The Italian ship Montecristo, which was hijacked by Somali pirates before being stormed by British commandos

 Photo: REUTERS

9:45AM GMT 30 Oct 2011

A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones.

The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become "a complete stain on our world".

He unveiled the measure after talks at a Commonwealth summit in Australia with leaders of countries in the Horn of Africa over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.

Under the plans, the Home Secretary will be given the power to license vessels to carry armed security, including automatic weapons, currently prohibited under firearms laws.

Officials said around 200 were expected to be in line to take up the offer, which would only apply for voyages through particular waters in the affected region. It is expected to be used by commercial firms rather than private sailors - such as hostage victims Paul and Rachel Chandler.

Read More

The Occupy London Stock Exchange protest encampment outside St Paul's Cathedral.

Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Christian groups have drawn up plans to protect protesters by forming a ring of prayer around the camp outside St Paul's Cathedral, should an attempt be made to forcibly remove them.

As the storm of controversy over the handling of the Occupy LondonStock Exchange demonstration deepened on Saturday, Christian activists said it was their duty to stand up for peaceful protest in the absence of support from St Paul's. One Christian protester, Tanya Paton, said: "We represent peace, unity and love. A ring of prayer is a wonderful symbol."

With senior officials at St Paul's apparently intent on seeking an injunction to break up the protest, the director of the influential religious thinktank Ekklesia, Jonathan Bartley, said the cathedral's handling of the protest had been a "car crash" and predicted more high-profile resignations from the Church of England.

The canon chancellor of St Paul's, Dr Giles Fraser, and the Rev Fraser Dyer, who works as a chaplain at the cathedral, have already stepped down over the decision to pursue legal action to break up the camp.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, is attempting to mediate in the dispute. She said she had contacted the corporation, cathedral and protesters to offer a "neutral space" to sort out the impasse. The corporation had not yet responded, she said, although St Paul's had acknowledged her offer. She said the protesters had been enthusiastic in their desire for dialogue and a peaceful resolution.

"It would have been easy to opt for a line of action that would have led to images of police dragging away protesters, but they want to talk."

 

It was claimed last night that a highly critical report into the moral standards of bankers has been suppressed by St Paul's amid fears it would inflame tensions over the protest. The report, based on a survey of 500 City workers who were asked if they thought they were worth their salaries and bonuses, was due to be published last Thursday.

But publication of the report, by the St Paul's Institute, has been delayed in apparent acknowledgement that it would give the impression the cathedral was on the side of protesters.

Christian groups that have publicly sided with the protesters include one of the oldest Christian charities, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the oldest national student organisation, the Student Christian Movement,Christianity Uncut, the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust and the Christian magazineThird Way. In addition, London Catholic Worker, the Society of Sacramental Socialists and Quaker groups have offered their support.

A statement by the groups said: "As Christians, we stand alongside people of all religions who are resisting economic injustice with active nonviolence. The global economic system perpetuates the wealth of the few at the expense of the many. It is based on idolatrous subservience to markets. We cannot worship both God and money."

Bartley said: "There are some very unhappy people within the Church of England. The protesters seem to articulate many of the issues that the church has paid lip-service to. Many people are disillusioned with the position St Paul's has adopted. To evict rather than offer sanctuary is contrary to what many people think the church is all about. The whole thing has been a car crash."

On Saturday afternoon, more than 20 religious figures gathered on the steps of St Paul's to support the occupation, which began two weeks ago.

The bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, has promised to attend St Paul's in an attempt to persuade activists to leave. But protesters say they have no intention of packing up, many reiterating their intention to stay at the cathedral until Christmas and beyond.

A spokesman for Occupy London urged the City of London Corporation to open a dialogue with protesters to avoid a lengthy legal battle that could prove expensive for the taxpayer.

Read More

Two British tour operators who come to Spain go bust

 

Two British tour operators who bring tourists to Spain have gone bust. Romano Travel ceased operations on October 26, a day after Airborn Limited. Romano Travel specialized in package holidays to Spain and Turkey and had been operating for 30 years. There were no more than half of dozen or so pending bookings from the Buckinghamshire firm which was fully protected with an ATOL licence and was a member of ABTA. Airborn Limited operated as Airborn Direct and Holiday Hero, and was based in Romford, Essex. It sold packages to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey, and sold its products to other operators. The CAA says there are many clients who have purchased flights with the firm using a credit card, and these flights should be operating normally. If in doubt passengers can confirm with the airline.

Read More

Spain no longer the main destination for Brit's second homes

 

A new survey carried out by the HomeAway holiday rentals company and real estate group Savills International has concluded that Spain is no longer the first choice among the Brits for their second residence. 1,700 British property buyers were questioned. More Britons now prefer France because of its better economic stability and the moderation in its house prices. 40% of Brits who buy in Spain later rent out the property, sometimes obtaining an income of as much as 34,500 € a year, but 24% still say that Spain is the place they have chosen for retirement. Despite the change away from purchasing a second home, Spain continues to be the most popular holiday destination for the Brits. In France, Italy and Switzerland the British purchasers usually opt for restored old properties, while in the United States, Cyprus and also in Spain and Portugal, they tend to go for more modern or new constructions.

Read More

Malaga on the Mediterranean coast, in the Southern Spanish region of Andalucia, was the city you avoided

The city of Malaga on the Mediterranean coast, in the Southern Spanish region of Andalucia, was the city you avoided. An industrial port encircled by a tired ring of Franco-era low-rise apartment buildings, it was always the city tourists dashed by on their way to Torremolinos or Marbella further down the Costa Del Sol.

Being out of favor from the 1970s onwards – when torrid overbuilding ruined the Spanish coast – has served Malaga well, and the tired city around the old port has gone through a revival in recent years: The pedestrian-only squares and streets are washed clean, filled with a mix of fashionable shops selling Ermenegildo Zegna suits and Omega watches, and old men hawking lotto tickets and blanched Andalucian almonds wrapped in paper cones—all in the shadow of the city’s baroque cathedral where the 17th century choir stalls are carved from mahogany and cedar.

The city is still no great beauty, but its unpretentious charm stems from the fact it remains a middle-class working port. The first night I arrived I dined on a plate ofpata negra (thinly-cut slices of cured ham, with a rich marble of fat, made from black pigs that feed on acorns) and some grilled sea bream served with French-cut beans. As I drank my copa de vino tinto, contentedly observing the town’s life from the sidewalk café, a guitar-banging gypsy dashed by, twitchy as a heroin addict, followed by an old man selling to local tapas bars the snails slowly crawling the walls of his white bucket.

Two newly-opened institutions have greatly contributed to Malaga’s cultural revival. The crowd-puller is the Picasso Museum, and I am sure it is a lovely collection, but, in all honesty, I couldn’t bear to see yet another second-tier Picasso Museum. (The Spanish painter, for all his greatness, would have benefitted considerably from being a little less prolific.)

My interest was, however, very much piqued by the new museum housing the collection of Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kaszon.

The Thyssen family, dating back to the 17th century, famously made their fortune supplying the industrializing German state with steel. But they were also great collectors of art, and the late Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza aggressively added works to his father’s stacks of Old Masters until the family’s 1,600-strong collection became the second largest private art collection in the world, second only to the British Royal Family Collection.

Ranging from Hans Holbein to Edward Hopper, the collection was originally housed in the family’s Villa Favorita in Lugano, Switzerland. (The Thyssen family left Germany for Switzerland in the 1930s.) In the mid 1980s, however, the Swiss unwisely barred the baron from expanding his museum at Villa Favorita—they were unimpressed he wanted to show more of his collection to the public.

Enter Spain. In 1985 the baron married his 5th wife, Carmen Cervera, a former Miss Cataluna, just as his battle with Swiss small-mindedness was heating up. The Catalan beauty was instrumental in getting her husband to move his art collection to more flexible Spain, where it now sits in its own museum next to the Prado in Madrid.

But Baroness Carmen Thyssen herself began collecting in the late 1980s, all under her husband’s tutelage, and she focused on Andalucian art of the mid-19th to early 20th century. It was this collection, critically praised throughout Spain when it was first exhibited in the late 1990s, which was squirreled away in the newly-converted palace called the Museo CarmenThyssen Málaga.

The mid-19th century Andalucian works in the collection were largely painted for middle-class European tourists of the day who wanted to return to London and Paris with reminders of their Andalucian holidays. So the first floor of the museum is devoted to these so-calledColumbrista painters, and provides a panoply of chocolate box scenes of idealized Andalucian landscape romanticism: sultry gypsy dancers and battling bandoleros in mountain caves and young fishermen wooing flower girls.

But as the 19th century progresses, so does the sophistication of the paintings. Two paintings in particular stayed with me long afterwards: the dark Columbrista painting of 1851 by the Frenchman, Alfred Dehodencq, painted for the duke occupying the Palace of San Telmo. It’s of a procession through the town during Holy Week. Hooded monks, like an all-black vision of the Ku Klux Klan, are the candle-carrying advance guard of the Mater Dolorosa, and they walk a gauntlet of rapturous women in black mantillas. Powerful stuff.

Later, in 1867, the Spaniard Mariàno Fortuny Marsal painted a bullfight with quick, almost impressionistic brushstrokes that seems to foreshadow what is yet to come in the art world. Called Exquisite Realism, or the Précieux Style, the intense brushstrokes of the “Bullfight” give a blurry sense of speed and movement at the breath-holding moment when a gored picador is carried dying from the ring and another picador is trying to weaken the bull with the hard thrust of his lance. It’s hard to tell who is going to live or die, and it’s a very modern work, in a 19th century way.

Read More

Five arrested for road rage attack in Madrid

 

National Police have arrested five people, two of them underage, for a brutal road rage attack in a tunnel on the M-30 motorway in September. They were taken into custody after they were identified on video footage from security cameras in the tunnel. The aggressors were travelling in two vehicles on the evening of September 17, and were seen on film chasing another car into the tunnel, speeding ahead and cutting across it to bring it to a halt. The eight occupants of the two cars are then seen getting out of their vehicles and dragging the three people travelling in the third car out onto the roadway. They are beaten and kicked, and their car is vandalised. Some personal items were also stolen and one of the victims was stabbed in the back. The reason for the attack was because the victims had criticised their assailants for a dangerous manoeuvre a few kilometres previously. The Interior Ministry released news of the five arrests this week, and said the search continues to locate the three other suspects involved.

Read More

32 arrests in luxury car scam in Spain

 

National Police in Spain have arrested 32 people accused of stealing 25 vehicles worth over a million € from counties such as Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, to be sold on in Spain. The sale of the vehicles were helped by official dealers and the gang even had the collaboration of workers at several ITV/MOT centres which issued certificates to say the vehicles had no signs of being manipulated. The Ministry of the Interior says that the gang was made up mainly of Hungarians, Romanians and Spaniards, and the vehicles were sold on with false documents in dealers in Madrid, Santander, Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, Cuenca, Almería, Córdoba, Jaén and Granada.

Read More

Spain's first private airport goes bust

 

Spain’s first private airport has closed. The Ciudad Real Airport was opened in December 2008, considering that it could act as a Madrid overflow for residents in the south, but that just has not happened. The very last flight, operated by Vueling and with just 45 passengers, took off for Barcelona on Saturday at 2,45pm. The airline lasted less than a year at the Ciudad Real airport which has been dogged by bad luck from the start. It had problems with the environmental agency in 2005 as it is located in a special bird protection area, there were complaints that as much as 50% of the building works were illegal, it needed a continued supply of capital, and the intervention of the Bank of Spain in the CCM Castilla La Mancha savings bank revealed more irregularities. The airport closes with the company, CR Aeropuertos, owing its creditors more than 290 million €. It opened with debts of 1.7 million, and a poster declaring ‘Our dreams take off’, can still be seen in the Cuidad Real City Hall. The airport had hoped to attract seven million passengers a year, and managed to attract the airlines, Air Nostrum, Air Berlin and Vueling, with the attraction of a AVE high speed train station at its door, and one of the longest runways in Europe, but the facility never attracted more than 500,000 travellers in the first year. It was not long before some flights had more crew than passengers. There has been a rash of private airport projects in Spain, started during the economic boom, and there were six projects in total in Cataluña, Aragón, Valencia, Murcia, Andalucía and in Ciudad Real. Only one has opened, and today, has now closed for business.

Read More

Brussels is stifling City of London, Cameron claims

 

David Cameron signalled new European battles ahead as he pledged to resist alleged attempts by Brussels to shackle the City of London in red tape. The Prime Minister echoed claims that the emergence of a two-tier Europe following the financial crisis could result in a wave of EU directives that would harm the Square Mile. The Government has said it is determined to prevent the 17 members of the eurozone acting as a bloc to thwart the interests of the 10 EU states, including Britain, that have retained their own currencies.

Read More

Ruth Madoff reveals suicide pact after £40bn fraud

 

Come what may, Mrs Madoff is still managing to keep up appearances. But behind her designer outfit and reassuringly expensive haircut, she's anxious to remind the world that life as the spouse of a $65bn (£40bn) conman isn't always plain sailing. In her first interview since her husband Bernie oversaw the collapse of the family investment house almost two years ago, Ruth revealed the couple attempted suicide in the immediate aftermath of his arrest. It was the night before Christmas 2008. The Madoffs, once the toast of New York society, were confined to their Manhattan penthouse, coming to terms with the fact that his Ponzi scheme had wiped out the life savings of several thousand investors, including many close friends and family members. "I don't know whose idea it was, but we were both so saddened by everything that had happened that we decided to kill ourselves," she recalled. "It was so horrendous what was happening. Terrible phone calls, hate mail – just beyond anything. And I said, 'I just can't go on any more'." They decided to overdose on the sedative Ambien. But they apparently under-estimated the amount needed and found themselves still alive to face the music on Christmas Day. "We were both in agreement," she told CBS's 60 Minutes – which will air interviews with her and her son Andrew on Sunday. "I don't remember what we said very much. We were figuring out how many pills to take. "I think we were both sort of relieved to leave this place. It was very, very impulsive, is all I can say. And I was glad to wake up the next morning." The show will tell how the family learnt of their sudden elevation to global pariah status and explain what they have been doing since. Mrs Madoff, 68, met her husband, now 73, when she was 14 and married him two years later. At the height of their powers she kept an office at the headquarters of the family investment firm and was listed as a director of several companies he controlled. She has always maintained she had no idea the firm was overstating profits and defrauding investors. After his arrest she struck a deal with prosecutors that saw her give up all her assets except for $2.5 million. Many of Madoff's victims angrily insisted she should have been left with nothing. Shortly after the deal was announced, The New York Times dubbed her "the loneliest woman in New York". She later left the city to live in Florida. Judging by CBS interview footage released yesterday, the months since have been tough on a woman who was once the toast of Manhattan. She has retained her petite figure, well-groomed blonde hair and elegant dress sense but has aged considerably. Although she admits being initially supportive of her husband, visiting him in prison, she says she decided to break off contact last December. That was when their second son, Mark, 46, hanged himself on the anniversary of his father's arrest using a dog leash. It remains to be seen whether the TV interview will repair her tattered reputation. People who believe she helped cover up her husband's fraud now suspect her claim about their joint suicide bid was invented to win sympathy. Their former bodyguard Nick Casale, who was with them that Christmas Eve, cast doubt on the story yesterday. Bernie has also granted a first interview, it emerged last night. He spoke to the veteran TV interviewer Barbara Walters at the prison in North Carolina where he is currently serving a 150-year sentence for fraud. No cameras were allowed but a transcript suggests he expressed remorse for his crimes and understands why people think he "robbed widows and orphans". But he insisted: "I made wealthy people wealthier." And on life behind bars, he added: "Ruth not communicating is the hardest thing... Ruth doesn't hate me. She has no one. It's not fair to her. She lost her first so. She's a devoted wife and didn't care about the money."

Read More

Yemeni women burn veils to protest regime

 

Yemeni women defiantly burned their traditional veils Wednesday in protest of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. Thousands of women gathered in the capital, Sanaa, said witnesses. They carried banners that read: "Saleh the butcher is killing women and is proud of it" and "Women have no value in the eyes in Ali Saleh." They collected their veils and scarves in a huge pile and set it ablaze -- an act that is highly symbolic in the conservative Islamic nation, where women use their veils to cover their faces and bodies. It's the first time in the nine months of Yemen's uprising that such an event has occurred. Inspired by Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman's Nobel Peace Prize this month, more and more Yemeni women have taken to the streets and escalated their campaign for help from the international community. More than 60 women were attacked in October alone by the government, said protester Ruqaiah Nasser. Government forces are raiding homes and also killing children, she said. Yemen's youth continue calls for change Clashes in Taiz left woman dead Clashes in Yemen turn deadly What's behind escalating Yemen violence? She said silence from tribal leaders on the matter is a "disgrace." "We will not stay quiet and will defend ourselves if our men can't defend us," Nasser said. "Tribes must understand they will not be respected by Yemeni women if they stay quiet while their women are being attacked by the Saleh regime. Tribes who ignore our calls are cowards and have no dignity." "Saleh is killing women and children and this is against tribal culture," she said. "Where are their voices when we need them? It's a disgrace if they stay quiet." The women's protests came after the Yemeni government announced a cease-fire Tuesday. But that did not appear to be holding. At least 10 people died and dozens were injured earlier Tuesday in clashes between Yemeni government security forces in the country's capital and the province of Taiz, medical officials reported. Yemen's government has said that opposition-supported militants are responsible for the violence. Saleh summoned the U.S. ambassador and reiterated a promise to sign an agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council in which he would step aside in exchange for immunity from prosecution, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. However, Saleh has repeatedly promised to sign the council-backed deal and not done so. The embattled leader has clung to power through the protracted protests.

Read More

Villages all but wiped out as storms batter Italy's 'Cinque Terre'

 

The worst affected region was Liguria, with at least two of the five World Heritage-listed 'Cinque Terre' coastal villages cut off as a result of roads being washed away. The walking trails and picturesque fishing villages of the Cinque Terre attract hundreds of thousands of international tourists, but two of them – Vernazza and Monterosso – were severely affected as rivers of mud poured down from the hills behind them. The mayor of Monterosso said the fishing village had all but been wiped out. "Monterosso no longer exists," Angelo Betta told an Italian news agency. Huge amounts of mud had swept through the tiny settlement, causing an "unimaginable disaster".

Read More

Real IRA terrorist has been jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of buying weapons and explosives which he wanted to use to “kill Brits.

Michael Campbell (Pic: PA)

A Real IRA terrorist has been jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of buying weapons and explosives which he wanted to use to “kill Brits.”

Irishman Michael Campbell - brother of Omagh bomber Liam - was snared in a six year MI5 sting across three countries with agents pretending to be arms dealers.

Yesterday he was finally jailed by a Lithuania court after spending three years awaiting trial and having been snared by an amazing MI5 undercover operation.

Campbell, 39, was secretly filmed in a field in Lithuania pointing a high-power Barret sniper rifle which he later bragged he would use to kill British people.

Michael Campbell testing weapons in the Lithuanian countryside (Pic: PA)

Using secret filming Campbell was caught on camera inspecting the weapons stash in a lock-up garage (Pic: PA)

Campbell's shopping list for weapons (Pic:PA) 

He was also recorded on video in a garage buying weapons and explosives from an undercover Lithiuanian agent he nicknamed “Rambo.”

But the hero of the MI5 plot was a cigarette smuggler - turned MI5 agent who went deep undercover using the cover name Robert Jardine.

Using his connections Robert Jardine coolly penetrated deep into the Real IRA network knowing he could have been killed if his cover was blown.

At one stage in his dealings with dark-haired Campbell and other terror suspects - who cannot be named for legal reasons - he was bundled into a padded van containing a shovel.

Sources have told The Daily Mirror he feared he had been rumbled and was being driven to his death - but it was just a Real IRA tactic to unnerve him.

Judge Arunas Kisielus of the Vilnius Regional Court sentenced Michael Campbell to 12 years in prison for weapons offenses and supporting a terrorist group.

Covert footage showed Campbell paid £5,200 for explosives, grenade launchers, detonators, AK-47s and an assassin’s rifle to Lithuanian agents posing as arms dealers.

He says on tape: “You imagine, with a six-hour timer, we could be over to London and back,” Campbell says in an audio clip after mulling over a price list for explosives and detonators. “Just tick, tick, tick, tick ... gone.

In court Campbell had pleaded not guilty.

The Real IRA’s worst crime to date was the 1998 Omagh bombing which killed 29 and for which Liam Campbell -Michael’s brother - was found liable in a civil trial.

MI5’s Operation Uncritical ruined a bid by the Real IRA to get guns and explosives to mount a deadly terror campaign on the British mainland.

Yesterday a senior security official said: “The conviction of Michael Campbell is the result of a successful joint operation between the Security Service and the Lithuanian authorities.

“Working closely together, along with a selfless and brave agent, they have put behind bars a senior member of the Real IRA whose intention was to kill innocent members of the public in Northern Ireland and in Britain.”

Courageously Jardine - who now lives in a secret location - for years risked his life to provide his MI5 handlers with intelligence about the Real IRA.

The agent, who was referred to in court as “Robert Jardine”, was a legitimate businessman based in southern England dealing in “imports and exports.”

But he also had an illicit sideline in smuggling cigarettes from Eastern Europe - and it was that which caught the eye of the security service and led him into a world of terrorist intrigue.

The Real IRA (RIRA) was using the contraband cigarettes to fund its terrorist activities and in late 2002 Jardine was recruited as an agent by MI5.

Two years later RIRA asked Jardine whether his contacts in Eastern Europe could help them get weapons. And - carefully directed by MI5 - he laid a trail of deception which drew in the terrorists.

The court heard that in January 2005 he handed over a price list to a contact.

The following July Jardine and the contact crossed the border into Lithuania where Jardine introduced her to “Tomas”.

In fact Tomas was working for the Lithuanian security service, the VSD - the first in a cast of “role-players” deployed to convince the RIRA that the offer of weapons was real.

The RIRA gave Jardine the first of two hand-written shopping lists of weapons they wanted to buy - including sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, hand grenades, detonators and Semtex plastic explosives.

Then, in late 2006, another RIRA man, moved to revive the arrangement. Jardine responded by saying he would provide the introductions but the republicans would have to cut their own deal. The “sting” was back on.

Then Michael Campbell entered the story.

On August 29 2007, Michael Campbell and another associate travelled to a lodge in the Lithuanian countryside belonging to the supposed arms dealer.

There they were given their first chance to test guns and explosives.

Next day they were introduced to a second dealer - whom the two Irishmen quickly nicknamed “Rambo” - who was to provide them with the actual weapons they wanted.

Like Tomas, however, Rambo was in reality working for the VSD.

Campbell and his colleague agreed to pay a deposit on explosives, detonators and timers.

Afterwards an excited Campbell was secretly recorded telling his associate: “Look at it this way, for one of them and one of them you have a bomb - for f****** a hundred quid.

“F*** me. You imagine us getting over to England if you’d ten of them and ten clocks in a holdall. You imagine, with a six-hour timer we could be over to London and back.

“Just tick, tick, tick - gone. Leave it anywhere.”

That October, Campbell met Rambo again in Marbella in southern Spain.

This time the RIRA man said he wanted a first instalment of weapons - including two rocket propelled grenades as well as the explosives - against the deposit.

On January 21 2008, Campbell went to Lithuania to inspect his purchase and finalise the arrangements.

That evening the couple dined with Rambo who the following day took Campbell to a lock-up garage where the weapons were stashed.

A hidden camera secretly filmed as Campbell examines one of the detonators and asks whether they would be “good for booby traps”.

“They would be good for under a car, wouldn’t they?” he says. “Anchored to the wheel and then the car goes round - bang.”

Campbell was also filmed paying a further deposit for a powerful Barrett sniper rifle - the type of weapon used to kill Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick, the last British soldier to die at the hands of the IRA in 1997.

When Rambo demands what it would be used for - saying he was not prepared to sell it just “to shoot roe deer or wild boar” - Campbell tells him: “No, no, we will be shooting from across borders. The border. You know, from one side to the other.”

Asked who the target would be, Campbell replies simply “Brits”.

Read More

Libya: Col Gaddafi buried at dawn

 

Officials said earlier that the ousted Libyan leader would be buried in a secret desert grave, ending a wrangle over his rotting corpse that led many to fear for the country's governability. Transitional government forces had put the body on show in a cold store in Misurata while they argued over what to do with it, until its decay forced them on Monday to end the display. His son Mutassim is thought to have been buried in the same ceremony. A few relatives and officials were in attendance, according to a Misurata military council official. Yesterday, the government bowed to international pressure and announced a commission to determine how Gaddafi died after he was cornered in a drain while trying to flee Sirte, his besieged home town. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the NTC, and other officials have said Gaddafi was killed in crossfire. Mr Jalil said: "In response to international calls, we have started to put in place a commission tasked with investigating the circumstances of Muammar Gaddafi's death in the clash with his circle as he was being captured."

Read More

Rupert Murdoch: News Corp's great dictator on the brink

 

Several major News Corp shareholders have rebelled against Rupert Murdoch's hold on his media empire by voting against his re-election as chairman. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features Under normal circumstances, Rupert Murdoch doesn't have much patience for the annual shareholders' meetings that are required by law of American public companies. He regards them as a farce, because they cannot change the outcome in a company where a voting majority is secure, and as an exercise in liberal corporate law designed to put him personally on the spot. Still, his handlers, whose job is, in part, to protect him from himself, have long made him train for these meetings as though he's going into a presidential debate. Without rigorous practice, he is quite liable to not pay attention and appear quite bewildered, or pay too much attention and explode in fury, or worse, truthful exasperation. "He's going to keep asking me why there are no women on the board," Murdoch once told me as his PR aide, Gary Ginsberg, was trying to cajole him into a practice session. "He wants to make sure I don't say, 'because they talk too much.'" The fine line at News Corp has always been between Murdoch's almost deadset insistence that he be able to treat the company as his private preserve, and his handlers' (lawyers, CFOs, press people) more straightforward understanding that it is, in fact, a public company. On this basic issue, push could not have come more to shove than at Friday's meeting. The fundamental sham of a public company – one run first and foremost by and for the Murdoch family, and countenanced by one of the famous quiescent corporate boards in American business – was being challenged by long-oppressed but newly galvanised shareholders. It was a recognisable Murdoch in the midst of it all – as combative, determined, up against it and past his prime as the year's other fallen dictators. His hearing is shot and he won't admit it; thus he somehow seems to answer off-point (his handlers are not allowed to mention his hearing issues, but there is a lot of prepping so that he can anticipate the questions). His mind wanders and he has to forcibly refocus; hence his pauses. But he remains sharp as a tack when he feels impatient or personally under fire. Stephen Mayne, his long-time Australian gadfly antagonist, played his part, and Murdoch seemed almost relieved to play his. They've been doing this for years. Of course, there was Tom Watson, the British MP, whom Murdoch seemed to tolerate – if just barely – as an obvious publicity-seeker. And the various others whom he surely believed he had effectively dismissed, both by his own tartness and by closing down the meeting early. In some sense, it rather seemed that Murdoch just regarded this as shareholders – those dumb sons-of-bitches – doing what shareholders always do: complain into the wind. Just a little more so, with a little more security, with the company having to retreat to a fortified room behind the Fox gates (rather than the usual junky theater in mid-town Manhattan where they ordinarily conduct the meeting) – and with Murdoch himself having to offer a bit more self-justification than he might be used to.  

Read More

James Murdoch's future is hanging in the balance after News Corp's shareholders lodged a massive protest vote

. Photograph: David Cheskin/PA

James Murdoch's future at News Corporation looks increasingly precarious as shareholders delivered a damning verdict on his tenure amid widespread criticism of his handling of the hacking scandal.

Following a contentious meeting in Los Angeles last week News Corporation shareholders lodged a massive protest vote against James and his brother Lachlan Murdoch.

A majority of independent shareholders voted against the re-election of chairman Rupert Murdoch's sons James and Lachlan Murdoch. James Murdoch received the largest vote against his re-election at 35%.

James, 38, faces a second grilling in the Parliament next month over phone-hacking at The News of The World, one of News Corp's UKnewspapers. Some 34% of shareholders voted against Lachlan Murdoch 40.

After subtracting the shares controlled by Rupert Murdoch, 67% of the votes went against James Murdoch and 64% against Lachlan, said Julie Tanner, assistant director of News Corp investor Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), who last week called for Rupert Murdoch to step down as chairman after the "extraordinary scandals" at the company. "Shareholders are saying loud and clear that this board has failed as a group," she said.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer, proved far more popular with investors, receiving 86% of votes, although a sizeable number of shareholders, representing 12 million votes, abstained.

The votes are a particular embarrassment as Murdoch went into the meeting with at least 47% of voting shares on his side, thanks to the family's control of the company's voting shares and the support of their largest outside shareholder, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.

Thanks to the Murdoch's controlling share interest the company defeated attempts to throw the Murdochs and others off the board from major shareholders including the giant Californian pension funds CalPERS and CalSTRS, the Church of England and Hermes, the BT pension fund.

A combative Murdoch faced hostile shareholders at the company's meeting in Los Angeles on Friday and said News Corp was dealing with the situation. While he acknowledged the seriousness of the hacking scandal Murdoch described attacks on News Corp as "unfair" and said the company was the "stuff of legend."

Shareholder critics called for the Murdochs to step down at the meeting and criticised the pay deals of the company's top executives.

The firm delayed releasing the results of the ballot until late Monday. Father Seamus Finn of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, who attended the meeting, said: "The vote clearly demonstrates a profound lack of confidence in this company's leadership."

Earlier Les Hinton, former chairman of News International, which runs the company's UK newspapers, had defended James Murdoch saying he saw no reason why he should resign his position.

Michael Wolff, Murdoch biographer and author of The Man Who Owns the News, said it was now inevitable that James Murdoch would leave.

"James will probably go by himself, that's what everybody will be waiting for. I wonder too if Lachlan will step off the board. But could this drag on for another year? Yes."

Wolff said the size of the vote against Murdoch's son had created "a very difficult family moment."

Chief operating officer Chase Carey received strong support from the company's shareholders, garnering 91% of the votes cast. Former New York city school Chancellor Joel Klein collected 96% of the votes cast.

Natalie Bancroft, scion of the family that sold Dow Jones to News Corp, also received a huge vote against, as shareholders called for greater independence on the News Corp board.

Tanner said the votes against the Murdoch sons and Bancroft showed shareholders were serious about wanting more independence at News Corp. "The overwhelming influence of the Murdoch family is not acceptable anymore," she said.

Read More

EU referendum vote reaction

 

Backbenchers have warned that David Cameron will face further rebellions unless he takes a tough line in EU treaty negotiations.: For the record, here is the Press Association's full list of MPs who voted for the motion calling for a referendum on Britain's relationship with the EU. Conservatives • 79 Conservatives voted for the motion. They were: Stuart Andrew (Pudsey), Steven Baker (Wycombe), John Baron (Basildon & Billericay), Andrew Bingham (High Peak), Brian Binley (Northampton South), Bob Blackman (Harrow East), Graham Brady (Altrincham & Sale West), Andrew Bridgen (Leicestershire North West), Steve Brine (Winchester), Fiona Bruce (Congleton), Dan Byles (Warwickshire North), Douglas Carswell (Clacton), Bill Cash (Stone), Christopher Chope (Christchurch), James Clappison (Hertsmere), Tracey Crouch (Chatham & Aylesford), David Davies (Monmouth), Philip Davies (Shipley), David Davis (Haltemprice & Howden), Nick de Bois (Enfield North), Caroline Dinenage (Gosport), Nadine Dorries (Bedfordshire Mid), Richard Drax (Dorset South), Mark Field (Cities of London & Westminster), Lorraine Fullbrook (South Ribble), Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park), James Gray (Wiltshire North), Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry), Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne & Sheppey), George Hollingbery (Meon Valley), Adam Holloway (Gravesham), Stewart Jackson (Peterborough), Bernard Jenkin (Harwich & Essex North), Marcus Jones (Nuneaton), Chris Kelly (Dudley South), Andrea Leadsom (Northamptonshire South), Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford), Edward Leigh (Gainsborough), Julian Lewis (New Forest East), Karen Lumley (Redditch), Jason McCartney (Colne Valley), Karl McCartney (Lincoln), Stephen McPartland (Stevenage), Anne Main (St Albans), Patrick Mercer (Newark), Nigel Mills (Amber Valley), Anne-Marie Morris (Newton Abbot), James Morris (Halesowen & Rowley Regis), Stephen Mosley (Chester, City of), Sheryll Murray (Cornwall South East), Caroline Nokes (Romsey & Southampton North), David Nuttall (Bury North), Matthew Offord (Hendon), Neil Parish (Tiverton & Honiton), Priti Patel (Witham), Andrew Percy (Brigg & Goole), Mark Pritchard (Wrekin, The), Mark Reckless (Rochester & Strood), John Redwood (Wokingham), Jacob Rees-Mogg (Somerset North East), Simon Reevell (Dewsbury), Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury), Andrew Rosindell (Romford), Richard Shepherd (Aldridge-Brownhills), Henry Smith (Crawley), John Stevenson (Carlisle), Bob Stewart (Beckenham), Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South), Gary Streeter (Devon South West), Julian Sturdy (York Outer), Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth & Horncastle), Justin Tomlinson (Swindon North), Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight), Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes), Charles Walker (Broxbourne), Robin Walker (Worcester), Heather Wheeler (Derbyshire South), Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley), John Whittingdale (Maldon), Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes). • Two Tory MPs voted in both the Aye and Noe lobbies, the traditional way of registering an abstention. They were: Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) and Mike Weatherley (Hove). • A further two Tory MPs, Peter Bone (Wellingborough) and Philip Hollobone (Kettering) acted as tellers for the motion. Labour • 19 Labour MPs defied the party leadership to support the motion: Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley), Rosie Cooper (Lancashire West), Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), Jon Cruddas (Dagenham & Rainham), John Cryer (Leyton & Wanstead), Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West), Natascha Engel (Derbyshire North East), Frank Field (Birkenhead), Roger Godsiff (Birmingham Hall Green), Kate Hoey (Vauxhall), Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North), Steve McCabe (Birmingham Selly Oak), John McDonnell (Hayes & Harlington), Austin Mitchell (Great Grimsby), Dennis Skinner (Bolsover), Andrew Smith (Oxford East), Graham Stringer (Blackley & Broughton), Gisela Stuart (Birmingham Edgbaston), Mike Wood (Batley & Spen). Lib Dems • One Liberal Democrat, Adrian Sanders (Torbay) voted for the motion. Others • Green leader Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion) voted for the motion. • Eight Democratic Unionist Party MPs voted for the motion: Gregory Campbell (Londonderry East), Nigel Dodds (Belfast North), Jeffrey Donaldson (Lagan Valley), Rev William McCrea (Antrim South), Ian Paisley Junior (Antrim North), Jim Shannon (Strangford), David Simpson (Upper Bann), Sammy Wilson (Antrim East). • Independent MP Lady Sylvia Hermon (Down North) voted for the motion. 8.41am: Reverberations from last night's vote on the EU referendum will be bouncing around Westminster all day. David Cameron told his MPs yesterday afternoon: "I share the yearning for fundamental reform, and I am determined to deliver it." But when? Michael Gove, the education secretary, was on the Today programme a few minutes ago, doing his best to play down the significance of the rebellion against the prime minister – but even he struggled to explain when Cameron's long-promised renegotiation is going to take place. I'll post a full summary of his interview soon, as well as bringing you all the best reaction, comment and analysis relating to the referendum debate. Otherwise, it's a fairly routine day, although Kenneth Clarke, at the home affairs committee at lunchtime, could make good copy. Here's a full list of what's coming up. 9am: The cabinet meets. 10am: Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee about quantitative easing. 10am: Unions are launcing a legal challenge to the government's plans increase pensions in line with the CPI measure of inflation rather than the RPI measure of inflation. 10.30am: Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, gives evidence to the Commons justice committee on joint enterprise prosecutions. 10.45am: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs publishes a report on legal highs. 12.45pm: Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee about the riots. 2.20pm: Maria Miller, the minister for the disabled, the health minister, Paul Burstow, and Grant Shapps, the housing minister, give evidence to the joint committee on human rights on the right of disabled people to independent living.

Read More

Boland launches new radio station on same frequency as Heart

 

HEART FM bosses have denied any bad feeling after controversial DJ Maurice Boland took over their coastal frequency for a new radio venture. The self-styled ‘Mr Marbella’ has left the station and plans to launch his new business later this month. “As far as we are concerned he can have it, it was an amicable agreement,” owner Pat Jay told the Olive Press. But other sources have revealed that there has been ‘considerable tension’ over the fallout, which left Heart FM ‘retrenching’ back inland. “There have been various issues and Pat and husband Lee have been left shattered,” said a friend. Now Boland, 62 – who was sacked from his previous job at Talk Radio Europe (TRE) after an alleged affair with a teenager – is setting up a studio at Estepona’s Kempinski Hotel. According to sources, he has managed to acquire a retail space to work out of and claims to have some big backers. “He has been approaching presenters at other radio stations, but is not offering a lot of money,” said a source.

Read More

Thousands of Telefonica clients disconnected for 5 hours

 

THOUSANDS of Telefonica clients on the Costa del Sol were left without service for five hours. The problem, which affected clients in Marbella, Ronda, Casares and Estepona, last Friday was due to a fault with a commutation network system, and also caused minor problems in Malaga City. According to Telefonica, it affected 20 per cent of communications in Malaga province, however, it did not affect clients with smartphones, which account for 65 per cent of clients in the province. Consumer group Facua said compensation for this can amount to the average of the amount charged over the past three months or five times the monthly tariff calculated proportionately by the time the problem lasted.

Read More

Pop legend Madonna today told a court of her 'alarm and distress' after a delusional fan, who believes the star loves him, broke into her £10million London home and rifled through her bedding.

Grzegorz Matlok, 30, burgled a mews house linked to the singer's luxury townhouse in Marylebone, central London, and stole a can of Red Bull after wandering through two bedrooms and a living room.

Southwark Crown Court heard Matlok was discovered holding the drink and playing with a kitchen light switch at around 4.40am on March 12 by Madonna's former gardener-turned film director Nathan Rissman, 39, who was staying in the mews at the time.

When he was quizzed over what he was doing and told Madonna was not staying there, he said: 'I'm sorry. Arrest me, arrest me'.

He later told police he had been given permission by the singer and had found a welcome note from her.

A map with a large 'M' scrawled over Madonna's home and a bag containing a safety knife, nail scissors, a coach ticket from Poland and Matlok's passport were found in a bag outside the property.

A year ago Matlok sneaked into the Wiltshire estate Madonna used to share with ex-husband Ritchie and was caught putting on his clothes.  

The 'Music' star was heard to be 'distressed and unsettled' by Matlok's two successful break-ins and said she feared for the safety of herself, her four children and her staff.

Prosecutor Philip Stott said: 'It appears that the defendant took a route, by examination of the lights he had turned on, through the lounge and kitchen and into a bedroom and dressing area and then gone through an inter connecting door where again he had gone into a bedroom and dressing room, where he disturbed some bed clothes.'

 

 

Matlok had broken into the house after smashing a window with a stone and using a rope and scaffolding to enter one of the three properties by a first floor window.

The court heard he had travelled to England from Poland by coach a few days before the burglary on March 12.

Mr Stott said that in interview Matlok told Madonna's security manager he was there 'To see Madonna' and afterwards told police she had okayed his visit.

Country house: A year ago Matlok sneaked into the Wiltshire estate (pictured) Madonna used to share with ex-husband Guy Ritchie

'He told the police he had permission to stay in the flat and that Madonna knew he was coming,' said the barrister.

'He said he had found a note saying welcome and he went inside.

'He said he had been at the address two or three days earlier, but no one had answered the doorbell.

'He said he was not there to steal anything - he said he had sent messages to Madonna over the internet to say he was going to turn up.' 

In a victim impact statement read to the court Madonna said: 'I do not know the defendant, I've not had any form of relationship with the defendant nor have I had any form of contact by phone or by email, or by any other way, with the defendant.

'In particular I've never given the defendant permission to enter the premises or any of my other premises.

'I feel very alarmed and distressed by the actions of the defendant.

When Matlok broke into Wiltshire home, he was restrained by Guy Ritchie (pictured)

'It is extremely unsettling to know that despite the extensive security I have he has been able to break into two of my residential properties.

'I'm worried about my children's safety as well as the safety of my staff. I'm also naturally worried about my own safety.' 

The court heard that Matlok suffered from 'delusions that Madonna loved him' but, according to consultant psychiatrist Dr Nadji Kahtan, his schizophrenia could be controlled by medication.

'In hospital he's fully compliant and has expressed no wish to stop taking it [his medication] and he says he wishes to still take it because he recognises that he has a mental illness,' he said.

'We feel that the best way to manage his illness is for him to continue to be treated at a hospital in England until he can be moved to a hospital in Poland.' 

The court heard however that Matlok had attacked someone in his cell and had been 'rather aggressive' to women, including nurses.

When Matlok broke into the Wiltshire home of Guy Ritchie he was found by a housekeeper cowering under the bed of an 'outhouse'.

Mr Stott said he had to be restrained by Mr Ritchie, a gamekeeper and 'The Football Factory' director Nick Love.

'He had taken cash from Mr Ritchie and Mr Love and had put on a pair of Mr Ritchie's jeans,' he said.

Batteries, a torch, a bottle of shampoo and three credit cards had also been moved, according to Mr Ritchie, but no further action was taken and Matlok was deported in August 2010.

In June Matlok reportedly attempted suicide by setting fire to his cell and was said to have been dragged to safety by prison guards.

Madonna, 53, was not in the property at the time, having taken her four children - Lourdes, 14, Rocco, 10, Mercy, 6, and David, 5 -  to Michigan in the U.S. to pay her respects to her late grandmother Elsie Mae Fortin.

Southwark Crown Court heard Matlok was discovered holding the drink and playing with a kitchen light switch at around 4.40am on March 12

The Pole, who is being held at a secure psychiatric unit, was flanked by hospital staff and assisted by an interpreter at Southwark Crown Court today.

Matlok has admitted burgling the office in Marylebone but denied two charges of burglary relating to a house connected to it, both of which are owned by 'Madonna Ciccone'.

The two charges he denied were ordered to lie on the court file after prosecutors accepted Matlok's plea.

The burglary took place six months after Madonna was targeted by a man who was arrested outside her New York apartment carrying two knives.

Judge Deborah Taylor was expected to order Matlok's detention under the Mental Health Act, 1983, this afternoon.

Read More

Knight Frank partners share £73m bonus pool

 

PARTNERS in the upmarket estate agent Knight Frank have landed a £73m payout after profits rose by 10 per cent in the last financial year, buoyed by foreign investors flocking to London’s luxury property market. The firm, which advises on both residential and commercial property deals, saw pre-tax profits rise to £101.9m in the year to March – its highest level since the credit crisis – while turnover increased seven per cent to £308.4m. “Equity rich buyers” seeking property in London helped boost the firm’s residential arm, which has instructed on deals including the sale of St John’s Wood Barracks in northwest London. The bonus pool is more than double the amount awarded in 2009, although it is now shared by more people as Knight Frank has extended its partnership. Nick Thomlinson, senior partner and chairman of Knight Frank, conceded he remained cautious about the outlook for the year ahead but said the group had strengthened its balance sheet and was focusing on growth in key markets like Asia. The firm also opened new offices in Dubai, South Africa, Austria and Switzerland.

Read More

Coty Prestige and the house of Cavalli unleash new global beauty brand

 

Italy Coty Prestige unveiled the new signature feminine fragrance from the house of Roberto Cavalli. The official reveal took place at the Cavalli private villa in Florence, at a press conference attended by Roberta and Eva Cavalli, Coty Prestige President Michele Scannavini, and fragrance face Elisa Sednaoui. The scent will be launched worldwide, both in domestic and travel retail markets, from February 2012. The brand has been earmarked as another global pillar for the Coty group. "We want to establish Cavalli as a global brand from the beginning; it’s not going to be niche. It’s going to be big, global, and well distributed in all continents. We want to make it a top 20 brand." Coty Prestige Senior Vice President Commercial Jean Mortier The Cavalli beauty licence was previously held by ICR-ITF. “This [introduction] is just the beginning of the rebirth of the house of Cavalli, and will be followed by other launches,” Coty Prestige Senior Vice President Commercial Jean Mortier told The Moodie Report, during an interview conducted at the event. “We want to establish Cavalli as a global brand from the beginning; it’s not going to be niche. It’s going to be big, global, and well distributed in all continents. We want to make it a top 20 brand.” The fragrance embodies all the codes of the Cavalli brand and, as expected, reflects the designer's well-known love of animal print. A tiger features in the TV ad campaign, and face Sednaoui wears a tiger print gown. "I am honestly so excited about this launch," declared Roberto Cavalli at the press conference. "Today I open my house to all of you, and show you my lifestyle, to help explain more clearly what Roberto Cavalli is all about. I am sure this new fragrance will be a big success." “This is so emotional for us,” noted Eva Cavalli, “and I want to thank Michele and the Coty team for everything they have done. It’s been hard work, but also a lot of fun…We are very proud of this fragrance.” Glamour and sensuality were recurring themes. Eva described Sednaoui as the perfect embodiment of the Cavalli woman. “She is beautiful, with a stunning body and hypnotic eyes,” she explained. “The Cavalli woman is strong, sensual and secure, knows exactly what she wants and can get it immediately. “There is something feline inside all of us; every woman wants to be a bit of a tiger, a little wild. That’s one of the reasons why Roberto loves animal print so much.” Roberto and Eva Cavalli showcase their fashion, lifestyle - and new signature fragrance - at their villa in Florence Coty’s Scannavini highlighted the close connection between the fashion and fragrance industry. “There are several similarities; they are getting closer and closer,” he noted. “It’s all about emotion. When you see a beautiful dress or a beautiful fragrance, the response is not really rational. And with this fragrance, we want to evoke the same emotion a woman would experience when she sees a [Cavalli] dress.” He added: “Fashion and fragrance continue to evolve. You always have your classics [dresses and fragrances], the ones you keep forever. But there is also room to experiment with new trends.” “I think they go in parallel,” noted Eva. “They complete each other – a fragrance needs fashion to complete the dream. But everyone can buy a fragrance, it’s [democratic], and allows women to feel special, in this case to be a part of the Cavalli universe. So we’re not just speaking about a fragrance, it’s a way to fulfil a dream.” Face Sednaoui declared herself “honoured and excited” to have been chosen by Cavalli to represent its new signature fragrance. The print campaign was shot by Steven Klein; the TV ad directed by Johan Renck. "I think the Cavalli woman is someone who dares to be herself, who has personality, style, opinions and self-confidence. All women should dare to be themselves, dare to go out there and have fun." Fragrance face Elisa Sednaoui “I think the Cavalli woman is someone who dares to be herself, who has personality, style, opinions and self-confidence,” she explained. “All women should dare to be themselves, dare to go out there and have fun.” Sednaoui had high praise for the Cavalli grown she wears in the ad campaign. “It was designed especially for me by Eva,” she explained. “The fabric is amazing, just like the quality of the design. I honestly felt like the tiger in me was coming out,” she laughed. “And every woman should dare to be a tiger sometimes, because then great things can happen.” The high quality of Cavalli couture is, according to Sednaoui, the key to the brand’s appeal. “The thing that comes to my mind is the quality of work that is behind every piece,” she explained. “The quality, the cut, the materials – Roberto has all this incredible knowledge [which allows him] to play with fashion and shape.” BOTTLING THE BRAND “A strong personality is the sexiest thing,” believes Roberto Cavalli, and his new signature fragrance aims to reflect that in all the right ways. Composed by Givaudan’s Louise Turner, the floral-amber juice features three key ingredients: orange blossom, Tonka bean and pink pepper. “It’s got lots of signature; it’s intense, it’s very Cavalli,” noted Turner at the launch event. “It’s very sensual, very feminine and has a good vibration. Like a Cavalli dress, you wear it to be noticed.” Turner was given a comprehensive brief for the fragrance, which included lots of background about the brand fundamentals, examples of Cavalli animal print, and various quotes from the designer. “It was clear to me that Roberto is someone who is very inspired by nature,” she explained. “We always tend to associate him with animal print, which he does love, but there’s an awful lot more to the house than that. It’s much more varied, very colourful, such a vibrant universe. Roberto uses nature in quite a figurative manner, which is quite evocative for me.” During the fragrance launch event, journalists were allowed unprecedented access to the Cavalli factory, atelier and archive Turner continued: “It is not difficult to have ideas about a house with such a strong identity. I think a strong brand image allows you to have a strong signature in your fragrance as well. I just needed to make sure that the fragrance tells the same story as a Cavalli dress.” Turner chose orange flower to anchor the heart of the juice. “For me, it’s very feminine and very colourful,” she explained. “It’s got lots of sensuality, it’s quite extravagant, and very Italian. It animates and adds dimension.” Tonka bean, which features in the base, was also selected for its sensual properties. It is complemented by vanilla absolute and benzoin to form an amber accord. A top note of pink peppercorn is said to deliver a touch of vibrancy and exuberance. Turner is known for her work with natural ingredients, and admits that she favours certain components over others. “I don’t really like animal notes,” she revealed, “and there are none in this fragrance. "It is not difficult to have ideas about a house with such a strong identity. I think a strong brand image allows you to have a strong signature in your fragrance as well." Fragrance nose Givaudan’s Louise Turner “I suppose every perfumer has a favourite palette of raw materials which they always draw on,” she continued. “But that palette does change. It’s like anything, you have your favourites, but they evolve. You can go off things too.” One element that doesn’t change, however, is the excitement Turner feels at the start of the creative process. “At the very beginning, when you first get the brief and are sifting through lots of ideas, that is very stimulating,” she confirmed. “It also feels good when you see your finished product in the bottle. “But best of all is when you smell your fragrance in the street, or watch someone buy it. What we create is very personal, and of course we want people to like it.” The fragrance is presented in a curved glass bottle, topped with a tiara-shaped cap formed by Roberto Cavalli’s golden seal. The neck is adorned with a tiger-print band. The outer carton is also gold, with the signature seal printed in relief on the front. The box sports a tiger-print base, beneath a turquoise “hip-belt” style ribbon. SETTING OUT THE STRATEGY Coty Prestige has made no secret of its ambitions for the Cavalli brand. “For this fragrance, we are looking at a big launch next February, both in local markets and in travel retail worldwide,” noted Mortier. “We have high hopes for it everywhere. “In geographic terms, we believe the brand will be very strong in Europe, especially in Italy, but also in Russia and the Middle East too – Cavalli even has a club in Dubai. The brand is known in North America, because Roberto is a real red carpet guy, and we also think South America could be very big, particularly Brazil and Mexico. In Asia, we are also confident that the animal print element and special DNA of this brand could help to capture the Chinese consumer, which of course is so important.” Mortier underlined the unique perspective the licence had brought to the Coty portfolio. “Robert Cavalli offers something different, something we didn’t already have within the group,” he explained. “That’s very important. There are so many me-too products nowadays, that if you introduce a new brand to the market, it has to be different, it has to stand out, and it needs to be very clear in terms of its DNA.” "There are so many me-too products nowadays, that if you introduce a new brand to the market, it has to be different, it has to stand out, and it needs to be very clear in terms of its DNA." Coty Prestige Senior Vice President Commercial Jean Mortier And while Coty has introduced a number of new products, and indeed new brands this year, Mortier is quick to point out the importance of supporting classic lines too. “Think back to what we have done this year, with ck one shock and Calvin Klein Forbidden Euphoria,” he instructed. “We always make sure that a certain amount of innovation is dedicated to reinforcing our big pillars. Innovation is necessary; it represents about 16% of our sales. But it’s a balancing act, and you have to look after everything else too.” The launch of Roberto Cavalli Eau de Parfum will be supported by extensive print and TV advertising. In travel retail there will be a number of HPPs, which are still being finalised. And digital media will also play a role. “Within Coty, we have had a team of people working on this for some time,” confirmed Mortier. “We have realigned our resources, in terms of digital media, behind all our brands. So we have new web-sites, but are also working on social media such as Facebook, which will be very important for this type of launch.” He added: “Basically, this sort of thing is critical today, you have to be there. But you also have to know how to play it. You have to monitor how much money you spend, and it has to be complementary to traditional media such as print, outdoor and TV.” Mortier confirmed that the signature feminine fragrance would be followed by other launches, including introductions under the Just Cavalli brand. “But first we want to install this fragrance at the right level and position, in terms of distribution, image and pricing. That’s the first priority.” Mortier did not rule out extending into other product categories, in due course. Colour would be the most obvious choice for diversification. “We have not had any discussions about this yet because we are so focused on the fragrance, but why not, I think it’s a possibility,” he acknowledged. “But it is very early days, and to enter the colour category you need to have a certain critical mass. So this would not be on the agenda for a few years, but yes, in theory colour, and within that, the nail sector, could be very interesting.” The fragrance launch concluded with a sumptuous dinner and late-night party, again at the Cavalli villa Skincare and make-up will play a much bigger role for Coty in the year ahead, although fragrance will remain core. The brand has just started rolling out its face and body brand philosophy. In 2012 the group will introduce a new make-up collection from Calvin Klein. And the acquisition of leading nail brand OPI (which will feature in travel retail) is set to open up another lucrative new sector. “We are in the middle of a big change, moving from a fragrance house to a beauty house,” confirmed Mortier. “It’s a big challenge, but very exciting. We aim to transform philosophy from a mainly US brand, to an international brand. That process has already started with the UK; next will be Australia, Canada, then Asia.” He continued: “We will enter the make-up category with Calvin Klein next February/March. And of course we also have OPI. Our goal is to double the nail business in travel retail. We think it is very under-developed, so there is big potential in the channel.” Looking back at the last fiscal year, which ended in June, Mortier seems satisfied with the group’s performance. “We had a very good year, with double-digit growth close to +20% in travel retail,” he reveals. “We really grew the business on all continents, but especially in Asia, thanks to Chloe and Marc Jacobs. I would say that the fiscal year starting from July has also begun very well, with all our early innovations performing strongly.” Mortier praised the efforts being made by certain travel retailers to drive footfall and penetration, and singled out World Duty Free Group and Aelia for their investment in the retail environment. “I see a lot money being spent on airport renovations, especially in Europe,” he confirmed, “although I still believe in some airports that fragrance is under-developed and needs more space.” Mortier also acknowledged the difficulties of trying to organise cross-category merchandising and events. “For example, we have tried with many of our licences to [capitalise on the synergies between the fashion and the fragrance],” he explains. “But it involves dealing with different buyers – and in some cases different concessions – so it’s very difficult. Which is a shame, because it works so well when we introduce fragrance into a domestic fashion boutique. After all, the consumer doesn’t differentiate, they see the brand as one.” Nonetheless, Mortier is determined to add some theatre to the travel retail environment with the launch of the new Cavalli fragrance. “I would love to bring a tiger to the airport,” he laughs, “but I don’t think that will be possible. But we will explore possibilities involving dresses and bags. And we might create some special accessories, a ring or necklace containing a solid perfume, for example. It represents another access point to the brand and we know from our experience with other designers that consumers love that sort of thing.” Such innovation is all part of the Coty mind-set. “I think we are seen by the business as very energetic, entrepreneurial and dynamic,” noted Mortier. “Our entire team is very reactive, and that’s good, because travel retail in particular is a very fast-moving business.” He concludes: “We are big, but not arrogant, I hope. We try to grow, to find solutions, to set new trends. We want to build brands, bring theatre to the store and create a real shopping experience for the consumer.” Roberto Cavalli is a brand that will allow them to do just that.

Read More