Sarkozy Named as Suspect in Campaign Finance Probe Over Heiress - Bloomberg

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was named as a formal suspect by judges probing claims he took advantage of billionaire Liliane Bettencourt’s mental frailty to access her fortune, Bordeaux prosecutors said.

Sarkozy’s being placed formally under investigation comes after months of questioning over whether he, his 2007 presidential campaign or his party got gifts from the L’Oreal SA (OR) heiress while she wasn’t mentally fit to make decisions, and whether Bettencourt, France’s richest woman, was manipulated.

Sarkozy lost his bid for re-election in May, lifting the immunity that accompanies the post of president in France. He is the second former president in France’s modern era to face criminal inquiries after leaving office. His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was found guilty of corruption during his time as mayor of Paris prior to his term as president, receiving a suspended jail sentence in December 2011.

Sarkozy in November had been named a “material witness” by judges investigating the claims, a position placing him between being called to testify and being made a target of the matter. The announcement yesterday by Bordeaux prosecutors means that Sarkozy has become the focus of the investigation.

A call to Thierry Herzog, Sarkozy’s attorney, outside of regular business hours wasn’t answered. Herzog said he will appeal the ruling, according to France’s BFM TV.

Bettencourt’s former financial adviser, Patrice de Maistre, and Eric Woerth, the treasurer of Sarkozy’s party during the campaign and a former budget minister, have been charged in the case. Both men deny the allegations. De Maistre said in an interview in the Journal du Dimanche on Nov. 11 that he never gave money to either Woerth or Sarkozy.

More than a dozen people have been charged in the probes spawned by the affair, according to Agence France-Presse.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse at aerothman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net

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As blast victims are named, Nevada military town grieves - Los Angeles Times

HAWTHORNE, Nev. — As investigators continued Wednesday to examine a training accident that killed seven Marines and wounded eight other servicemen, this remote military town struggled with its grief and strived to help the victims.

"We've lost seven members of our military family who were helping defend our country," said Glenn Carns, general manager of El Capitan Lodge & Casino. "It's the same as if they had died in battle."

A 60-millimeter mortar round exploded in a mortar tube during live-fire training maneuvers Monday night at the Hawthorne Army Depot, about 90 miles southeast of Reno. The incident is under investigation, and use of the 60-millimeter rounds has been suspended.

The Marine Corps identified the dead Wednesday night as Pfc. Joshua M. Martino, 19, of Clearfield, Pa.; Lance Cpl. David P. Fenn II, 20, of Polk City, Fla.; Lance Cpl. Roger W. Muchnick Jr., 23, of Fairfield, Conn.; Lance Cpl. Joshua C. Taylor, 21, of Marietta, Ohio; Lance Cpl. Mason J. Vanderwork, 21, of Hickory, N.C.; Lance Cpl. William T. Wild IV, 21, of Anne Arundel, Md.; and Cpl. Aaron J. Ripperda, 26, of Madison, Ill.

The identities of the injured — seven Marines and a Navy corpsman — were not released. All the victims were from the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The unit's commanding officer, Lt. Col. Andrew J. McNulty, praised the Marines and sailors who provided first aid immediately after the explosion, calling it "nothing short of heroic."

"There were numerous acts of selflessness as our injured cared for each other and directed corpsmen to care for more severely injured before being treated themselves," McNulty said in a statement.

Confusion about the death toll had arisen Tuesday night, when a memorial speaker erroneously said an eighth person had died.

On Wednesday night, the Marine Corps said the Navy corpsman was seriously injured, five Marines were seriously injured, and two Marines had been treated for minor injuries and released.

The grim news shook the Mineral County seat of Hawthorne, a hodgepodge of modest homes, small businesses, casinos, veterans organizations and one stoplight.

At the Tuesday night memorial, hundreds of people crowded into a park around a towering American flag. Veterans showed little children how to place their hands over their hearts. Many people held flags or candles and pinned red artificial "buddy poppies" to their lapels or shirt pockets. Poppy sale proceeds were to go to loved ones of those killed and injured.

"Hawthorne is a unique place that has adopted a sense of patriotism that speaks to a bygone era," Mineral County Atty. Sean Rowe said later.

Cassie Dore, owner of the Refinery Restaurant, agreed: "Our sense of community comes from a powerful military link."

Dore was planning "a good old-fashioned Hawthorne-style spaghetti feast" for Wednesday evening, with proceeds going to the families of the dead.

"The feast will also make us a little bit stronger," she said. "We are a family in good times and bad."

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

david.zucchino@latimes.com

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Father and son killed in Alps named

17 March 2013 Last updated at 06:54 ET

A British man and his 12-year-old son have been found dead in the French Alps after apparently falling while hiking near Mont Blanc.

The 48-year-old man and his son had come to Chamonix in the French Alps for a weekend hiking.

They took a mountain trail well- known to summer walkers, but is regarded as extremely dangerous in the winter months.

It is understood the boy plummeted several hundred metres down a cliff.

The father called the emergency services for help, but was unable to give his precise location, our Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield reports.

Mountain rescue teams found both bodies on Saturday.

It appeared that the father had also fallen to his death, trying to find his son.

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