If voting patterns remain the same the Senate plan would give the
If voting patterns remain the same, the Senate plan would give the Republicans a 19-13 edge. A similar bill passed by the Texas House of Representatives would give the Republicans a 21-11 advantage.The changes were denounced by Democrats as gerrymandering. The Texas senate has approved a bitterly fought plan to redraw the state’s congressional 32 districts in a move that could cement the Republicans’ control of the United States House of Representatives.
So angry was opposition to the scheme that twice during the spring Democratic politicians fled Texas and the reach of the Texas police, to deny the majority Republican legislature a quorum for passage of the measure. However, he dismissed rumours that he planned to pull out of the country completely.”We are selling some things and buying other things.
The Canadian press claimed he was linked to another sporting venture, having expressed an interest in buying the National Hockey League club, Vancouver Canucks.Mr Abramovich acquired his fortune in Russian industries following the break up of the Soviet Union.He became a household name in Britain overnight in July when he purchased Chelsea Football Club in a £150m takeover, which was one of the biggest deals in the history of British football.At the time, he said: “We have the resources and ambition to achieve even more given the huge potential of this great club.”Last month, he hinted that he was considering selling some of his Russian assets. Neither party would comment.Speculation that he is disposing of his assets in Russia appeared to be confirmed in separate reports yesterday. Platon Lebedev, a senior director in the Menatep banking group, which holds a majority stake in Yukos, was also detained in July on suspicion of defrauding the Russian state of £175m.Mr Abramovich confirmed recently that he was not standing for re-election as governor of the Chutkotka province in north-eastern Russia. He has bought property in Knightsbridge and Sussex while his children are to be sent to school in England.Commentators observed that if it was the case that Mr Abramovich was winding up his activities in Russia, it would spark real fear among the country’s business elite.Yesterday, news of the sale of his share in RusAl emerged in Russian press reports stating that Mr Abramovich’s investment vehicle Millhouse Capital has sold its 50 per cent stake in the company to Basic Element, which owns the other half of RusAl, for £1.8bn.
A number of billionaire businessmen, including Mr Khodorkovsky of Yukos, were questioned by police over the summer. This could boost the personal fortune of the 36-year-old tycoon to an estimated £8.2bn, confirming his status as the wealthiest man in the world under the age of 40.The company was his last major holding in Russia, and its sale has prompted speculation that he might quit the country.In March, Mr Abramovich sold off a 26 per cent share in the national airline Aeroflot. The already immeasurable wealth of Chelsea Football Club was potentially even greater last night after its Russian owner Roman Abramovich sold a major industrial stake in his homeland for £1.8bn.
Mr Abramovich, who bought the club two months ago, sold a 50 per cent stake in Russian Aluminium (RusAl), the world’s second biggest producer of metals, according to press reports. Mr Solbes is first in the firing line followed by Neil Kinnock, the Commission vice-president in charge of administrative reform, and Michaele Schreyer, the budget Commissioner.When Mr Prodi came into office in 1999 he promised “zero tolerance” on fraud and mismanagement.. Opinion in the European Parliament is divided over whether to press for the resignation of a Commissioner. Franchet, the director general of Eurostat, sat on the board of some of the companies with which Eurostat signed contracts.Euro-MPs have seen a report which suggested as much as €4m may remain unaccounted for and suggested cases of “nepotism” had been identified.
It also found the value of some contracts issued by Eurostat was artificially increased, that others did not exist, and contractors held Eurostat funds.A central problem for Mr Prodi is the evidence that some of these contracts continued during his term of office when the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Pedro Solbes, had responsibility for Eurostat. Although the EU’s official fraud-buster, Olaf, had been investigating Eurostat for three years, Commissioners were informed of the scandal only when it became public in May this year.In July, an internal inquiry discovered cash was channelled into unofficial bank accounts outside the scrutiny of auditors. The documents lift the lid off the way the Commission staff operated in Luxembourg, a grand duchy with a population of just 400 000 people where international banks and EU institutions dominate the local way of life.A second problem has emerged over the EU’s Luxembourg Office of Publications from which €62,000 not so far unaccounted for. The row over that has provoked the most serious scandal to rock the European Commission president Romano Prodi, putting pressure on him to sack a Commissioner. Dinners and free trips were paid from the non-existent accounts.
