French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, drunk at Press Conference

Obviously drunk.

This video was recorded during a press conference held by recently elected French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, during the G8 summit in June 2007. This is the translation of the video:

Reporter: "I would like to show you the beginning of the press conference held by French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, at the end of the summit. He'd just had lunch with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and it seems that he had more to drink than water."

Sarkozy: "Ladies and Gentlemen, I apologize for my lateness, due to the length (smiles) of the dialogue I just had with Mr Putin (smiles again, pause). How do you want to proceed, do I answer your questions? So have you got any questions? (smiles). Go ahead. Yes, yes. Well, um."

French TV did not release this video --this recording comes from a Belgian TV show. Sarkozy said many times during the campaign that drinking goes "against (his) lifestyle" and that he never drinks alcohol.

It seems that Putin knew how to get the better of the fool, Sarkozy. Someone should have warned him that's what happens when you binge with Russians!

The true value of what the G8 gives in aid
Posted by MikeD on MEDIALENS, June 4, 2007

As leaders of the world's richest countries meet, this is the proof that they could do much more for the poor

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2611752.ece

Extracts:

Overall aid to Africa has risen by less than half of what is needed to stay on track to reach the Gleneagles goal to double annual aid by 2010.

A report by Oxfam yesterday suggested that, if present trends continue, the G8 will miss its target by a staggering $30bn.

Even the country which has done best in keeping its word, the UK, is projected to fall short of its promise of $14.9bn by $1.6bn. The country that has failed most so far, Italy, will be a whopping $8.1bn short of the $9.5bn it has vowed to give.

Last year, the rich world spent three times more on bottled water ($58bn) than it did on aid to Africa ($18bn).

We spent 10 times more on military expenditure ($1trillion) than we did on aid globally ($104bn).

Despite the Gleneagles promises, global aid actually fell in 2006 for the first time in 10 years. Aid to Africa has grown only 2 per cent since 2004.

* The British spend twice as much money on wine and champagne as Government does on aid

* German women shell out more on shoes than their Government spends on aid

* France's aid budget is dwarfed by the amount its women spend on perfume

* Spending by Japanese people on luxury goods is about the same as country's aid budget

* The amount the US gives in aid is less than the annual profits of the ExxonMobil oil company

* Italians spend more on ice cream than the country provides in overseas aid

* Canada's aid budget is only half the amount its people spend on beer

* Russia does not make figures available for the amount Moscow donates in aid or debt relief

Protesters defy police to rock the G8 leaders
by Chris Nineham, in Rostock

Socialist Worker

The German authorities mounted the biggest security operation since the Second World War for the G8 at Heilingandamm near the north German town of Rostock.

They sent 16,000 riot police to the area, destroyers packed with marines up the Wranow Estuary and a fleet of fighter planes to patrol the skies.

Despite this much hyped build up, over 80,000 people travelled from Germany and around the world to join the anti-G8 demonstration last Saturday.

Demonstrators streamed from two meeting points in the suburbs to the old harbour near the city centre.

There were pensioners groups, climate change campaigners, anti-war groups and impressive trade union delegations.

Local families mingled with student groups from all over the country marching alongside mobile sound systems. There were large groups of young anarchists, many dressed in black.

But perhaps most impressive of all were the massive red contingents on both marches organised by the new left party Die Linke.

The party brings together activists who have left the SPD, Germany’s equivilant to New Labour, radical socialists and the PDS, the remnants of the East German Communist Party.

It is currently at 12 percent in the polls and played a vital role in the mobilisation for the G8, especially in the final couple of weeks.

A spokesperson for Die Linke estimated there were 6,000 people on their contingents.

As well as hyping the threat of violence, the G8 organisers had picked a remote part of Germany – its most sparsely populated region – for their meeting.

They had widely trailed plans to use the meeting to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems, especially the threat of climate change.

The huge and radical demonstration showed once again how many see through their rhetoric and oppose their real agenda.

Decline

Rostock is an old port and shipbuilding city in decline and is now an area of high unemployment.

The biggest of the two demonstrations marched through miles of monotonous housing projects and empty factories, picking up support on the way.

The atmosphere was relaxed, like a huge political festival. As our anti-war contingent reached the harbour scuffling broke out some metres ahead of us between groups of anarchists and some riot police.

Within seconds hundreds of paramilitary police in green uniforms poured into the area from three directions.

A stick, one or two stones and a flare were thrown and the police started baton charging the anarchist groups mercilessly. Other protesters were pushed over and trampled.

One man was thrown out of a wheelchair and beaten by a group of about 15 police officers. A young woman held by her mother fled past us with blood pouring across her face.

From that point on throughout the evening there were sporadic attacks by police using baton charges, water cannon and tear gas.

There were hundreds of police vans and armoured personnel carriers lining all the cities main streets. All other traffic was banned.

The police seemed to be trying to give the impression that Rostock was under military occupation.

But the protesters were defiant, 30,000 or so stayed in the harbour to hear the speeches and dance at a concert.

Others walked the streets and sat in outdoor cafes and restaurants. On Sunday morning many of the marchers came back in to the centre of the town to join a demonstration against genetically modified foods or go to a conference on climate change.

Launch

At lunchtime there was an international anti-war assembly in one of the cities central squares addressed by anti-war German MPs among others.

The assembly agreed to launch a campaign to pull Nato troops out of Afghanistan.

The German movement has called a demonstration against the war in Afghanistan on 15 September.

After the demonstration the town of Rostock was almost completely undamaged.

We heard of three cars that had been overturned and set alight and a few wheelie bins that had been turned over.

Some of them had been lifted back up. A tiny number of protesters had allowed themselves to be provoked by the massive police presence.

But the police’s military-style manoeuvres that flashed over the world’s TV screens appeared to be just that – manoeuvres designed to intimidate.

The media coverage of the G8 protests will have to be challenged by the movement around the world.

But the biggest roars of approval in Rostock’s harbour last Saturday night were for the speaker who said, “We should accept no lectures about violence.

“We are not the ones responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands in Iraq, we are not the ones threatening to bomb Iraq.

“We are marching for peace and justice, concepts the leaders of the G8 do not even understand.”

The following should be read alongside this article: » ‘We’re not asking for help. We are telling them to get out of the way’» Marching for migrants rights in Rostock

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Fidel, in battle as always
By Deisy Francis Mexidor

Granma International

THE presence of Cuban President Fidel Castro on Cuban Television on Tuesday, June 5, filled the inhabitants of this archipelago with satisfaction and joy.

Visibly better and in a very good mood, we saw him once again in battle, as always, as he dialogued with “Mesa Redonda” (Roundtable) host Randy Alonso.

Their conversation on the program was a little over 50 minutes long, during which the president focused on the recent visit by Nong Duc Manh, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which he described as “excellent,” along with the almost three-hour long conversation between the two leaders, and progress achieved in that sister Asian nation as it heals the wounds of war and destruction. It is a country with an “ancient culture,” he noted.

Fidel warmly recalled his past visits to Vietnam, highlighting the essence of a heroic people that has known how to rise up. In his comments, he specified that “what they are doing in education is wonderful.”

Further on, he noted that during this stage of Vietnamese recuperation, one of the things they have learned is to consume a better balance of foods.

And at one point, he said that for now, he was not thinking about breaking the record of a Japanese man, who at the age of 71 years, two months and two days, climbed Mt. Everest. “One would have to ask him what his life was like and how he ate,” he added.

For that reason, he emphasized, to the extent that people realize the value of food, “they will acquire more consciousness for resisting global tyranny,” and reiterated that “this most recent invention for using food as raw materials [for producing biofuels] is truly horrible.”

Likewise, he mentioned the G-8 Summit that was taking place in Germany. He said that the reaction had been incredible, the demonstrations provoked by that meeting and the presence at it of U.S. President George W. Bush. “Look at the reception they’ve been given,” he commented, adding that global awareness has grown about the dangers of climate change.

In the coming days, “I have quite a few issues to address,” he said, adding that with respect to his health, “I am doing what I should be doing now; there is nothing [else], there is no secret. It couldn’t be put any clearer.”

Almost at the end of their chat, the president said that it was the “first Roundtable program; let’s see how things go.” And he added, smiling, “there is sufficient material” for other spaces, joking that he was dressed “more or less like a soccer player.”

The special “Roundtable” broadcast also featured the documentary De Hanoi a Hiroshima (From Hanoi to Hiroshima), by Roberto Chile, from the Council of State’s Publications Office, about Fidel’s last visit to our sister nation of Vietnam in 2003, part of a tour that also included Malaysia, China and Japan.

Before the program was over, international news agencies began covering it. CNN En Español broadcast excerpts of the interview, and EFE published an article saying that Fidel had spoken animatedly, while Spanish-language TV stations in Miami interrupted their regular programming to report on the event.

For their part, the Venezolana de Televisión and Telesur networks linked up with the “Roundtable” program, broadcasting the interview in its entirety. And one of the major Internet search engines, Google, was already featuring 746 articles on the event at the close of this edition (1:00 a.m.) Meantime, the AFP summed up in one of its headlines: “Fidel is going to be around for a while, his followers say after TV interview.”

Translated by Granma International

Fidel en la batalla de siempre
Deisy Francis Mexidor

Granma Internacional

LA presencia del presidente Fidel Castro este martes en la pantalla de la Televisión Cubana, llenó de satisfacción y alegría a los habitantes de este archipiélago.

Visiblemente recuperado y con muy buen estado de ánimo se vio de nuevo en la batalla de siempre, mientras dialogaba con el conductor de la Mesa Redonda, Randy Alonso.

Fueron algo más de 50 minutos de intercambio, durante los cuales el Jefe de la Revolución centró sus palabras en la reciente visita del secretario general del Partido Comunista de Viet nam, Nong Duc Manh, la cual calificó de "excelente"; la conversación de casi tres horas entre ambos, así como los avances de la hermana nación asiática, tras restañar las heridas de la guerra y la destrucción. Un país de "cultura milenaria", dijo.

Fidel recordó con emoción sus visitas a Viet nam y resaltó la esencia de un pueblo heroico que ha sabido crecerse. En sus comentarios precisó que en "educación es maravilloso lo que están haciendo".

Refirió más adelante que en esta etapa de su recuperación una de las cosas que ha aprendido es a ingerir alimentos mejor balanceados.

Y en un momento acotó que por ahora no pensaba romper el récord del japonés, que a los 71 años de edad dos meses y dos días subió el Everest. "Habría que preguntarle cómo fue su vida y de qué se alimentó", añadió.

Por eso, subrayó que en la medida en que la gente conozca el valor de los alimentos, "más conciencia tomará para resistir la tiranía mundial", lo que dio pie para que reiterara que "el último invento este de utilizar los alimentos como materia prima (para producir agrocombustibles), es verdaderamente horrible".

Igualmente, mencionó la Cumbre del G-8 que se desarrolla en Alemania.

Expresó que ha sido increíble la reacción, las manifestaciones que ha generado la reunión y la presencia del presidente de Estados Unidos, George W. Bush. "Mira qué recepción les han dado" y señaló que ha crecido la conciencia mundial sobre los peligros del cambio climático.

Para los próximos días "tengo unos cuantos temas que abordar", acotó y ratificó que en cuanto a su salud "estoy haciendo lo que ahora debo hacer, no hay nada, no hay ningún secreto, más claro no se puede hablar".

Casi al final del diálogo, el presidente Fidel Castro dijo "esta es la primera ‘Mesita’ Redonda, vamos a ver cómo salen las cosas", comentó sonriente, "hay suficiente material" para otros espacios, y bromeó que estaba vestido "más o menos como futbolista".

Como parte de la transmisión especial, se ofreció el documental De Hanoi a Hiroshima, de Roberto Chile, de la Oficina de Publicaciones del Consejo de Estado, sobre la última visita que el Comandante en Jefe hiciera al entrañable y hermano Viet nam en el 2003, ocasión en la que también hizo una gira por Malasia, China y Japón.

Sin concluir aún el programa, las agencias internacionales de noticias comenzaron a transmitir. La televisora en español CNN brindó varios fragmentos de la entrevista. La española EFE emitió un despacho en el que comentó que Fidel habló de forma animada, en tanto las televisoras hispanas de Miami paralizaron su programación regular para ofrecer detalles del hecho noticioso.

Por su parte, Venezolana de Televisión y Telesur se encadenaron con la Mesa Redonda y brindaron de forma íntegra el diálogo de Fidel. Al tiempo que uno de los principales buscadores de Internet, Google, tenía hospedados al cierre de esta información más de 746 artículos relacionados. Mientras, la AFP resumía en un titular: Hay Comandante para rato, dicen seguidores de Fidel tras entrevista en TV.

Granma Internacional

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