REUTERS - Czech President Vaclav Klaus raised a new obstacle to ratifying the European Union's Lisbon reform treaty on Thursday, telling EU president Sweden he wants a footnote added to the document before signing it into force.

Only the Czech and Polish presidents' signatures are needed to complete ratification of the treaty to give the 27-nation EU greater sway in world affairs by appointing a full-time president and foreign minister and streamline decision-making.

"I spoke by phone today with President Klaus ... In order to sign the treaty, Klaus asked for a footnote of two sentences added relating to the charter of fundamental rights," Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told Reuters by telephone.

"He said he wants this adopted by the council (of EU leaders). I told him this is the wrong message at the wrong time for the EU. I told him clearly it is his ink on the paper that counts and I don't want this to delay the treaty going through as soon as possible."

Reinfeldt said the Czech president told him he would sign the treaty if he received the additional wording and the Czech Constitutional Court rejects a legal challenge filed by a group of senators on the treaty.

A key reform treaty to streamline decision-making in the European Union

But Reinfeldt added that Klaus did not provide any details of the extra wording he wants added to the treaty.

"We need clarification on exactly what he (Klaus) is asking for. But he said we must await the constitutional court process first then he will clarify. But he is asking for additional measures, so he should clarify that and that's what I told him," Reinfeldt said.

"As I understand, it's linked to the charter of fundamental rights. It's a footnote, but he didn't define it."

Italy's constitutional court ruled on Wednesday that a law protecting Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other top officials from prosecution violates the constitution, prompting calls from opposition leaders for the premier's resignation.

Berlusconi reacted angrily to the announcement, slamming a "politically motivated" decision by a "left-wing" court and vowing to stay on. In a characteristic rant before a host of Italian and foreign journalists, he accused the country's judges, its president, the press and TV channels — most of which he owns or indirectly controls — of siding with the left.

The court’s decision, which could pave the way for the resumption of corruption trials involving Berlusconi, deals a stinging blow to the 73-year-old media mogul, who is already embroiled in a series of sex scandals.

FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Rome, Alexis Masciarelli, says two pending trials, in which Berlusconi faces charges of corruption and tax evasion, could “in theory start as soon as tomorrow”. Though the premier is unlikely to step down, he had warned on Tuesday that a negative verdict “would no doubt affect his ability to govern the country”, Masciarelli said.

"First above equals"

After a two-day session closely followed by media around the world, the 15-member panel ruled that the so-called Alfano law violated the constitutional guarantee of equality before the law.

The law, approved just weeks after Berlusconi swept to power for the third time last spring, shielded the holders of Italy's four top political jobs — prime minister, president and the presidents of the two houses of parliament — from prosecution while in office.

On Tuesday, Berlusconi’s lawyer, Gaetano Pecorella, struck an oddly Orwellian note as he sought to justify the bill, arguing that the prime minister should not be considered “first among equals” but rather “first above equals”.

Opposition leader Dario Franceschini said the ruling "re-established the principle of equality of all citizens before the law. We are all equal before the law, including the powerful."

A political career plagued by court cases

The appeal to Italy’s constitutional court was launched by prosecutors investigating cases of corruption allegedly involving the Italian premier, one of which includes Berlusconi’s former tax lawyer, Briton David Mills.

Berlusconi is accused of paying Mills 400,000 euros to give false evidence in two trials in the 1990s. Mills was convicted in February of accepting the payment in a ruling that he is appealing.

Earlier this week, an Italian judge also ruled Berlusconi “jointly responsible” for corruption by his family's holding, Fininvest, in a 1990s battle to buy publisher Mondadori.

Since he burst onto the political scene in the mid-1990s, the media tycoon has faced an array of charges including corruption, tax fraud, false accounting and illegally financing political parties.

Although some initial judgments have gone against Berlusconi, he has never been definitively convicted.

AFP - Poland's liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday announced the departure of the interior and justice ministers in a cabinet reshuffle linked to a graft scandal.
  
He said that the two men who have been implicated in a gambling scandal had resigned.
  
Justice minister "Andrzej Czuma submitted his resignation ... to clear any doubts he is involved in this matter ... which must be examined completely," Tusk told reporters in Warsaw.
  
The Interior minister and deputy prime minister Grzegorz Schetyna, one of the premier's closest political allies, had also stepped down "in order not to give credence" to those who have implicated him in the scandal, Tusk said .
  
The government shake-up comes amid a graft scandal tied to gambling legislation that had already claimed one ministerial scalp, that of sports minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki, who stepped down Monday.
  
Poland's CBA anti-corruption agency has the government in its sights over the alleged used of political influence to modify draft legislation on gambling, allegedly to enable casino owners to duck a requirement to help finance sports events.
  
Schetyna has been criticised over private meetings with a businessman who was lobbying for changes in the original draft.
  
Czuma, meanwhile, has been accused by the CBA of failing to take action against political horse-trading in the legislative process.
  
Drzewiecki, a personal friend of one of the lobbyists, denied corruption claims, but said he resigned because he did not want the scandal to harm preparations for the 2012 European football championships, which Poland is set to host along with neighbouring Ukraine.

REUTERS - Turkish police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse hundreds of people protesting against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank during their annual meetings in Istanbul on Tuesday.

Riot police armed with shields and firing gas canisters rushed to disperse protesters in Taksim square, only a few hundred metres (yards) from the IMF-World Bank meetings.

“Long live freedom. IMF get out of our city,” protesters chanted.

Police detained around 100 people, some for throwing petrol bombs near the convention centre where finance ministers, central bankers and economists have been meeting to discuss the global economy, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.

The main square and surrounding streets were largely returned to calm by midday, although police were still pursuing small groups of protesters, who appeared to be largely Turkish, in side streets.

The protests were organised by several Turkish unions.

Protesters huddled in hotel and shop entrances rubbing their eyes affected by tear gas fired into the crowd by riot police.  Some covered their faces with red scarves. The main pedestrian Istiklal street was briefly deserted as people fled the clashes.

The front windows of several banks were smashed. Police later led out of one branch staff and customers who had been hiding on the first floor of the building. The screens of cash machines at several banks were also smashed.

One student was temporarily detained last week after throwing his shoe at IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn during a speech at an Istanbul university. The shoe missed its target.

There is significant opposition among Turkish students to the IMF, which helped bail Turkey out of a deep financial crisis in 2001. Turkey and the IMF are negotiating a possible new loan agreement after the last one expired more than a year ago.

GREECE : SOCIALISTS VICTORY

After five years of conservative rule, the Pasok socialists enjoyed a comfortable victory at Sunday’s early legislative elections in Greece. A result allowing George Papandreou to take over from Costas Caramanlis as head of the Government and which is causing a stir online.

Many videos quickly appeared on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbm5SenBmsg ">share sites upon announcement of Pasok’s victory. Horn blowing, gatherings in front of the party’s HQ: a section of voters expressed their joy at seeing the conservatives defeated.

This joy was echoed on social networks and on Twitter in particular, where several users congratulated Papandreou and Pasok for this electoral victory without appeal.

A victory which owes thanks partly to the web. In fact, Pasok communicated with its supporters via a Twitter link and a Facebook page. And on http://www.pasok.gr/splashPage/splashPage.html ">its campaign site it broadcast videos such as these, inviting electors to vote for Papandréou.

Meanwhile, this blogger feels that the elation currently gripping the nation is not set to last. He recalls the fact that many electors voted for Pasok hoping the party will ease Greece out of the crisis. A mission the Government must tackle quickly if it is to avoid disappointing voters.

Finally, some net users preferred to mock the elections as shown by these parodic videos broadcast online in which Caramanlis and Papandréou play the fool. A way mock the flood of electoral promises made during the campaign.

MOZAMBIQUE : PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ONLINE

With the approach of the Mozambique Presidential elections, set for October 28, candidates are mobilising to gather their supporters. A campaign which is being led mainly on the web- a first for Mozambique.

The opposition party, the Democratic Movement for Mozambique (MDM) has opted for a strategy inspired by that of Barack Obama. With strong online presence, its candidate, Daviz Simango, is communicating with voters via Twitter and the social network ‘Hi 5’.

And the MDM is also broadcasting videos like these on Youtube in which we see political gatherings, speeches delivered by Simango and the candidate’s work meetings.

Meanwhile, Armando Guebuza, the outgoing President, has launched a blog entitled, ‘the voice of the revolution’ in which he explains why people should vote for him once more.

And his party is also using the web with this site on which we find photos and a wealth of information concerning the forthcoming election. He is also broadcasting these campaign videos on share sites.

The web is also being used by some to monitor the campaign’s developments and the forthcoming vote. This site encourages inhabitants to become citizen reporters and to report any incident they observe in the weeks to come.
 

CARLABRUNISARKOZY.ORG

France’s first lady is to reveal herself. Carla Bruni Sarkozy has launched a site devoted to her life at the Elysée Palace. Her foundation, her role as Ambassador to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, and her activity as first lady. A whole host of themes will be touched upon. Further proof that the web is now an indispensable tool for political communication.  

WARNER MUSIC AND YOUTUBE

Warner Music (WMG) is back on YouTube. The giant has signed an agreement with Google. By the end of the year, Youtube will once more broadcast videos by Warner, who for several months had been censoring videos created by users. As soon as a video used a song by one of its artists, the giant cut the sound. From now on the two heavyweights will share the advertising proceeds and Warner will also be able to place adverts on its official videos.
 

VIDEO DU JOUR

In the framework of the campaign, Time for Climate Justice, 60 artists, mobilised by Kofi Annan, perform a cover of Beds Are Burning, the hit by Midnight Oil from the end of the 80s. The song is available for download, free of charge. Each listen will increase the meter of the petition, which will be presented to representatives of the 170 countries present at the Copenhagen conference in December.