Elections in the former Soviet bloc state last month took place before ratification.The government has since been in a state of paralysis as President Viktor Yushchenko and former prime minister Julia Tymoshenko try to form a coalition government. The deal between Russian gas giant Gazprom and a Ukrainian trading firm that ended the European gas crisis in January has still not been formally agreed. Energy analysts said that the agreement could unravel as it was not legally binding. This could again provoke Gazprom into turning off gas supplies to Europe, most of which go through Ukraine.
A Ukrainian diplomat in London confirmed that the Ukrainian parliament had still not ratified January’s agreement between Rosukrenergo and Gazprom. The Conservatives, however, are holding firm at one, despite a number of gambling experts and industry figures disagreeing with this stance.Mr Swire last week wrote to Conservative MPs, telling them there were “hardly any details” about how the new legislation would be implemented.”We will be reaffirming our commitment to oppose any increases in the number of regional casinos until the pilot project has been properly and thoroughly assessed,” he added.. I was surprised that the Tories had dug such a big hole – and then jumped into it.”The minister for Sport, Richard Caborn, has indicated that if there is a consensus in the House of Commons, he will back increasing the number of super casinos.
“Some want none, others four, others 20 and so on, but no one thinks one is a good idea.”He added: “The arguments the Tories are producing are intellectually feeble. The then Gambling Bill had allowed for eight super casinos but the Conservatives forced that number down to one before it was passed into law.”I don’t know anybody anywhere in the world who thinks that one is the right number,” Professor Collins told The Independent on Sunday. He is the author of a report into casinos that helped form the Conservative policy but Professor Collins complained that his refusal to say how the report had been funded was “against all accepted professional academic ethics”.The Government was forced to back down over large regional casinos – dubbed super casinos – last year. Professor Peter Collins, director of the University of Salford’s Centre for the Study of Gambling and a former chief executive of GamCare, was also a speaker.
Apart from describing the £50bn that Hugo Swire, shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said was spent on gambling every year in the UK as “absolute poppycock”, Professor Collins also hit out at Paul Buchanan. The seminar was held on Thursday, with speakers including representatives from the Salvation Army and GamCare, which campaigns for responsible gambling. A speaker invited to talk at a Conservative seminar on the Gambling Act has rubbished the party’s line on super casinos.
THE OUT CROWDDan Brown, 41, author Time says: “The film of The Da Vinci Code is coming [He could be] back next year”Ellen MacArthur, 29, yachtswomanTime says: “She hasn’t been in the spotlight much this year”Gordon Brown, 55, politicianTime says: “Excite-ment about take-over has subsided a bit”. Joining Ms Smith among Artists and Entertainers list are the director Ang Lee, Will Smith and George Clooney.* This is at least the 45th headline in the national press to include the word Zadie since 1 January 2005THE IN CROWD…Angelina Jolie, 30, actressTime says: “Sticks with a subject, immerses herself in it, makes it part of her life”JJ Abrams, 39, producer/directorTime says: “A creative juggernaut who rejoices in creating”Michelle Wie, 16, golferTime says: “Driving straight through golf’s gender barriers”… “Zadie’s turned up at a time when the media, and society more generally, is looking for new role models. She’s mixed race, unashamedly high-cultural in many of her interests, and writes very humorously about communities which function through difference and muddle. She’s a very hopeful and positive presence.”The Time 100 list is split into five categories. Her first novel, White Teeth, published in 2000 when she was only 24, won both the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. On Beauty is her third book, after The Autograph Man, and her third successive Orange prize nomination.Friend and fellow novelist Hari Kunzru said he could understand Ms Smith’s inclusion in the Time 100 ahead of other leading authors.
“She’s writing about a world that is post-colonial, borderless, inter-married, inter-mixed and truly global.”She has a certain type of light, lyrical, satirical prose which we feel is being imitated by a lot of writers now – in that sense she is extremely influential.”Ms Smith’s inclusion in the Time 100 is likely to increase international attention for the young author from Willesden, north London. Its publication tomorrow sees the removal of eight high-profile Britons, including the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, and yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur.Time’s executive editor, Adi Ignatius, who oversaw the compilation of the list, whittled down from an initial 800 nominations, was full of praise for Ms Smith, whose novels include White Teeth and On Beauty.”Zadie Smith is the best example of where 21st-century literature is right now,” said Mr Ignatius. Her fellow new entries on Time’s third annual list include the actress Reese Witherspoon, Hollywood producer J J Abrams and golfer Michelle Wie.
The annual list traditionally charts the world’s top movers and shakers. Already a favourite to win this week’s Orange Prize for Fiction, Ms Smith, 30, takes her place alongside some of the world’s most recognisable names, including perennial entries Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey.