Dutch recover missing paintings

Dutch officials say they have recovered eight paintings by artists, including Pissarro and Renoir, that have been missing since 1987.

The works, dating from the 17th and 19th Centuries, were found in the south of the country after they had been offered for sale, police say.
Some of the works - which disappeared from Maastricht's art gallery - were found folded and seriously damaged.

Two man and a woman were arrested and will appear in court on Monday.
"The suspects were apparently trying to sell the art works to the insurance company that had paid out 2.27 million euros (£2m) after they went missing," a statement from Dutch prosecutors said.
"The investigation has yet to determine where the paintings have been for more than 20 years," it said.
The paintings were found in the towns of Valkenburg and Walem.
The works were by 17th Century artists David Teniers, Willem van de Velde and Jan Brueghel the Younger, as well as 19th Century painters Eva Gonzales, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Paul Desire Trouillebert.
Dutch officials have not given any further details.
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Unemployed place their bets on casino jobs

By Jim Spellman
CNN

GOLDEN, Colorado (CNN) -- Sometimes the best way to roll with the punches is to roll the dice.

That's Jerry Goldsmith's attitude. The Colorado man lost his engineering job of 29 years -- and the six-figure salary that went with it -- and is now applying for a casino job dealing craps, blackjack, roulette and poker.
"I was angry. I think everyone gets angry," says Goldsmith, 60, recalling his New Year's Day firing. "It's 'Why me?' But after a while I just learned: One door closed, but many more just opened.

"I just need to find the right one to go into."
Goldsmith was one of 750 people who showed up Wednesday to apply for casino dealer jobs near Denver. Another 550 applied on Thursday.
The applicants were going after 90 spots in dealer school.
Earlier on Wednesday, Goldsmith had interviewed for a job as a cable TV installer. They were his first job interviews since losing his job.
He says that, at first, he spent a lot of time on the Internet looking for work. He also contacted executive headhunters but was unable to find any leads in the engineering field. So he decided to expand his search into other areas.
Goldsmith says he nailed the casino job interview and thinks he would make a great dealer.
"When you've been working hard all your life, quitting is just not an option, so I'll take on any opportunity I can," he says, adding with a laugh: "Hopefully there will be some exchange of gratuity in the business so I make something."
In a November referendum, Colorado voters approved a measure to expand betting limits at casinos in Colorado from $5 to $100 and to add the games of roulette and craps. The new rules will also allow the casinos to stay open 24 hours a day. They currently close at 2 a.m. and open at 8 a.m.
The state hopes to benefit from the increased tax dollars, a portion of which will help fund community colleges, but before the first new tax dollar goes into state coffers, the casinos need to staff up.
"Twenty-four-hour gaming adds a whole extra shift every day, seven days a week. You're adding an extra shift in every department of the casino," says Jef Bauer, who runs three casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado, for Golden Gaming: the Golden Mardi Gras, Golden Gates and Golden Gulch.
"We're looking to hire initially about 90 people into our dealer school, which we're offering free to learn how to deal craps, roulette and blackjack."
Golden Gaming currently employs about 400 people in Black Hawk and anticipates adding another 100 by July 2, when the new rules go into effect.
Black Hawk is a former mining town tucked into the Rocky Mountains about 35 miles from Denver. Black Hawk and its next-door neighbor, Central City, became casino towns in the 1990s.
For years the towns flourished, but Bauer says times are tough now.
"We have just been through 12 months of declines in gaming revenues and head counts," he says, adding that he hopes the increased bet limits, new games and extended hours will bring the gamblers back to the tables.
Before the hiring event even started, more than 100 people were lined up, waiting for an interview outside of a bar in Golden, Colorado. The would-be croupiers filed in, filled out applications and were assigned a number. They were photographed and then sat down for a 3-minute job interview.
No experience was necessary for the casino jobs. Applicants who make the grade will attend a casino-run, part-time dealer school for three months, where they will learn the complicated games and qualify for a Colorado gaming license.
The jobs pay between $40,000 and $80,000 a year, depending on tips.
So who would make a good dealer?
"Mainly what we're looking at is personality and an ability to entertain, and intelligence that can be proven in dealer school," says Bauer. "Most will probably never have dealt cards before."
That seems like just the ticket to Andrea Pitts, whose only casino experience has been on the other side of the table.
"I'm a high roller," she says with a laugh. "I've never dealt cards before, but I love to play blackjack and I'm pretty good at it."
Pitts, 41, spent 12 years working in the trucking industry. But the bad economy has taken its toll, and now she has been forced to look for any kind of work.
Like most of the other casino applicants, she never pictured herself dealing cards. But she says she is ready for the change of pace.
"You have to keep yourself motivated. It would be easy to sit at home and feel sorry for yourself, but that's not going to get you anywhere," she says.
"I'm not afraid to take challenges -- that's what life is all about."
Casinos are big business. According to the American Gaming Association, some 360,000 people work in 467 commercial casinos across the country, accounting for $13.8 billion in wages including benefits and tips.
The industry paid $5.78 billion in gaming taxes in 2007.
Alan Meister, an economist and the author of "Indian Gaming Industry Report," says there were 346,000 people directly employed by 423 Indian gaming casinos in 2007.
State governments often look to casinos as a quick source of tax income in difficult economic times. According to Spectrum Gaming Group, a consulting firm that monitors the gaming industry, at least 15 states have recently expanded or are currently considering expanding gambling.
It all sounds good to Craig Taylor. He spent 13 years in the real estate business, buying and selling investment properties. He says that when the industry was booming he was making a salary in the "low six figures," drove a new BMW and lived in a house in the tony Cherry Creek section of Denver.
But since the market tanked, he has been making adjustments. He sold the BMW and bought a used 2001 Jeep. He sold the house in Cherry Creek and bought a smaller house on the outskirts of Denver. Now all he needs is a job, and he thinks being a casino dealer might be a good fit.
"Real estate was a great job, great income," he says. "But you have to do what you have to do in this economy and make the adjustments to where the job you have pays the bills."

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Obama to visit Turkey 'within weeks'

Barack Obama said in his inaugural address: 'To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward.' Photograph: Joshua Lott/Reuters

US president will make Turkey his first Muslim destination since assuming office, secretary of state Hillary Clinton announces
Barack Obama will make Turkey traditionally seen as the bridge between east and west one of the first foreign visits of his presidency, the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said today.
The trip would mark an improvement in the relationship between two Nato allies that has been strained by the invasion of Iraq and is being seen as the president's first move in acting on his pledge to repair the image of the US in the Muslim world.

"We share a commitment to democracy, a secular constitution, respect for religious freedom and belief and in free market and a sense of global responsibility," Clinton said at a news conference with the Turkish foreign minister, Ali Babacan, in the capital, Ankara – the last stop in her week-long tour of five countries.
Clinton said Obama intended to make his own visit in the "next month or so" in "reflection of the value we place on our friendship with Turkey".
The US wants advice on the safest, most effective way for its forces to withdraw from Iraq; Turkey has already agreed to serve as an exit route for American troops. "We have to discuss what will pass, what kind of equipment," Babacan said. "We are ready to co-operate." Turkey would be the sixth foreign stop of Obama's presidency, after Canada, Britain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Obama swept to power promising to repair America's reputation worldwide. One element of that effort would be a speech delivered in a Muslim capital. In his inaugural address he said, "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."
Asked whether Turkey would be the venue for that speech, Clinton said: "No, we are just at the beginning of the planning. This decision was reached late yesterday in Washington. We don't even have the dates decided yet."
Turkey is seen in Washington as a key ally in blocking Iran's nuclear ambitions and turning round the war in Afghanistan. The southern Incirlik air base has been used for transfer of US troops and equipment to Iraq and to Afghanistan.
Clinton also said talks were underway between two US representatives and Syrian officials in Damascus. The Obama administration's decision to send Jeffrey Feltman, the top State Department envoy on the Middle East, and Daniel Shapiro to Syria was the most significant sign yet that it is ready to improve relations with the Syrian government after years of tension.
"We are just at the beginning of exploring the issues that we must discuss between us," Clinton said. "We have not decided on any next steps." Babacan said Turkey was willing to host more indirect talks between Syria and Israel.
"There have been four rounds of talks between Syria and Israel and we had suspended our mediation during Gaza war, but whenever Syria and Israel are ready and if they ask we can get involved in the process again," Babacan said.
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US jobless figure is worst for 25 years

By Alan Beattie and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington, and Alan Rappeport in New York
Published: March 6 2009 14:13 | Last updated: March 7 2009 16:19

President Barack Obama on Saturday warned that the US needed to act “swiftly and boldly” to tackle the recession which has propelled unemployment to its highest rate in a quarter of a century.

Government figures released on Friday showed that unemployment rose to 8.1 per cent in February, the highest rate since 1983, as another set of dire official figures showed staff being axed across the economy.

The number of jobs lost in February reached 651,000, the third consecutive month in which more than 600,000 posts have been shed – a sequence last recorded in 1939.

“These aren’t just statistics, but hardships experienced personally by millions of Americans who no longer know how they’ll pay their bills, or make their mortgage, or raise their families,” Mr Obama said in his weekly address.

“We will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead. But I also believe that we will get through this – that if we act swiftly and boldly and responsibly, the United States of America will emerge stronger and more prosperous than it was before.”

Investors had predicted sharp falls in employment, and there was a muted market reaction to the data on Friday. But downward revisions to job totals for previous months made the overall picture for the US job market look markedly worse.

The recession has accounted for 4.4m US jobs and the unemployment rate has nearly doubled from 4.4 per cent a year ago. Economists and policymakers were almost unanimous that there were no signs of optimism to be gleaned from the figures.

Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said: “There’s no way that we could or should put a positive spin on these. The American people are clearly suffering.”

Mr Obama has argued that the $787bn stimulus bill will save or create 3.5m jobs, saying the unemployment figures should leave the US public in no doubt that a large fiscal boost was needed to rescue the economy.

The unemployment figure means joblessness has reached the average for the whole of 2009 predicted by the White House in its recent budget, a forecast that some private sector economists and Republicans claimed was too optimistic.

America’s jobless totals have surged rapidly in the past year as US companies have moved swiftly to retrench their workforces. Because movements in the labour market trail the rest of the economy by several quarters, economists said there were inevitably more job losses and rising unemployment to come.

Peter Hooper, chief economist at Deutsche Bank in New York, said: “We were expecting bad news and we got it. This is a very serious recession and there is nothing in the near term to feel particularly good about.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
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US admits rising automaker uncertainty

By Andrew Ward in Washington, Bernard Simon in Toronto and Julie MacIntosh in New York
Published: March 6 2009 19:05 | Last updated: March 6 2009 23:33

Barack Obama’s administration acknowledged deepening uncertainty on Friday over the future of the ailing US car industry. Meanwhile, General Motors tried to damp fears that it was heading for bankruptcy.

The White House said it was still considering a request from GM and Chrysler for billions of dollars of more federal aid but refused to rule out bankruptcy for the companies.

“Whether the auto industry as we have it now is exactly what we have in a year is something I think is going to be determined by a lot of different factors,” said Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary.

GM on Friday sought to push back against reports that it had become more open to filing for bankruptcy, insisting that “restructuring the business out of court remains the best solution”.

Doubts about GM’s future were heightened on Thursday when the company acknowledged in a regulatory filing that it might not be able to avoid bankruptcy even with more government support. But, in a statement on Friday, GM said it remained committed to the recovery plan it announced last month and warned that restructuring while in bankruptcy “would carry with it tremendous costs and risks”.

The White House reiterated the president’s desire to help the industry survive but conceded that declining car sales were making that task more difficult.

“The best way to get the auto industry back up on its feet and selling cars again is to get the overall economy going,” said Mr Gibbs.

The administration re-cently set up a car industry taskforce to oversee government aid, led by Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, and Lawrence Summers, chief White House economic adviser.

Mr Gibbs said the taskforce was still reviewing restructuring plans submitted by GM and Chrysler and “figuring out how to be the best partner in what’s next for the auto industry”.

The administration is desperate to avoid the collapse of the car industry – still one of the country’s biggest employers – as it battles to control the economic crisis. But the White Hose has made clear it will not provide endless support without a realistic path to long-term viability.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, told reporters this week the administration should offer federal money “as a lifeline, not life support”.

The administration’s taskforce has canvassed facts and opinions from a range of interested parties including dealers, the United Auto Workers’ union, parts suppliers and bondholders.

The head of Toyota’s North American operations, Jim Lentz, will meet the group next Wednesday. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat chief, met the taskforce to answer questions about Fiat’s proposed part-ownership of Chrysler on Thursday morning.

Treasury advisers Ron Bloom and Steven Rattner jointly ran the meeting, which was attended by a handful of other administration officials, according to one insider.

The Treasury asked about the credibility, strategy and financial merits of Fiat and Chrysler’s plan, its impact on labour and the environment, and about how control of the venture would be distributed.

Government officials were in pure “fact-finding mode”, the person said, and they provided little feedback.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
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Rome final ticket sales under way

Ticket sales to the general public for the 2009 UEFA Champions League final in Rome are under way – exclusively on uefa.com. The final of European club football's most prestigious competition will take place at the Stadio Olimpico in the Italian capital on Wednesday 27 May.

Application process
The international general public ticket sales process started on Monday 2 March at 12.00CET and will run until the same time on Monday 16 March. The application process is carried out exclusively via uefa.com, with each applicant having to complete in full the online application form.

Ballot
Should the demand for final tickets exceed the supply, then every valid application will enter a lottery or ballot to decide the allocation of the 10,000 tickets that are being made available for sale to fans worldwide. These tickets are intended for neutral fans wishing to attend the final whoever the finalists may be, and in the event of a lottery each valid application will go into the ballot regardless of the time of submission, provided it falls within the application period.

Ticket categories
Each successful candidate will be entitled to a maximum of two tickets. With the submission of the application, the applicant accepts the ticketing terms and conditions. Ticket price categories available to the general public are: Category 1 (centrally positioned): €200; Category 2 (mainly in the corners): €140; Category 3 (behind the goals): €90; and Wheelchair: €70. The administrative fee is: €21 for successful applicants within Italy; €33 for ticket orders made elsewhere in Europe; or €45 for neutral fans from the rest of the world.

Payment
Payment is by credit card only (MasterCard is the preferred payment system). Applicants will be informed by email by 31 March if they have been successful or not, with tickets being dispatched from 27 April by secure mail. Candidates will be able to check the status of their application on uefa.com with their log-in information from 1 April.

Capacity
The net capacity of the Stadio Olimpico for the UEFA Champions League final will be about 67,000. Supporters of the two finalist clubs will be served via their clubs directly, with approximately 60 per cent of the stadium capacity being reserved for followers of the two teams. Each finalist will be able to take up to 20,000 tickets and distribute these directly to their fans. The remaining tickets will be allocated to the European football family, comprising UEFA, the local organising committee, national associations and commercial partners.

Contact details
Any information requests should be addressed to Lottomatica, the ticket agency appointed by the host Italian Football Federation. Phone: 199 109 783 (from inside Italy, from 2 March to 16 March); 892 982 (from inside Italy, from 17 March to 30 May); or +39 06 37 00 106 (from outside Italy from 2 March to 30 May). Email: uclfinalroma2009@lottomaticaservizi.it

Terms and conditions
All applicants are bound by the ticketing terms and conditions. Action will be taken in cases of infringement. Online applications will be checked against police data to ensure that anyone banned from stadiums is unsuccessful in any attempt to purchase tickets. General public applicants attending the final are warned that tickets are non-transferable and that ID and security checks at the stadium are planned. UEFA underlines that no tickets are being distributed via agencies or brokers. UEFA also encourages fans not to be lured into deals with touts who not only demand exorbitant prices but are often not in possession of the tickets they purport to have for sale.
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Hiddink ready to cash in his options

Chelsea FC manager Guus Hiddink admitted he was looking forward to having the "luxury" of a full squad to choose from after watching Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho step up their recoveries from injury by turning out for the reserves.

Comeback close
Essien made his first appearance in six months at Villa Park on Monday night, playing 90 minutes and scoring a well-taken late goal as Chelsea were defeated 4-3 by Aston Villa FC. The Ghanaian has been sidelined since undergoing surgery on a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained while on international duty in September but a first-team comeback is on the horizon, to the obvious delight of interim Chelsea boss Hiddink. "I have [already] seen Essien in training sessions and he's close, very close," said the Dutchman. "It's good that we have some more options."

Options
Carvalho also returned to the fray in Birmingham after a five-week layoff with a hamstring problem, coming through an hour untroubled before being taken off. "We are now going into the decisive months and it is good for a manager to have a full squad," said Hiddink. "It is a luxury as a manager to have a lot of thoughts before a game over who to play. We'll soon have more options in terms of the team's shape and tactics and it will give us some variations for the remaining games. I hope we can stop Manchester United winning five trophies this season. I'd love to stop Sir Alex Ferguson in his aim."

'Main objective'
There was a glint in his eye as Hiddink delivered that salvo and, though he has enjoyed three successive wins since replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari, the 62-year-old is not losing sight of his No1 goal. "The main objective, when we started talking about me taking up the role for the rest of the season, was to qualify automatically for the Champions League," he said. "What we could do 'extra' was 'extra'. I'm not naïve. United have a very good squad and, realistically, it will be difficult to catch them. But, as long as there is a possibility, you never know." A win tonight at Portsmouth FC would cut United's advantage to four points, for 24 hours at least, though Chelsea will be without Nicolas Anelka due to a damaged toe.
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U.S. offers deal to Russia tied to Iran, missiles

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has written to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggesting U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe might be unnecessary if Moscow helped in blocking Iran's progress toward building long-range missiles, senior administration officials said on Tuesday.

Plans for deploying U.S. missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic, ostensibly to guard against Iranian attacks on U.S. allies in Europe, are among a host of issues that soured U.S.-Russia relations during the former Bush administration. There have been indications Obama, who has vowed to shake up American foreign policy, might be willing to set aside the missile defense system.
Medvedev said he had talked with Obama over the phone and exchanged letters with him, but added that there was "no talk about some kind of trade-off, or quid pro quo."
"No, issues haven't been put that way, it would be unproductive," he said at a news conference Tuesday, which followed talks in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Medvedev reaffirmed a strong opposition to the previous U.S. administration's plan to deploy a battery of missile interceptors in Poland and a related radar in the Czech Republic, saying the move would hurt security in Europe.
Medvedev: Russia encouraged
Medvedev said that Russia was encouraged by Obama's administration's readiness to discuss Moscow's complaints.
"Our American partners are ready to discuss this problem, and that's already positive," he said at a news conference. "Several months ago we were hearing different signals: The decision has been made, there is nothing to discuss, we will do what we have decided to do."
"Now I hope the situation is different," Medvedev added. "But no one is linking these issues to some kind of trade-offs, particularly on the Iranian issue. We are already working in close contact with our U.S. counterparts on the Iranian nuclear issue."
A senior U.S. official had told The AP earlier that the suggestion in Obama's letter to Medvedev was that the need for a missile defense deployment "could become unnecessary if, working together with Russia, the Iran missile threat is addressed."
Obama and Medvedev are expected to meet at the G-20 economic summit of advanced and developing nations in London next month, according to the officials.
They also emphasized that "we will continue to consult with the Czechs and Poles as we move forward with decisions on missile defense." That message was an obvious attempt to ease fears among those two U.S. allies — former Soviet satellite states — who are deeply invested in the missile defense system as an assurance of American backing against a resurgent Russia.
The administration has previously hinted that the policy on the missile defense shield that former President George W. Bush fiercely advocated was open to reassessment.
More 'engagement'
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem while on a Mideast tour, said that "we are at the beginning of the engagement with Russia on behalf of this new government."
"We have a very broad agenda also, what we have said specifically in regard to missile defense in Europe is that it has always been intended to deter any missiles that might come from Iran," she said.
"That's been our position, that was our position previously. It remains our position. We have explained that to the Russians before. When I say 'we,' I mean the American government and we continue to believe that we have to take all steps necessary to protect ourselves, our friends, our allies from a potential aggressive action in the future from Iran," Clinton said. "But we have a broader agenda to discuss with the Russians and we are going to be starting that on Friday."
A key U.S. lawmaker said Tuesday that Obama should keep open the possibility of engaging Iran directly, as Obama has said he would do. Sen. Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said the administration should consider the possibility of establishing a U.S. visa office or similar diplomatic presence in Iran.
"Such an outpost would facilitate more exchange and outreach with the Iranian people," said Lugar, of Indiana.
The Obama letter was first reported in Tuesday's editions of The New York Times.

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Oil near $41 after U.S. news spurs big drop

Oil prices crawled up to near $41 a barrel Tuesday after grim U.S. economic news and tumbling stock markets sparked a huge drop Monday.
Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 74 cents to $40.86 a barrel by midday in Europe on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Monday, the Nymex contract lost $4.61, or 10 percent, to settle at $40.15 a barrel after American International Group Inc. reported losses of $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter, the largest quarterly loss in U.S. corporate history.
AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, will receive up to $30 billion of federal assistance on top of the $150 billion in loans the company has already gotten from the government.

Oil investors often look to equity markets as a measure of broad sentiment on the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 4.2 percent Monday to 6,723, a 12-year low.
“It seems like every day there’s more and more bad news,” said Clarence Chu, a trader with Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. “It’s looking like it will take longer for the economy to turn around.”
On Tuesday, European stock markets were mostly lower after an early-session rise, with London’s FTSE 100 index down 1 percent and Germany’s DAX declining 0.4 percent at 1100 GMT. Leading markets in Asia also closed mostly in the red Tuesday.
“The Dow is making new lows and is still driving the sentiment,” said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.
The bleak news continued Monday as the Commerce Department said private sector wages and salaries, the key component of incomes, fell for a fifth straight month, reflecting massive layoffs during recent months.
The Institute for Supply Management said Monday the nation’s manufacturing sector contracted for the 13th straight month in February.
Last week, Federal Reverse Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy could recover in the second half, and President Barack Obama forecast gross domestic product would grow 3.2 percent in 2010.
“People are thinking that’s too optimistic,” Chu said.
Merrill Lynch lowered its 2009 global GDP forecast to a contraction of 0.4 percent from 0.1 percent growth, as a financial crisis that began in the U.S. sub-prime mortgage sector has blossomed into a worldwide recession.
Oil has traded near $40 since December since dropping more than 70 percent from a record $147 in July. Chu expects crude will likely continue to trade between $35 and $45 a barrel as production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries help bolster prices.
The 13-member cartel plans to meet on March 15 and may add to 4.2 million barrels a day of output cuts announced since September.
Without providing specifics, Iran’s official news agency said Tuesday that the country’s oil minister would propose ways to boost oil prices at the meeting in OPEC’s Vienna headquarters.
Gholam Hossein Nozari was quoted as saying that the group’s compliance with the cuts stood at about 80 percent and said it was ready to slash output by 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day to fulfill its promise.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for April delivery rose 0.88 cent to $1.2950 a gallon, while heating oil gained 3.08 cents to $1.182 a gallon. Natural gas for April delivery rose 6 cents to $4.212 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude rose $1.03 to $43.24 on the ICE Futures exchange.

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