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He said: “There is a serious problem on the ground, and some of the political parties are playing with people’s well-being and the well-being of the Agreement.” More talks are due to be held on Monday.A new type of sophisticated pipe bomb has been devised by loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland, the RUC said yesterday. An alert was issued after two of the devices were found in undergrowth in Ballymena, Co Antrim.. The European Union is heading for a much larger expansion than expected and may admit 10 new countries in three years’ time, the European Commission said yesterday in its clearest backing yet for a “big bang” enlargement programme. The European Union is heading for a much larger expansion than expected and may admit 10 new countries in three years’ time, the European Commission said yesterday in its clearest backing yet for a “big bang” enlargement programme.The comments, made by the European commissioner for enlargement, G?r Verheugen, raise the prospect of a rapid influx of new member states that would transform the EU. Europe already finds decision-making difficult with 15 members, and the prospect of a further 10 nations joining will increase the need for reforms.The front-runners to join the EU had, until recently, been thought to be the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia, as well as Cyprus and Malta.But in recent months Poland, the largest of the applicant countries, has fallen back in its negotiations, while Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia have made good progress.

That has made it increasingly difficult for Brussels to differentiate between a first-wave and second-wave of new entrants. Moreover, a “big bang” scenario may now be the only way of admitting Poland in the first wave, something most member states are keen to do.Mr Verheugen insisted yesterday that there was “no concrete scenario”, but added that “10 countries have the possibility for the first round” of EU expansion – expected to take place in 2004.He said he did not like the term “big bang scenario”, but then pointed to one of the main reasons it may take place. The intake of new population would rise by just 12 million people if all 10 realistic first-wave applicants were admitted instead of six of the original front-runners.Brussels is aware of the potential regional problems, such as admitting the Czech Republic while its neighbours are left outside. Privately, it also accepts that a second phase of enlargement is unlikely to take place for years, making exclusion from the first group a harsh penalty.Meanwhile, Brussels has not even begun negotiations with Turkey, a candidate that has yet to met the EU’s requirements for human rights.. Limousines were glued bumper to bumper along the Via Borgonuovo Teenagers screamed hysterically Mothers wept Fathers held out pens and autograph books in vain. Limousines were glued bumper to bumper along the Via Borgonuovo Teenagers screamed hysterically Mothers wept. Fathers held out pens and autograph books in vain.
Lady Helen Taylor was first to arrive.

Then came the cast, in order of least famous first, to build the appropriate crescendo. Ashley Judd in black and white stripes and a fedora neatly positioned over one eye. Samuel L Jackson, as cool as they come, in a white cap and checkerboard polo shirt George Clooney in a dark single-breasted suit. And, rolling up a fashionable hour late, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, in matching beige ensembles.No need for electricity down in the dark dungeon that serves as the catwalk location for Giorgio Armani’s Milan headquarters. The show might as well have been lit by the conveyor belt of neon white teeth.Why do they do it? Why do they want to sit and grin at a fashion show? Is it the publicity? The money? What? Surely these celebrities – hardly needy of cash or flash-bulb attention – have better things to do than ape around on the front row.To see these stars out of their Hollywood goldfish bowl and on the turf of fashion is disappointing. Watching Pitt’s eyebrows rise at the sight of a pair of pointed leather clogs or Clooney applaud a pair of wide, cropped flared trousers is depressing.Is Armani so desperate to divert attention away from his clothes? Worst was the sight of Robert De Niro who turned up on the Armani front line last season – a hero on celluloid, reduced to a fashion groupie in the flesh. And now there’s Pitt – who most people would probably consider to be cool and above such things – jigging about in his seat with his square-jawed lookalike wife.You can hardly blame Armani.