Longtime Tribune reporter dies from injuries suffered in Muni train ...

William Brand's typical day in the Oakland Tribune newsroom was anything but, and it went something like this:

He'd come in the door and rush to his desk, cell phone squeezed between shoulder and ear, interviewing an expert about electric cars or a weather forecaster about the latest storm or a police investigator about a murder, juggling his backpack on his knee, trying to pull his laptop from a tangle of computer cords and notebooks, knocking something off a co-worker's desk in the process, taking another call from his wife about their Chihuahua swallowing a 2-ounce bar of dark chocolate, running home to take the Chihuahua to the vet, probably interviewing 15 more people for another story along the way, cursing at the computer crashing, dropping his cell phone in the road, cursing some more, then at long last filing a coherent, eloquent, detailed, informative story right on deadline from his laptop while waiting at the vet's office.

A Advertisement newshound extraordinaire, Brand had retired — for the second time — from the Tribune last fall but continued writing his popular beer column and blog called "What's on Tap" for the Tribune, the Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times.

8, he had just left the 21st Amendment Brewery and Restaurant on Second Street in San Francisco, where he had attended a food and beer pairing event for his blog, when he was struck by an N-Judah Muni train near Second and King streets around 9:10 p.m., the force of the impact knocking him into a nearby pole.

"Bill was a newspaper veteran, but he was one of the first in the newsroom to understand how the Web held the potential to make us better journalists and storytellers," said Kevin Keane, executive editor of BANG-EB, the Tribune's parent company.



Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_11748243

French leader in Iraq to heal rifts, push business

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Baghdad on Tuesday seeking business opportunities and an improvement in ties damaged by French opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

troops are preparing to pull out of cities and withdraw completely by the end of 2011.

Iraqi officials believe the time has come for foreign companies to invest, especially in oil fields which hold the world's third largest proven crude reserves.

"We say to French companies that the time has come to return to Iraq," he added later after meeting Maliki, saying France would send a business delegation to Iraq in the summer.



Source: http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCALA45603420090210

Rugby Union - Scrum.com - Rugby World Cup - News - South Africa win ...

Whatever fireworks had lit up the Stade De France before the game were eclipsed by an explosive opening performance by the Pumas, driven on by a heavyweight pack and the mercurial half-back pairing of Agustin Pichot and Juan Martin Hernandez.

While the World Cup was not short of on field fireworks and heroics, it was the amazing fan presence that lifted the 2007 tournament into position as the greatest so far.

Once the action proceeded to the knockouts there were memorable nights in Marseille following England's quarter-final win and the unique sight of hundreds of French fans having their rendition of the Marseillaise answered with a 50-strong Haka on a packed Cardiff street.

Springbok fans saw their team take the trophy home, but perhaps the finest on field moment of the tournament came with Argentinean full-back Ignacio Corleto striding in to score his team's try that defeated France in the opener.



Source: http://www.scrum.com/worldcup/rugby/story/79929.html

France to take decision soon on Areva investment

France to take decision soon on Areva investment: Associated Press Business News - MSN Money

France to take decision soon on Areva investment

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FLAMANVILLE, France (AP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy Friday said the government will soon decide how state-owned nuclear engineering giant Areva SA could secure new investment.Areva, the world's largest builder of nuclear reactors, has said it needs to sell stakes to private investors or get new financing from the government to help it meet its investment needs.Speaking during a visit to the construction site of France's first new generation nuclear reactor on the Normandy coast, Sarkozy said the ministers for finance and environment are currently studying "the industrial partnerships that would be the most profitable for Areva.""This is a process that can't be improvised, it will take some time, but I want a decision soon because it is necessary," Sarkozy said to an audience of workers helping to build the Areva-designed pressurized water reactor.French heavy engineering firm Alstom SA has long sought a tie-up with Areva, but Areva Chairwoman Anne Lauvergeon has long resisted.Last month, Germany's Siemens AG decided to pull out of a nuclear power plant joint venture with French company Areva by 2012, citing a lack of "entrepreneurial influence."© 2009 The Associated Press.



Source: http://moneycentral.msn.com/inc/news/providerredir.asp?feed=AP&date=20090206&id=9585683

French president arrives on first trip to Iraq

Sarkozy, nicknamed "Sarko l'Americain" for his admiration and support of the United States, has been seeking to re-establish ties with Iraq and shore up ties to Washington that were deeply strained by his predecessor's opposition to the war.

The visit also comes as the President Barack Obama is seeking to bolster support for the military effort in even as the United States begins to draw down forces in Iraq.

Kurds are not being gassed one village at a time, Shiites are not being mowed down by their own "president" and put in mass graves (remember those ') by the hundreds of thousands, or hung on electric wires by their privates to entertain his two perverted sons, and no unstable madman is threatening his neighbors in the middle of the largest collection of oil reserves outside of Russia, other than the one we got in Iran courtesy of Jimmy Carter.

Damn sight better than the results we got in Somalia, the new extremist stronghold ( thanks Bill).So, Murtha and the other liberal idiots in the Congress and the media who sold out the troops and undercut popular support for their own political gain just like they did in Vietnam were wrong again.



Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/159149

Après la Bretagne, la tempête gagne la région parisienne

Entre 00H00 et 03H00, les rafales de vent ont atteint près de de 141km/h à l'île d'Yeu et à la pointe du Raz, 126km/h à La Roche sur Yon, 113km/h au sud de Nantes, et 102km/h à Brest.

A l'intérieur des terres, les vents ont été moins violents, dépassant rarement les 120 km/h, et les pompiers mobilisés sont relativement peu intervenus, essentiellement pour des arbres tombés sur des fils électriques ou des tuiles arrachées.

Limiter ses déplacements, réduire sa vitesse En Bretagne, région frappée en premier dans la soirée, les liaisons maritimes entre le continent et les îles ont été interrompues, certains ponts ont été interdits à la circulation et la préfecture a positionné des remorqueurs à l'entrée du rail d'Ouessant, face à Brest.

INTERVIEW - Député UMP du Pas-de-Calais et doyen de l'université de Boulogne-sur-Mer, Daniel Fasquelle critique le décret de Valérie Pécresse, et va déposer mardi une proposition de loi visant à garantir l'indépendance des enseignants-chercheurs.



Source: http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2009/02/08/01016-20090208ARTFIG00201-avis-de-tempete-sur-la-moitie-nord-.php

News - Finance/ Labour: Metro cops: The strike is not over

Metro cops are protesting in the Beyers Naude Square in central Johannesburg on Monday as they vowed to continue their strike despite the Labour Court declaring it illegal.

The strike started last Monday and caused the closure of licensing offices and testing stations in and around Johannesburg.

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Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=594&art_id=nw20090209115207923C278852