Stories stealing the Headlines

The French President's popularity rating has sunk to 55% in recent weeks, with worries about the economy and jobs. He tried raising spirits at a school in the Paris region – College Youri Gagarine, in Yvelines – with a positive message for the teachers.

He told them about creating 1,000 jobs in education, out of the 60,000 jobs in the country’s various sectors, during his five-year mandate. Hollande said: “I consider that putting school back on track is one of the conditions for pulling our country up, lifting moral and productivity. So, it’s an investment in social cohesion, which is school’s mission, and the fight against unemployment. And it’s urgent.” It is both economically and politically urgent.

The last time unemployment in France went past the symbolic mark of three million job-seekers was 13 years ago, in 1999.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, speaking on television, did not try to minimise the importance.

Ayrault said: “If we add the figures in mainland France and overseas territories, we’re at three million, and this is extremely worrying. I don’t want to be an austerity prime minister, with a policy we set out with that turns into a failure. No, the policy is very clear, has been since the start: we have to find room to manoeuvre.”

from getting caught up in the hazardous conditions were set up closing everything off to visitors. Fortunately firefighters were able to control the fires enough to get them moving away from habited areas.

Saldana Jr. had a cooler full of food and drinks in the back of his pickup and was headed toward the mountains before he was forced to turn around. "I requested the day off from work, we were looking for a nice time out today," Saldana said, "It's good that the government's taking precautions, but at the same time it kind of ruins a lot of people's plans."

A day after the wildfire broke out near a campground and forced the evacuation of thousands of recreation-seekers and a few dozen residents, it had grown to more than 3,600 acres.

The forest is heavily used by Southern California residents because it is a short drive from very populated areas.Campgrounds that typically attract up to 12,000 visitors on the holiday weekend, as well as rehabilitation centers and the private mobile home community of Camp Williams Resort, were evacuated Sunday. About 30 of the 75 residents of the mobile home park chose to remain with their homes.irefighters appeared to be gaining the upper hand Monday afternoon in controlling a wildfire that burned about 25 acres in Los Padres National Forest.

With new mounting pressure for the Syrian government forces to reclaim rebel strongholds, namely the neighbourhoods of the commercial hub of Aleppo, helicopter gunships and tanks have been brought in for the massive assault.

The rebels having dug in after a 10 day offensive, taking over several areas around Aleppo, are now being surrounded by military might and muscle that could very well crush them as well as the innocent civilian population who take up residence in and around the region of Aleppo.

Operation Damascus Volcano, owing to the heavy fighting taking place.

This comes after one of Syria's top politicians, who defected to the opposition said, the Assad regime will not hesitate to use chemical weapons if it is cornered. Being over thrown is not an option. In other words, 'as with Gaddafi, they will fight to the end.'

Nawaf Fares, ex-ambassador to Iraq, said unconfirmed reports indicated such weapons might have already been used.

It is now widely known that Syria has been stock piling chemical weapons and will not fail to put them to the test under these intense circumstances. Fares also said that major bombings across Syria had been orchestrated by the regime in collaboration with al-Qaeda.

Although UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is due to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Syrian crisis, there is no doubting that scepticism holds a torch to any bilateral agreement
regarding tougher international action on the Assad regime where Russia is concerned. The Chinese too have joined Russia in vetoing sanctions.

However, at this stage in the day, the UN-Arab League envoy team are proving to be a powerless force in Syria and while Russia supports the six-point plan which calls for a ceasefire and talks between government and Rebel opposition, they still refuse to back any measures which hint at intervention.

And, with security company G4S at the 11th hour disclosing that they haven't enough security guards, it all appears to be rather pathetic really and with only two weeks before the Olympic opening ceremony. But still, organizers insist that they will put the best face on the unfolding security collapse with games chairman Sebastian Coe stating, "Let's put this in proportion, this has not, nor will it, impact on the safety and security of these games, that of course is our No. 1 priority."

However, ruefully explaining to MP's on the Home Affairs Select Committee was Nick Buckles from G4S who admitted the company failed to provide enough security staff for the Games and yet still planned to take its £57m management fee. Keith Vaz, committee chairman, said it was “astonishing” that G4S still planned to take the payment.

Still, Buckles was hard-pressed to explain why his company had failed to inform officials until only two weeks before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games that its recruitment efforts had failed.
Ministers warn that the company will pay for its mistakes.

No one wants to see the repeat of previous Olympics where athletes were unable to get to their specialized events on time because of transporting nightmares. If London's special "games lane" was anything to go by on Monday, they better watch out.

With violence in Afghanistan increasing since the Taliban began a spring offensive in April, vowing to target the government and security forces as well as the 130,000 foreign troops in the country. Kandahar has seen some of its worst attacks.

A bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up in a parking lot near the base, which was packed with lorry drivers and other civilians waiting to get in. A few minutes later, as people gathered at the site of the blast, another bomber walked into the crowd and detonated his explosives.

Provincial police chief Abdul Raziq said the area was used by drivers whose vehicles carry supplies for Nato. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for the attack which has killed civilians only, including local shopkeepers and passersby.

The Kandahar governor's office issued a statement saying, 'Kandahar is bleeding' following it up with, "this is another example of the insurgents' total disregard for innocent lives".

"This attack will not stop the people of Kandahar from building their future through the legitimate government and strengthens our resolve to work together and defeat these violent attacks," the statement said.

This all started when incumbent Mario Monti reiterated he would step down in 2013. The reports indicate Berlusconi had based his decision on opinion polls which showed his People of Freedom (PDL) party could win up to 30 per cent with him as its head instead of current leader Angelino Alfano, a former justice minister.

Asked about the report, Alfano said: 'There is a major wave of support for Berlusconi to put forward his candidacy again. 'His legal problems have been dealt with, he is free to do what he likes'.

Well we all known what kind of lifestyle macho Silvio likes, but apparently it's no fun for this powerful Italian who relished his former role as the untouchable Italian oligarch, the feeling I personally have, is that unless he is in the public eye - and is the centre-piece of daily media news, not even the wildest unreported Bunga Bunga parties could replace his lust for governmental power.

Figures indicate 'The PDL without Berlusconi would only get 10 per cent, while if Alfano presented himself for the post of prime minister and Berlusconi supported him as head of the party, the results would be around 18 per cent. ' If on the other hand Berlusconi himself ran for prime minister with Alfano and a team of young politicians, he could win up to 30 per cent.' Elections are due in April 2013, when Berlusconi will be 76 years old. I hope the Italian scandal magazines are geared up for then!

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said the explosions targeted an intelligence services base, saying at least one of the blasts was caused by a car bomb. Residents said the explosions rattled windows and sent plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

An apocalyptic scene of charred bodies, rubble and the mangled carcasses of vehicles, with smoke still rising from them filled the televised broadcast. Major General Robert Mood, chief of the UN observer mission in Syria, rushed to the site of the blasts shortly after they took place to survey the damage.

Damascus has been the target of a number of bombs in past months as President Bashar al-Assad faces a revolt against his regime which his forces are attempting to crush.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned Syria's government and opposition there is only a 'brief window' to avoid civil war and indicated the future of the ceasefire monitoring mission was in doubt.

Highlighting an 'alarming upsurge' of roadside bombs, alongside government attacks, Ban said in New York both sides 'must realise that we have a brief window to stop the violence, a brief opportunity to create an opening for political engagement between the government and those seeking change'.

The Observatory said that almost 12,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria since the revolt, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, which broke out in March of last year.

Close to 800 of the dead have occurred since a UN-backed truce was supposed to have taken effect on April 12. One can clearly assume, the peace mission is having no affect.

when he, along with his wife and five children, fled from Jordan, using a forged UAE passport and then requested asylum on the grounds of religious persecution. He was granted his asylum in June 1994.

The ruling this week, however, after years of legal brinkmanship, sees the 52 year old closer to being formally ejected from UK shores. Britain has battled for 10 years to have the 'hate cleric' deported back to Jordan where he will be facing terror charges.

The Home Secretary, Theresa May said: 'I am pleased by the European court's decision. The Qatada case will now go through the British courts.' Qatada had lodged a last-minute appeal to the court on April 17, claiming he faced the threat of torture in Jordan.

Al-Qaeda themselves have issued their own threats to the UK saying, it would "open the gates of evil" on Britain if Mr Qatada was sent to Jordan.

Currently being held in the high-security Belmarsh prison in south-east London, it has been released that the total cost of housing Qatada during his time in Britain, along with benefits and legal costs, plus security while he was out on bail, exceeded £3million pounds. All coming out of the tax payers pockets.