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Political Tensions Force Total to Pull Out of Iran by David Jolly, The New York Times Media Group International Herald Tribune 7/11/2008 URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=64066 Total, the French oil giant, has decided to back away from planned investments in Iran because of political uncertainty, a company official said Thursday. Total's withdrawal from Iran, including a planned massive gas project in the South Pars gas field, makes it the last major Western oil company to give up on Iran amid pressure from Washington to stop doing business with the Tehran government. The United States, Israel and other Western countries say Iran is...

France's Total to Stay in Venezuela, Iran February 13, 2008 Reuters Barbara Lewis and Marie Maitre PARIS -- French oil company Total pledged on Wednesday to stay in Venezuela and Iran, two OPEC nations locked in disputes with the United States, but said it was still too dangerous to invest in Iraq. Total has been at odds with Washington for years about its investments in Iran and faces growing domestic pressure as President Nicolas Sarkozy hardens France's stance against Tehran's nuclear activities. Total has a long-standing deal to develop gas from Iran's huge South Pars field, but the project has...

DENVER - The Earth's shadow will creep across the moon's surface early Tuesday, slowly eclipsing it and turning it shades of orange and red. The total lunar eclipse, the second this year, will be visible in North and South America, especially in the West. People in the Pacific islands, eastern Asia, Australia and New Zealand also will be able to view it if skies are clear. People in Europe, Africa or the Middle East, who had the best view of the last total lunar eclipse in March, won't see this one because the moon will have set when the eclipse...

Total Recall A French oil giant's deals with a rogue regime--this time in Iran. Don't stop us if you've heard this one: French oil giant Total SA is being investigated for illicit dealings with a rogue regime in the Middle East. This time it's Iran, but maybe you recall its experience with another dictator and something called Oil for Food. A French judge is investigating bribes that Total executives allegedly paid Iranian officials to secure business in the Islamic Republic. Last week, the judge issued preliminary charges of abuse of company funds and corruption of foreign agents against Chief Executive...

Total's CEO Charged in Iran Probe By PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD The Associated Press Thursday, March 22, 2007; 6:26 PM PARIS -- An investigating judge filed preliminary charges Thursday against the chief executive of Total SA in a corruption case linked to a 1997 contract with Iran, the company and judicial officials said. Preliminary charges were filed against Total Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie for alleged abuse of company assets and corruption of foreign agents, the judicial officials said. They were not authorized to speak publicly about the case and provided information only on condition of anonymity. De Margerie, who replaced Thierry...

LONDON - The moon darkened, reddened, and turned shades of gray and orange Saturday night during the first total lunar eclipse in nearly three years, thrilling stargazers and astronomers around the world. The Earth's shadow took over six hours to crawl across the moon's surface, eating it into a crescent shape before engulfing it completely in a spectacle at least partly visible on every continent. About a dozen amateur astronomers braved the cold and mud outside the Croydon Observatory in southeast London to watch the start of the eclipse. "It's starting to go!" said Alex Gikas, 8, a Cub Scout...

A Paris judge has launched an investigation into allegations that Total, the French oil and gas group, paid bribes to win a $2bn gas contract in Iran almost a decade ago. The move is a further blow for Christophe de Margerie, Total's head of exploration and production, who was involved in negotiating the Iranian South Pars contract and is due to take over as chief executive in February. Mr de Margerie, head of Total's Middle East activities from 1995 to 1999, is facing separate charges over allegations that he was involved in corruption during the scandal-plagued UN oil-for-food programme in...

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006 – A test of the Ground-based Missile Defense System today was a total success, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, the director of the Missile Defense Agency. Obering called today’s test, the first operational one for the system, a huge step in fielding of the missile defense shield. He said he feels good about the capability for the United States to defend itself from an attack from a rogue nation. The test was the most realistic to date without a nation like North Korea launching the real thing, the general said. “The test...

Iraqi security forces celebrate at a ceremony in Samawah, in southern Iraq, on July 13. Full responsibility for the province was handed over to the al-Muthanna provincial government by Coaltion forces. It is the first of Iraq's 18 provinces to have total responsibility for security. SAMAWAH - Hundreds gathered in Samawah, the capital of al-Muthanna province in southern Iraq, to witness the formal passing of responsibility for security and governance from Coalition forces to Iraqi control today.  Al-Muthanna is the first of Iraq’s 18 provinces to have complete responsibility for its own security. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attended...

Father kills 4 children, self after spousal disputeAssociated Press Posted on Wed, Jul. 05, 2006 An undated photo provided by the Gustine Police Department shows twins Alyssa Branscum, 5, left, and Taylor Branscum. The twins and their two other siblings were found dead in their Gustine, Calif., home Tuesday, July 4, 2006, officials said. The children apparently died of gunshots to the head, and their father, Trevor Branscum, 38, died of a self-inflicted wound, Mayor Jim Bonta said. Police Sgt. Vince Inaudi said the children appeared to be sleeping when they were shot. The evidence was consistent with a murder-suicide,...

A young mother who was murdered, along with her three children, in Columbus last week, were loved by many in her old hometown of Warren, and they showed that love today. The funeral for Jameila West, daughter Jameire, and sons Trevion and Jakia, was held today at the family's church in Warren. Beyond the uplifted hands and voices at the Greater Apostolic Church in Warren, is the devastating loss of four loved ones, but only two caskets. 27 year old Jameila West and her 3 year old son Jakia lie in one, 10 year old Jameire and 5 year...

Millions of American investors, as well as their pension funds, mutual funds and other institutions, have unsuspectingly invested their hard-earned wealth in foreign companies that aid and abet the Islamofascist theocracy in Iran. If you are reading this article, you’re probably one of those unsuspecting investors. You may not directly own shares of corporations that do business in and with the Islamic Republic of Iran, but chances are your 401K, mutual fund portfolio or public pension system is invested in such companies. Congratulations. A portion of your money is going toward arming and training Hezbollah terrorists, sheltering members of Al...

Those familiar jingles could be a thing of the past if a health campaign succeeds FOR 60 years the tinny jingle of Greensleeves that announced the arrival of the ice-cream van has been an indelible memory of childhood, but that sound may soon be removed from suburban streets. Health lobbyists have decided that ice-creams are too much of a danger to children’s health. MPs and health officials are planning a series of measures across the country that are already forcing Mr Whippy and his helpers into meltdown. Under an amendment to the Education and Inspection Bill to be put forward...

IRAN AWARDS ENERGY BIDS TO WESTERN MAJORS NICOSIA [MENL] -- Iran has decided to award energy development contracts to Western majors. An Iranian state oil firm said the Oil Ministry would grant Total, Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol upstream development contracts in the South Pars gas field in the Gulf. The Pars Oil and Gas Co. said the three Western contractors would develop phases 11 and 13 of South Pars. France's Total was expected to be awarded the contract to develop Phase 11 of South Pars, regarded as the largest reservoir of natural gas in the world. Iran wants Total...

In reviewing the career of French diplomat Jean-Bernard Mérimée, two key moments stand out. In June 1995, Mr. Mérimée, then France's ambassador to the U.N., announced he was largely satisfied with the progress Iraq had made on disarmament and wanted sanctions lifted sooner rather than later. And this week, a French investigative magistrate brought Mr. Mérimée in for questioning on an allegation that he took a bribe from Saddam in the form of 11 million barrels of oil. So now we know what French officialdom means by the word "multilateralism": One part involves speechifying about the need for international "consensus"...

WASHINGTON -- Within hours of Hurricane Katrina passing through the Gulf Coast region, the Air Force started responding by not only taking care of its own people and infrastructure, but also assisting in rescue and recovery missions. "The total force of the Air Force -- the active duty, Guard and Reserve -- have responded aggressively and effectively to the challenge of the Hurricane Katrina (aftermath)," said acting Secretary of the Air Force Pete Geren. "We currently have over 8,000 Air Force personnel deployed right now (in support of operations)." Air Force units have provided aerial photography and imagery of the...

Not too many years ago, Americans had never heard of sensitivity training, and if a facilitator of it tried to convince them that they needed to be conditioned with it, he would have been told, very quickly and in no uncertain terms, to take a hike. Yet step by careful step, sensitivity training began to be stealthily inserted into our society. Today, Americans simply submit to it without much thought, let alone any protest. In a recent column entitled, “Pavlov’s Dogs versus the Spirit of Truth and Freedom,” I detailed how progressive (communist) homosexual operatives had successfully brainwashed a large...

PARIS, (AFX) - The French government has described accusations by human rights groups that it was protecting the French oil company Total's activities in Myanmar as 'unfair and baseless' and insisted it was observing EU sanctions on the military junta ruling the Asian country. A spokeswoman for the foreign ministry told journalists that Paris is 'especially preoccupied by the situation in Myanmar.' The spokeswoman noted that the European Union decided in April to renew for a year sanctions against the Myanmar regime and said that 'France is strictly and forcefully applying these sanctions.' The comments were in reaction to a...

TEHRAN, Iran Apr 26, 2005 — Day after day, Iranians shrug off the prospect of U.N. sanctions, Washington's key threat against Iran's unwillingness to abandon nuclear ambitions and for good reason: Tehran has powerful friends with keen financial interests in blocking such punishment. But even if Iran cannot secure a Russian or Chinese veto of any attempt at imposing U.N. Security Council sanctions, it has weathered an American embargo for 25 years. Many Iranians, while acknowledging some pain, credit the U.S. embargo with making them more self-reliant. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, exasperated by repeated warnings for Iran to end its...

PARIS (AFP) - Some 40 organizations launched an international campaign aimed at pressuring the French oil giant Total to pull out of Myanmar, where they said the company's activities support a military dictatorship, a French activist collective announced. The campaign is led by the International Federation for Human Rights, Actions Birmanie of Belgium and the French collective, which is called "Total pollutes democracy." "Total must pull out of Burma (Myanmar) not only for having taken advantage of army-imposed forced labor, between 1995 and 1998, for the construction of the Yadana gas pipeline but also because it fills the coffers of...

President Bush is thought to have ordered the invasion and occupation of Iraq in order to secure control of that country's vast oil fields for his friends and contributors in the oil industry, especially Vice President Cheney's former company Halliburton. This is taken as an article of faith among many, especially for many in our universities, our cultural industries, and in our press. Hundreds, if not thousands, of essays, articles and reports have been circulated in the past 3 years about the motivations of President Bush when it comes to Iraq. Typical examples of the genre can be found daily...

'They are total scum' By Tony Freinberg and Andrew Warshaw (Filed: 13/02/2005) Sir Alan Sugar, the former chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, has described the nation's football players as "total scum" and claimed that "most of them would be in prison" if they had not become professional sportsmen. In an interview in The Telegraph, Sir Alan also claims that footballers have no concept of loyalty or honesty and are interested only in themselves. Alan Sugar: ‘football players don't know what honesty is’ Although his comments might strike a chord with some members of the public, former Spurs players responded angrily, describing...

Paul Volcker was picked by U.N. Sec retary-General Kofi Annan to head an "independent" panel to investi gate the Oil-for-Food scandal ostensibly because of the former Federal Reserve chairman's international credibility. But credibility, like fame, can be fleeting — and Volcker's is fading fast. [snip] As Fox News Channel's Jonathan Hunt reported yesterday, Volcker is smack in the middle of the interlocking global corporations that appear to lie at the very heart of the scandal. Proceed slowly; it's complicated: [snip] * Volcker, along with a close friend named Paul Desmarais, Sr., sits on the advisory council of a Canadian...

I'm trapped on the coast of Kah-lee-for-nee-ah and am looking for a site that will show the accumulating raw vote totals nationally and state by state so I don't have to wait for all the gun shy anchormen to regurgitate results at their leisure. Fellow freepers know of some good ones?

...Iraq's top customer was Russia, whose firms bought $19.2 billion worth of Iraq oil and exported $3.3 billion in humanitarian goods. Fellow Security Council member France was a distant but significant second, at $4.4 billion and $2.9 billion respectively. China is also high on the list. Oil voucher recipients are alleged to include the Russian presidential office, former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, and even former Oil for Food program director Benon Sevan of the U.N.... Against this backdrop, it is impossible to take Secretary-General Annan seriously when he calls it "inconceivable" that this could have affected the Security Council's...

Kerry's Latest Attacks on Bush Borrow a Page From Scripture By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and DAVID E. SANGER Published: October 25, 2004 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 24 - Appealing to late-deciding voters in explicitly religious terms, Senator John Kerry used the Bible on Sunday to accuse President Bush of trying to scare America, and said his own Catholicism moved him to help those in need but not to "write every doctrine into law." "The Scripture teaches us - John says, 'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,' " Mr. Kerry said, alluding to Mr. Bush's strategy...

U.S. Pressing for High-Tech Spy Tools (AP) Retired Adm. John Poindexter, senior vice-president of Syntek Technologies Inc., WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite an outcry over privacy implications, the government is pressing ahead with research to create powerful tools to mine millions of public and private records for information about terrorists. Congress eliminated a Pentagon office that had been developing this terrorist-tracking technology because of fears it might ensnare innocent Americans. Still, some projects from retired Adm. John Poindexter's Total Information Awareness effort were transferred to U.S. intelligence offices, congressional, federal and research officials told The Associated Press. In addition, Congress left...

<p>In the brief but wild recall campaign that rewrote California history, major candidates spent close to $88 million -- nearly a third of it by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was elected the state's 38th governor.</p> <p>Schwarzenegger, whose personal wealth is estimated at more than $100 million, spent more than $10 million of his own money on his campaign but also relied heavily on support from business executives, real estate developers and financial institutions, according to final spending reports covering 2003.</p>

Paris – A French prosecutor is examining whether to prosecute US Vice President Dick Cheney over alleged complicity in the abuse of corporate assets dating from the time he was head of the services company Halliburton, the French newspaper Le Figaro said on Saturday. The case stems from a contract by a consortium including the American company Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a Halliburton subsidiary, and a French company, Technip, to supply a gas complex to Nigeria, the newspaper reported. A Paris investigating magistrate has been conducting investigations since October into allegations that $180m were paid in secret commissions during...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 December 8 An Antarctic Total Solar Eclipse Credit & Copyright: Fred Bruenjes (moonglow.net) Explanation: The Sun, the Moon, and two photographers all lined up last month in Antarctica during an unusual total eclipse of the Sun. Even given the extreme location, a group of enthusiastic eclipse chasers ventured near the bottom of the world to experience the surreal momentary disappearance of the Sun behind the Moon. One...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 November 22 Moon AND Sun Credit & Copyright: Fred Espenak (courtesy of www.MrEclipse.com) Explanation: This composite image was made from 22 separate pictures of the Moon and Sun all taken from Chisamba, Zambia during the total phase of the 2001 June 21 solar eclipse. The multiple exposures were digitally processed and combined to simultaneously show a wealth of detail which no single camera exposure or naked-eye observation...

Oil giant Total has long played a dangerous game in Iran, Sudan and Burma. Now it's trying to get back into Iraq.Total S.A., The French oil major that has been in Iraq since 1927, isn't saying much these days about how it's going to maneuver its way back in. But that doesn't mean it can't dream. Word is that it has already had informal discussions with ExxonMobil about forming a joint venture to exploit Iraq's Majnoon and Nahr bin Umar oilfields as soon as a new Iraqi government is formed. Together those two fields have the potential to pump out...

<p>So, Californians are going to decide whether to remove their hapless governor, Gray Davis, in a recall vote and elect a new one. The big date is Oct. 7, and the liberal elitists are shaking in their Ferragamo shoes.</p> <p>Art Torres, California's Democrat Party chairman, complains that the recall ``just exacerbates the impression that we're a bunch of wackos out here.''</p>

Purge of Ba'athists may total 30,000 Rory McCarthy in Baghdad Saturday May 17, 2003 The Guardian The US-led authority running Iraq said yesterday that up to 30,000 Ba'ath party members would be banned from taking part in a new government. The purge, to begin within a week, is likely to make it even more difficult to find qualified staff to run the ministries and other authorities. "Deba'athification will entail some inefficiencies in the running of the government," an official of the office of reconstruction and humanitarian assistance said. "That's the price we're willing to pay in order to extirpate Ba'athism."...

PARIS - French oil giant TotalFinaElf reported Tuesday a 48 percent jump in profit in the first quarter, boosted by high oil prices, and said it was changing its name to Total in an effort to revamp its image. Chairman Thierry Desmarest also said the group stands "a good chance" of taking part in the future development of Iraqi oil fields despite Paris' opposition to the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. Speaking at the annual shareholders' meeting in Paris, Desmarest conceded that TotalFinaElf will find it harder to secure contracts than its American and British rivals. But, he...

NEW YORK -- Privacy advocates: Quit picking on the U.S. government. If you don't want the government to do what it must to protect you from terrorists, you should butt out, said Heather MacDonald, a lawyer at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. She made her remarks Wednesday at the 13th annual Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference. And, she urged, stop all the panic-stricken screaming, because it's endangering human lives.

A PARIS court has begun to hear the case against 37 defendants at the heart of the Elf-Aquitaine corruption saga, a scandal that has tainted leaders in France and beyond. The trial of Loik Le Floch-Prigent, a former Elf boss, and his associates, which began yesterday after an eight-year investigation, marks the final act of an affair that laid bare a system of state-sanctioned bribery and personal enrichment at the formerly state-owned oil concern. The Elf executives and other defendants are alleged to have embezzled and otherwise abused £140 million in the late 1980s and early 1990s in schemes that...

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Defense Department has awarded millions of dollars to more than two-dozen research projects that involve a controversial data-mining project aimed at compiling electronic dossiers on Americans. Nearly 200 corporations and universities submitted proposals to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, according to government documents brought to light by a privacy group Thursday. John Poindexter, who oversees the agency's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, approved 26 of them last fall, including grants to the University of Southern California, the Palo Alto Research Center, and defense contractor Science Applications International. Over the last few months, TIA has become a lightning...

ReutersUPDATE - Total throws gauntlet to U.S. rivals on Iraq dealsThursday February 20, 1:34 pm ETBy Emelia Sithole (Adds new analysts quote, background, closing shares) PARIS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Oil giant TotalFinaElf (Paris:TOTF.PA - News) threw down the gauntlet on Thursday to U.S. rivals eyeing Iraq's vast reserves, saying it was confident of winning its share of deals there despite French opposition to a U.S.-led war in Iraq. The world's fifth largest oil group encouraged investors further by reaffirming its target to boost output five percent per year to 2007, in sharp contrast to bigger rivals BP (London:BP.L -...

<p>A senior Republican senator joined efforts to prevent a fledgling Pentagon computer dragnet from invading the privacy of U.S. citizens while searching databases for terrorist threats.</p> <p>Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, stopped short of embracing an attempt by Democrats to block all funding for the controversial Bush administration program, known as the Total Information Awareness project.</p>

A folk song that was popular in my childhood describes a utopia of ineffective jails and crippled policemen. "In the Big Rock Candy Mountain the cops have wooden legs" --"The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (attributed to Harry McClintock, popularized by Burl Ives) The notion that we are better off with impaired police is widespread, particularly with regard to surveillance and databases. The recent revelation that the Defense Department has a project headed by John Poindexter to create a surveillance database called the "Total Information Awareness System" provoked a hostile response from William Safire and the Washington Post editorial page, among...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 6 Shadow Cone of a Total Solar Eclipse Credit & Copyright: Oliver Staiger (High Moon) Explanation: Sometimes, during a total eclipse of the Sun, a strange shadow of darkness can be seen stretching off into the distance. Called a shadow cone, they are visible because the Earth's atmosphere is not completely transparent, scattering sunlight and hence appearing blue during the day. Shadow cones are particularly dramatic...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 13 The Crown of the SunCredit & Copyright: (C2002) Wendy Carlos & Jonathan Kern (all rights reserved) Explanation: During a total solar eclipse, the Sun's extensive outer atmosphere or corona is an awesome and inspirational sight. Yet the subtle shades and shimmering features of the corona that engage the eye span a brightness range of over 10,000 to 1, making them notoriously difficult to capture in...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 9 Moon Shadow Moves Over Africa Credit and Copyright: EUMETSAT Explanation: When the Moon's shadow reached out and touched the Earth last week, the result was a solar eclipse. Such an eclipse is total only for observers located along a narrow path corresponding to the ground track of the shadow's dark central portion or umbra. For this eclipse, racing along at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour,...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 6 Zimbabwe Solar Eclipse Credit & Copyright: Murray Alexander Explanation: Normally hiding from view in the glare of the Sun, the shy solar corona came out to play Wednesday as a total solar eclipse graced morning skies over southern Africa. This telescopic image of the Sun's corona or outer atmosphere shimmering around the silhouetted Moon was recorded near the centreline of the total eclipse path, 10...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 3 Eclipse Over Acacia Credit & Copyright: Fred Espenak Explanation: On December 4th, for the second time in as many years, the Moon's shadow will track across southern Africa bringing a total solar eclipse to African skies. Reaching Africa just before 6:00 Universal Time, the narrow path of totality - corresponding to the path of the Moon's umbra or dark central shadow - will run eastward...