Mark Rich gets a plug at the website of the Company that hired the 'Prestige.'
Another reason, if one were needed, to wack willie out.
European Commission releases 'blacklist' of ships
The European Commission has published a "blacklist" of ships which have not
complied with maritime safety rules, seeking to name and shame after a
tanker spilled thousands of tonnes of oil on the Spanish coast.
The tanker Prestige started spewing a thick black slick of fuel oil onto
more than 164 beaches along the northwest coast of Spain after cracking up
and sinking.
It has caused a re-examination of maritime safety after earlier disasters.
"Words are not enough: it is necessary to act and apply the maritime safety
measures in full," European Transport Commissioner Loyala de Palacio said.
The Commission, responsible for overseeing European Union (EU) laws, said
it had drawn up a list of 66 ships which had regularly failed to comply
with maritime safety rules.
It also said it would propose a ban on the transport of heavy fuel oil in
single-hull tankers, seen as the most dangerous and vulnerable.
"Safety is the responsibility of everyone and a strict application of all
the measures is the only way of ensuring that substandard ships do not fall
through the safety net," Ms de Palacio said.
The Commission said in a statement the transport ministers of EU states
would consider its proposals at a meeting on December 12 and 13.
Ms de Palacio says she will also urge member states to speed up the
adoption of maritime safety rules.
Some EU states have already started to take measures to protect themselves
from a Prestige-style disaster.
Spain, Portugal, France and Italy have adopted a policy of spot-checking
single-hull heavy fuel transporters older than 15 years and of expelling
dangerous ships from their exclusive economic zones.
http://abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-4dec2002-2.htm
The Rich linked co is based in Switzville.
EU struggles to unlock secret Swiss bank accounts
European Union (EU) finance ministers have met to hammer out an accord on
taxing secret bank accounts in Switzerland, but prospects of an immediate
deal appeared slim.
Few ministers were optimistic as they arrived for the meeting, the last
regular such gathering before a December 31 deadline for a British-inspired
EU directive on savings taxation to be implemented.
"On the basis of what I have seen so far it is not realistic to believe
that we are going to find an arrangement... if Switzerland doesn't move,"
Luxembourg Economy Minister Henri Grethen said.
"Nothing has changed, so we have to say 'no'," he said.
Dutch Finance Minister Hans Hoogervorst was more breezy as the meeting
started, telling reporters who asked him if there would be a deal "let's
hope so".
But Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders reiterated it may be necessary
to hold another special meeting of EU finance ministers during December to
strike a deal.
"I'm not sure it will be possible to reach an agreement in a normal
meeting... so it may be useful to have another meeting," he said late on
Monday local time.
Talks are deadlocked over the refusal of Switzerland to agree to a full
exchange of information to allow EU residents' savings accounts to be taxed
by their national authorities.
The European Commission says Switzerland must clarify its latest offer in
the long-running row, with some EU members threatening sanctions such as
capital controls in the absence of an agreement.
Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg are making their compliance with the
EU-wide savings taxation arrangement conditional on "equivalent measures"
in non-EU financial centres, such as Switzerland and the United States.
The commission said in a report last week it was close to an agreement with
the United States, but little progress had been made with the Swiss.
Switzerland has offered a "withholding tax" of 35 per cent from the start
of 2004 that would be levied on interest yielded by the secret accounts and
paid to EU countries.
But the offer is conditional on EU members Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg,
which have their own lucrative banking interests, levying the same tax rate.
Luxembourg has threatened to veto such a deal with the Swiss.
Luxembourg Prime Minister and Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker says he
may compromise over the EU's planned new savings tax law if others are
prepared to move as well.
"We are in favour of the adequate taxation of savings, but others must be
prepared to move," he said at the Brussels meeting.
Mr Juncker did not say which countries he meant by "others".
EU sources say Britain's position would be pivotal, with Chancellor of the
Exchequer Gordon Brown so far demanding Switzerland offer automatic
exchange of information as a step towards abolishing secret bank accounts.
Britain has been in the vanguard of the taxation directive, which was
agreed by all 15 EU members at a June 2000 summit in the Portuguese city of
Feira.
British officials have demanded that EU countries such as Luxembourg stick
by the deal agreed then.
http://abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-3dec2002-102.htm
89. PCT/AU98/00777 --- WO 99/14858 --- Quantum computer
Patent from Q Division.PDF.
http://www.unisearch.com.au/search_site_map/main_index_searchsitemap.asp
