County Sheriff's Department, appeared to have made a run for one of the bridges back to the safety of the United States but couldn't outrun the gang.

"They were innocent victims of the escalating violence in Juárez," Ruben Redelfs, Arthur Redelfs' brother, said, according to the El Paso Times newspaper.

"Both my brother and his wife had unblemished records where they worked, and were not involved in anything wrong whatsoever. They will be deeply missed."

The killings were carried out by a local gang known as Los Aztecas, which is allied with the Juárez Cartel, Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said Monday. No arrests have been made.

Juárez is on the front lines in Mexico's war against the drug cartels that operate in its territory. More than 2,600 people were killed in the city in 2009.

The family's white Toyota SUV was similar in appearance to a white Honda SUV that also was attacked after leaving the same birthday party, officials said.

Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of another consulate employee, was killed in that attack, and their two children in the back seat were wounded. Salcido's wife was traveling in another vehicle and was unharmed, officials said.

Ferriz said the attackers clearly targeted consulate employees, but it wasn't clear why.

By Tuesday morning, several people in Arthur Redelfs' and Lesley Enriquez's Facebook network had substituted the victims' photo for their own profile photos.

One of Redelfs' Facebook friends wrote, "R.I.P. Art Redelfs. An amazing person through and through. I remember your kindness when I was obnoxious; it made a huge difference in my life."

One of Enriquez's Facebook connections wrote in Spanish, "Lesley dear cousin, rest in peace and may your death serve justice in this country, not more violence!!"

Silvio Berlusconi , as Superman...[ 730 ]

Silvio Berlusconi's own publishing firm releases book celebrating PM as 'Superman'

Emotional messages likening Silvio Berlusconi to Superman after his show of strength when he was attacked in Milan last year have been compiled in a new book published by a firm owned by the Italian prime minister.

Telegraph co.uk,,By Nick Squires in Rome
Published: 5:48PM GMT 16 Mar 2010

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leaves Duomo's square with blood on his face after a political party meeting in Milan Photo: REUTERS

Mr Berlusconi's publishing company Mondadori has released the book, called "Love always wins over envy and hatred", ahead of important regional elections at the end of this month.

Bearing a cover photograph of Mr Berlusconi looking younger than his 73 years, it contains some of the 50,000 messages he received from Italians after a man with a history of mental illness hurled a souvenir statuette at his face in Milan in December, breaking his nose and smashing two teeth.

"Even with kryptonite they couldn't knock you down!" wrote one supporter – perhaps an allusion to the fact that Mr Berlusconi has previously described himself as Superman.

Well-wishers described as "abominable" the attack by Massimo Tartaglia, 42, an electronics engineer who will go on trial in the next few weeks on assault charges.

"We are all with you, great Silvio. You are the engine of our country," a woman identified as Eleonora gushed, while another fan urged the prime minister to clone himself.

"On seeing you covered in blood, my wife grabbed her hair and sobbed as she yelled 'My Madonna, save Silvio!'" one man wrote.

The book, which is on sale for 15 euros (£13.60), was mocked as "The little white book of Silvio Ceausescu" by the left-leaning Repubblica newspaper in a front page editorial.

The paper likened it to Colonel Gaddafi's Green Book of political philosophy and said it was reminiscent of the sort of hagiographies issued by dictators in Eastern Europe and South America.

Tayyip Erdogan,Iran & the nuclear weapons...[ 729 ]

Iran nuclear programme 'solely civilian' - Turkish PM

Mr Erdogan said Iran's leaders had assured him they were not seeking nuclear weapons BBC,,16:51 GMT, Tuesday, 16 March 2010The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has told the BBC that he believes Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons. Mr Erdogan said he was confident Iran's nuclear programme was for civilian purposes only and described President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a "friend". "I told him I don't want to see nuclear weapons in the region," he added. Meanwhile, a top US general has said intelligence suggests Iran will not be able to build a nuclear bomb this year. Gen David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said Tehran's weapon development programme appeared to have suffered delays. "It has, thankfully, slid to the right a bit and it is not this calendar year, I don't think," he told a Senate committee hearing, according to the Reuters news agency. Experts believe that Iran could enrich enough uranium for a bomb within a few months. However, it has apparently not yet mastered the technology of making a nuclear warhead. 'Manipulating the facts' In an interview with the BBC's Nik Gowing, Mr Erdogan said he believed it was Iran's "most natural right" to develop a nuclear programme for civilian purposes. It was, he added, "unfair" of nuclear-armed countries to "manipulate the facts" about Turkey's neighbour while at the same time not telling Israel to dispose of its nuclear weapons. URANIUM ENRICHMENT Iran says it is increasing uranium enrichment from 3.5% needed for commercial nuclear reactors Iran says it has started enriching to 20%, needed for a research reactor near Tehran Weapons-grade uranium is at least 90% enriched Experts say achieving 20% is a key step towards weapons grade In depth: Nuclear fuel cycle Q&A: Iran nuclear issue "Countries with nuclear weapons are not in a position to turn to another country and say: 'You are not supposed to produce nuclear weapons,'" he said. "Iran has consistently spoken of the fact that it is seeking to use nuclear energy for civilian purposes and that they are using uranium enrichment programmes for civilian purposes only." "That is what Mr Ahmadinejad has told me many times before." Mr Erdogan said he had personally warned the Iranian president about the risks of nuclear conflict in the Middle East. "I told him I don't want to see nuclear weapons in the region, and Mr Ahmadinejad told me that they do not have an intention to produce nuclear weapons." In February, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report that Iran's refusal to co-operate and answer questions about its nuclear programme raised concerns about the possible existence of "past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile." It also confirmed that Iran had produced 20% enriched uranium. Tehran says it needs the more highly-enriched uranium for a research reactor producing medical isotopes, but Western powers fear it is heading towards enriching uranium to the 90% required for a weapon.

Κορίτσι με Authority..τρομάρα της....[ 728 ]

ΠΟΛΥ ΜΙΚΡΗ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΘΕΣΗ

Με καθαρά προσωπικά αίτια, η κυρία που σε γνωστό φόρουμ κατουράει την ΕΠΟΕ,μου κλειδωνει, διαγραφει, αλλιωνει τα ποστ και προβαινει και σε 10ημερο ΒΑΝ

δηλ.:

-------------

You have been banned for the following reason:
10 μερες μηπως και συμμορφωθεις

Date the ban will be lifted: 26-03-10, 20:00

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Η καημένη ?????

EU-Greece, possibility for aid.... [ 727 ]

EU to discuss Greek aid, no firm figures seen

Pete Harrison

BRUSSELS

Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:00am EDT

Greek bailout tops EU finance ministers' agenda

Sanitary workers protest outside Greece's General Accountants office against government austerity measures in central Athens March 10, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Yiorgos Karahalis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers are expected to agree a way of providing Greece with financial aid to tackle its debts on Monday, but France warned not to expect any hard figures and there remained barriers to a deal.

The 16 countries that use the euro single currency have provided strong verbal and political support to Greece since its debt and deficit problems exploded three months ago, but have not agreed on the need for a package of financial aid.

Germany, Europe's biggest economy and the country that would be the linchpin of any financial support, is reluctant to bail out Greece, saying the country's priority must be to get its own finances in order and make deep structural adjustments.

The 16 finance ministers are scheduled to gather in Brussels for the meeting from around 1700 (11:00 a.m. ET).

Greece this month unveiled a new set of austerity measures, including cutting public sector pay and raising taxes, and a poll on Sunday showed most Greeks saw that as a step in the right direction, despite the street protests they have provoked.

But in order to further insulate Greece against financial market pressures and the threat of default, which have dented the value of the euro, finance ministers are expected to assess the possibility of providing Greece with financial support.

A senior EU source told Reuters at the weekend that among the means under consideration were bilateral loans and loan guarantees, although no value has been put on the support.

Under EU rules, neither the bloc as a whole nor individual member states can assume the debts of other countries, but loan guarantees would circumvent those restrictions.

French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said she did not expect any figure for aid to be announced at Monday's monthly meeting of the Eurogroup finance ministers in Brussels.

"I'm certainly not expecting any decision being made, or any button being pressed, or any button being selected to be pressed, because it's totally premature," she told reporters.

Despite that, she said Greece had "delivered enormously" with its austerity steps which include promised spending cuts equal to 2 percent of gross domestic product.

Germany, whose banks are among the largest owners of Greek sovereign debt, said Athens was taking the right steps to deal with the crisis and said no deal on financial aid was needed.

"The Greek government deserves great respect for its savings efforts," Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the German newspaper Bild. "But there are no new factors. Therefore, there is no reason to take decisions on financial aid on Monday."

On Saturday, Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted sources as saying Monday's meeting would agree to make up to 25 billion euros of support available.

NO SPECIFIC NUMBERS

The senior EU source told Reuters no figures were likely at this stage and played down the focus on specifics.

"I think we should be able to agree on principles of a euro area facility for coordinated assistance. The (executive) European Commission and the Eurogroup task force would have the mandate to finalize the work," the source said.

He said they would discuss the principles and parameters of a facility or mechanism that could be activated if needed and requested, but no figure had been agreed.

"You would have a framework mechanism and you would have blank spaces for the numbers because there has been no request (from Greece) yet," the source said.

Greece hopes to reduce its budget deficit this year to 8.7 percent of GDP from 12.7 percent in 2009, a plan that has led to protests and strikes.

But just over half the 1,008 people surveyed for the Greek newspaper Ethnows said last week's 4.8 billion euro ($6.6 billion) package went in "the right direction," while 41.9 said it did not. Many said unions should tone down their opposition.

The austerity plan has reduced market concern over whether Greece will be able to service its debt and helped Athens sell its bonds with ease on debt markets earlier this month.

But policymakers are still searching for ways of making its cost of borrowing -- still far above that of other European and eurozone countries -- more sustainable.

They are also concerned that the problems in Greece could further undermine confidence in the euro and spread to other heavily indebted euro zone countries such as Portugal or Spain.

Discussing reforms needed to shore up the group's rules, Schaeuble reiterated that it should eventually be made possible, in extreme cases, for a state to leave the euro zone if it fails to manage its finances.

"We need tighter rules," he said. "That means in an extreme case, the possibility that a country that does not get its finances in order at all leaves the euro group. Such a prospect alone would ensure a totally different kind of discipline."

(Editing by Patrick Graham)