BRITAIN’S annual European pounds 2.85bn rebate came under fierce attack from EU finance ministers yesterday, raising the prospect of a bitter dispute between the UK and its continental partners. “This incident was atypical in its brutality, but not in its underlying motive,” two Unitarian ministers wrote in the local paper.Wyoming calls itself the “Equality State”, but has refused to introduce laws targeted against hate crimes At the urging of President Clinton it is now reconsidering.. But there has also been an anxious debate about Wyoming’s record in defending minorities and whether the attackers were the product of an inherently hostile environment. Although there is some confusion about the motive – Shepard was robbed as well as beaten – the community of Laramie appears in no doubt that he was attacked because of his sexuality.The reaction has been an outpouring of support for the victim and his family. Matthew Shepard, 21, a political science major at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, died after five days on a life support machine in a Colorado hospital.

He had been pistol-whipped around the head and burned during his ordeal, then left lashed to the fence like a scarecrow for 18 hours before being discovered by a cyclist.
Two young men have been arrested, and their girlfriends charged with being accessories after the fact. A GAY college student who was beaten, tied to a fence and left in the freezing cold in a small town in Wyoming died yesterday – adding heightened tension to an already anxious debate about tolerance for homosexuality and the need to legislate against hate crimes. That sum was put up by Abe Hirschfeld, a millionaire Clinton supporter in New York.. Ms Willey alleged in a television interview that Mr Clinton groped her when she went to him in distress to plead for a White House job, and is said to detail efforts to intimidate her into keeping quiet.The other factor is a letter to the judge from Robert Bennett, Mr Clinton’s lead lawyer in the Paula Jones case, stating for the record that the truthfulness of Mr Clinton’s testimony cannot be relied upon.While the letter was a formality to pre-empt accusations that Mr Bennett knowingly protected false testimony – accusations that could, if proved, lead to the loss of his licence – it also means that Mr Bennett could be called as a witness against his client, either in a Paula Jones appeal or in congressional impeachment hearings.Ms Jones rejected an offer of $700,000 to settle last week. Mr Clinton has steadfastly denied the charge and is resisting her insistence on a $1m settlement.Although Ms Jones’s case was dismissed for insufficient evidence last April before it came to trial, it could be revived next week on appeal now that Mr Clinton has admitted – contrary to his sworn testimony – that he did have a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.The judge in the appeal case has said she would release most of the documents, among them Mr Clinton’s testimony and that of several other women, including Kathleen Willey, the former White House volunteer.

Yes, people will conclude that she was right and you were wrong, but you can conclude it on the basis of not admitting liability’.”Ms Jones alleges that her career as an Arkansas state employee suffered after she rebuffed an unwelcome sexual advance from Mr Clinton, who was then state governor. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, who advised Mr Clinton that he might avoid impeachment proceedings with a timely apology to Congress and the country, said that settling the Paula Jones case would be essential in any deal with Congress.
“I’d tell him: `Get rid of that doggone Paula Jones case. PRESIDENT CLINTON came under strong pressure yesterday from politicians and lawyers to settle the sexual harassment suit brought by Paula Jones at almost any cost in case new allegations come into the public domain. On the day of the performance any individual who presents their single-fare bus ticket to the ticket office will have the cost refunded along with the return journey fare.There are, unfortunately, no plans to extend the scheme to car, train and taxi transport.”It’s wonderful, simply the best place in London for middle-scale companies to perform dance,” said Christopher Bruce, the head of Rambert Dance Company, yesterday.Leading article, Review, page 3.