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Charles Pasqua, a former French minister of interior, has emerged as one of the highest-ranking targets of the widening investigations into the Iraq oil-for-food scandal. United Nations, US and French investigators are examining Iraqi documents that show officials in Baghdad were instructed to transfer his lucrative oil allocations to an offshore company, to shield him from criticism. Mr Pasqua's alleged role has emerged as inquiries turn to the role of foreign governments in the corruption within the humanitarian aid programme. France and Russia, which opposed the 2003 invasion, have long been accused in the US of being too close to...

China's player looks to the big game Entertainment chief's raid could make him leading online contender China's second-richest man, Chen Tianquiao, looks poised to become the country's leading new media player after staging the sector's first aggressive raid on a rival's shares. In a stealthy swoop over the spring festival holiday, Mr Chen's online game company Shanda Interactive Entertainment bought a 19.5% stake in Sina Corp, China's leading internet news portal, for $196m (£102m). The move finally turned the tables on Sina, which had tried to buy Shanda in 2003. The possibility of a takeover that would create China's...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Eileen J. O'Connor, of the Justice Department's Tax Division, Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein of the District of Columbia, Mark W. Everson, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner; and Daniel J. Black, Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the District of Columbia's Office of Tax and Revenue, jointly announced the indictment and arrest of Walter Anderson, 51, a local telecommunications entrepreneur, on tax evasion and related charges. A federal grand jury sitting in Washington, D.C. returned the 12-count indictment last Wednesday under seal. Anderson was arrested Saturday, February 26 and will be presented this afternoon before a U.S....

Ghost story Several unexplained phenomena at the old courthouse in St. Thomas have sent chills through many. Ian Gillespie, Free Press Columnist 2004-04-30 03:05:48 ST. THOMAS -- Somebody calls the newspaper with a tip and I find myself clambering up the steps of the old St. Thomas courthouse, thinking I'm wasting my time on a wild goose chase. Maybe a wild ghost chase. It's a grand old building, to be sure. First built in 1852, it burned down in 1898 and was rebuilt the following year. Situated atop the hill on Wellington Street, the three-storey structure features five arches out...

TORONTO -- Canada's most prominent genital enhancement doctor plans to create virgins in the Virgins. Robert Stubbs says he has been forced to travel to the British Virgin Islands to restore the hymens of patients who are non-residents of Canada because the Canadian Medical Protective Association no longer insures malpractice claims for problems with surgery performed in Canada. The association, which defends 95 per cent of the country's medical practitioners against such lawsuits and pays any compensation awarded, introduced the new policy on Jan. 1 as a way of avoiding the kind of multimillion-dollar malpractice awards that have become common...

Fifty-eighth General Assembly Fourth Committee 2nd Meeting (PM) SPEAKERS STRESS NEED TO ‘STAY THE COURSE’ UNTIL 16 REMAINING NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES ACHIEVE SELF-DETERMINATION, AS FOURTH COMMITTEE BEGINS DEBATE Stressing the need to stay the course until the 16 remaining Non-Self- Governing Territories achieved self-determination, speakers reaffirmed their commitment to the mandate of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), as that body began its general debate on decolonization issues this afternoon. Noting that nearly three years after the proclamation of the Second International Decade on the Eradication of Colonialism some 2 million people still struggled towards self-determination, the representative of Iran...