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Rude Royal: WikiLeaks Reveals Prince Andrew's Undiplomatic Remarks

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, fourth in line to the British throne and special U.K. representative for international trade, apparently does not have a very high opinion of some foreigners - not to mention certain journalists. So it is with an overwhelming sense of irony that the same reporters he has allegedly accused of "poking their noses everywhere" have revealed his embarrassing - some would say offensive - Royal remarks as part of the latest WikiLeaks cables.

On Tuesday, the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper published a 2008 cable from U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Tatiana Gfoeller, in which she revealed how the Prince expressed his views on corruption investigators, the French, Americans and - hence the irony - Guardian journalists during a brunch with U.K. and Canadian businessmen. "Rude language a la British... [Andrew] turned to the general issue of promoting British economic interests abroad," Gfoeller wrote. "He railed at British anticorruption investigators, who had the 'idiocy' of almost scuttling the al-Yamama deal with Saudi Arabia."

Those investigators, who were with the Serious Fraud Office, had been looking into alleged kickbacks paid to a senior Saudi royal in return for a major contract with arms company BAE Systems to provide equipment and training to Saudi security forces. The probe was halted by then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2007 on the grounds it could compromise security co-operation with the Saudis. (A wider investigation did proceed, however, and ended in February with the company pleading guilty to minor accounting offences and paying $440 million in fines.)

According to the leaked cable, the businessmen at the brunch, "roared their approval. [Andrew] then went on to 'these [expletive] journalists, especially from the National [sic] Guardian, who poke their noses everywhere' and [presumably] make it harder for British businessmen to do business. The crowd practically clapped."

Then, wrote Gfoeller, when one of the guests, discussing potential investment in Kyrgyzstan, said: "Doing business here is 'like doing business in the Yukon' in the 19th Century, i.e. only those willing to participate in local corrupt practices are able to make any money ... [Andrew] laughed uproariously, saying that: 'All of this sounds exactly like France.'"

For good measure, Andrew also took a pop at the U.S. "Americans don't understand geography. Never have," the cable quotes him as saying. "In the U.K. we have the best geography teachers in the world." Summing up her impressions, Gfoeller said the Duke of York spoke "cockily," "verging on the rude" and often with "almost neuralgic patriotism".

None of this will have come as any great surprise to the Brits, who have routinely read stories about Andrew's allegedly brusque manner. His father, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, also has a reputation for putting his foot in his mouth during foreign trips. On a state visit to China in 1986, he famously told a group of British students: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed". In 1998, while chatting with a student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea, he asked: "You managed not to get eaten, then?"

Apart from providing a catalogue of cringe-worthy diplomatic gaffes, Philip's comments are more likely to spark mirth over his blundering than to cause offence. But his son's remarks have raised questions over how well Andrew can do his job boosting British trade overseas if he holds such attitudes. Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the latest cable revelations and David Cameron's official spokesman said Downing Street would "not be providing a commentary" on the leaks, which the Prime Minister has already condemned, claiming they could potentially damage national security.

After telling the BBC that Andrew has "always been known to be a blunt speaker," former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind says that the Duke of York just needs to be more careful in the future. "Prince Andrew is a superb representative for the U.K.," he tells TIME. "But just like presidents and prime ministers, he will have to assume that what he says in private may in due course become public. We are all on a learning curve."

Prince Andrew is unlikely to have revised his opinion of journalists as a result of these latest revelations. The danger for Britain's image abroad is that others might revise their opinion of the U.K. - and not in a good way.

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Bitter cold kills 8, hits air traffic in Europe

GENEVA – Heavy snow and subzero temperatures swept across Europe, killing at least eight homeless people in Poland, closing major airports in Britain and Switzerland, and causing delays to rail and road traffic across the continent.

In addition to Gatwick, one of Britain's busiest airports, and Geneva, Switzerland's second biggest one, Edinburgh airport in Scotland and Lyon-Bron airport in southeastern France were shuttered Wednesday as staff struggled to clear the runways of snow.

In Poland, police eight men died Tuesday night after a bitter cold front hit the country, with temperatures falling to around -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit). Police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski said the men had all been drinking.

Sokolowski said the men died in different parts of Poland, where many people freeze to death each winter, mostly homeless people and drunks. The coldest temperature registered Tuesday night was in the eastern Polish city of Bialystok, where it was -26 Celsius (-15 Fahrenheit).

Officials at Gatwick said the airport would remain closed until early Thursday morning, stranding about 600 flights that were expected to depart Wednesday. The airport has added extra staff on the ground working "around the clock" to clear the runways. Passengers were advised not to travel to the airport but to check with their airline or visit Gatwick's website for updates.

Geneva airport will be closed until at least 2 p.m. (1300 GMT), said spokesman Bertrand Staempfli.

Zurich, Switzerland's biggest airport, reported delays and cancelations on the day many VIPs, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, were traveling to FIFA's headquarters to push their countries' bids to host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups.

Airport spokeswoman Sonja Zoechling said officials anticipate heavy snowfall there from 1 p.m. (noon GMT) but expected to keep flights going.

Still, the presence of so many private jets in Zurich on Wednesday means the airport has had to turn down requests for diverted landings, she said.

The European air traffic control authority Eurocontrol also reported severe delays at Berlin's Tegel airport and in northern Spain.

Eurostar trains through the Channel Tunnel were affected. Operators said six trains to and from London were canceled and delays of up to 30 minutes on other services were expected.

Swiss weather agency Meteosuisse forecast more snowfall throughout the day as a low-pressure front centered over western Europe moves slowly eastward.

French weather service Meteo France placed nine regions in the northwest and southeast of France on a weather alert warning of snow and ice, in effect until Thursday morning.

SNCF, France's national railway, said traffic on the main southeast routes has been affected by strong snowfall, but 80 percent of high-speed trains were running.

Some 60 flights had to be canceled at Frankfurt airport, Germany's largest, due to planes that were not able to fly in on Tuesday because of weather problems elsewhere. There were no delays due to the weather on Wednesday, the airport said.

Winter weather caused some 2,000 accidents on German roads on Tuesday, officials said. A new law requiring German drivers to use winter tires took effect Wednesday. Drivers still using summer tires will be fined between (EURO)40 ($50) and (EURO)80 ($105).

In Poland, police were carrying out patrols to find homeless people and get them into shelters, and appealed to Poles to contact authorities if they saw anyone lying out on benches or the streets. Throughout the country there have also been delays in rail travel.

Poland's bad weather also was blamed for a collision between a tram and a car that killed one person in Szczecin.

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Associated Press writer Cassandra Vinograd in London, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, Crystal Becerril in Paris and Melissa Eddy in Berlin contributed to this report.

US sweet potato farmers look to Europe for growth

RALEIGH, N.C. – The humble sweet potato — a staple in Southern cuisine and perennial favorite on Thanksgiving dinner tables — is suddenly looking a lot more cosmopolitan.

With U.S. consumption growing slowly, farmers have found a market for the vitamin-packed, cholesterol-free sweet potato on the tables of health-conscious Europeans. Between 2005 and 2009, the value of U.S. sweet potato exports more than doubled to $51.4 million, with much of that growth coming from Europe, especially Great Britain.

The value of exports to the United Kingdom jumped from $5.7 million to $20.4 million between 2005 and 2009, and in the first six months of 2010 exports were on pace to comfortably exceed last year's total, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Even Ireland, famous for its white potatoes, is getting a taste of the orange kind: Ireland only imported $125,000 worth of sweet potatoes last year, but that's up from none in 2005.

It's a huge change from even 10 years ago, when European supermarkets branded the sweet potato an "exotic vegetable" and relegated it to a few feet of out-of-the-way shelves in produce sections. The growth has been so swift that it's hard to isolate a single reason for it.

"It's a great-tasting vegetable, first of all," said Jerome Vick, co-owner of Vick Family Farms in Wilson, N.C. Vick has been growing sweet potatoes since 1982, and in the past five years he's seen Europe become an increasingly important market. Along with the 40-pound boxes of potatoes he packages for the American market, he sells potatoes in European-standard 6-kilogram (about 13-pound) packs.

Vick also follows the food safety standards adopted by European supermarket chains.

"They're a little more stringent in terms of food safety, and since we've always been food safety-oriented on this farm, it was a good fit," he said.

American farmers are also investing in new equipment to help ensure uniform size and shape in the potatoes, which is important in Europe, said David Picha, a professor at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center.

Americans have an advantage over rival farmers in countries like Israel, Egypt and South Africa, Picha said.

"We can provide a consistently high quality of sweet potatoes on a year-round basis, and that's something very few countries can do," he said. "The main buyers in Europe are the supermarkets, and that year-round consistency is what they're looking for."

But the biggest boost might have come from farmers' recent promotions, which helped inform European consumers about the sweet potato, Picha said.

"Ten years ago, this was an undiscovered vegetable in Europe," he said. "We've done a very good job of promoting it and building awareness of the flavor and nutritional value since then."

The North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission, for example, has been holding promotions with European supermarkets in the past few years, with the most recent one in Sweden last May.

North Carolina, which grows about 47 percent of U.S. sweet potatoes, is one of the major American producers along with Louisiana, Mississippi and California.

"They're still grown here and still popular here, but now we're seeing them become popular with people all over," said Sue Johnson-Langdon, the executive director of the North Carolina commission.

In the U.S., "value-added" products like sweet potato fries are helping put sweet potatoes on more plates, but not at a rate comparable to countries like Britain. Per capita American consumption slumped between the mid-1980s and 2003, when it began inching upward. It's now just over 5 pounds a year.

All the marketing, new standards and new equipment help, but for farmers like Vick, the vegetable speaks for itself.

"Sweet potatoes have always been a popular vegetable in the South, but people in the North have always eaten them a lot, too," he said. "I guess it just took a little while for the news to make it across the ocean."

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Associated Press Writer Emery P. Dalesio contributed to this report.

At the Heart of Haiti's Cholera Riots, Anger at the U.N.

Pieces of rubble flew through the air as angry protesters marched through the streets of Port-au-Prince, holding up signs, "Down with MINUSTAH." They were protesting against the United Nation's stabilization mission in Haiti (whose French acronym is MINUSTAH), blaming the U.N. for the cholera epidemic sweeping through the populace. About 1,200 Haitians have already died from the bacterial disease and there are more than 19,500 cases countrywide, according to the Ministry of Health. As the mortality rate for cholera patients edged up from 7% to more than 9% in recent days, graves on the outskirts of the capital were being filled with multiple white body bags.

Public anger against the U.N. grew after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the cholera bacteria now raging through Haiti matches strains commonly found in South Asia. Although many people blamed a contingent of Nepalese soldiers for the outbreak - cholera has not been absent from the Caribbean nation for half-a-century - MINUSTAH has said that the Nepalese had passed their medical examinations and that none showed symptoms of the disease. "It's really unfair to accuse the U.N. for bringing cholera into to Haiti," says Edmond Mulet, the head of U.N. Mission in Haiti. "We don't want to stigmatize any nation or any people."

But the cholera outbreak has triggered the release of months of pent-up frustration with MINUSTAH. The protesters converged on the Champ de Mars, a square filled with thousands of tent-dwelling survivors of the Jan. 12 earthquake. One of the demonstrators, Michou Chilojene, 20, who lives in tent city, says she's used to seeing the white SUVs, emblazoned with black bold "UN" letters on the side doors, going up and down the hills of Port-au-Prince. "I don't see MINUSTAH doing anything serious. If they were, they would put their heads together with President [Ren[a {e}]] PrÉval and get us out from underneath these tents," says Chilojene.

Mulet admits that MINUSTAH has very little direct involvement in the lives of everyday citizens. That's because, he says, the mission is to provide security and to set up a stable atmosphere in which others can then come to aid Haitians. "MINUSTAH is not here to reconstruct the county," says Mulet. "We are here to provide the space for others to do their job." With 12,000 peacekeepers on the ground, MINUSTAH has been in Haiti since the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. The country no longer has a standing army and relies primarily on the U.N. peacekeepers for security.

And yet recent rioting in Haiti's second largest city, the northern port of Cap-Haitien, caught the mission flatfooted. The peacekeepers there had been expecting a protest on Nov. 18, a national holiday commemorating a military victory over the French. But synchronized attacks on the MINUSTAH outpost began on Nov. 15 and proved overwhelming. As a result, the city has had no electricity for several days, its airport has been closed and barricaded roads have prevented cholera treatment from getting in. According to the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), violence continues to inhibit the humanitarian response to cholera in the surrounding area.

In the meantime, MINUSTAH says it is close to reaching one of its benchmarks by training 10,000 national police officers. Mulet says progress before the earthquake was moving steadily and that there were plans in place to downsize the mission in 2012. However, with 1.5 million people still homeless after the quake, plus an ongoing cholera epidemic and a new presidential regime coming in, Mulet says the mission will not downsize until 2014. The extended timeline has civil groups furious over what they describe as the unwelcome presence of a foreign military force in Haiti. Mario Joseph, the director of Bureau des Advocats Internationaux, a civil rights organization, says, "It's an occupation and it's a useless mission. They must leave."

Joseph adds that protests will continue as the country moves closer to the Nov. 28 presidential election, raising fears that the vote may be disrupted. But Mulet says "everything is in place" for an election that will run smoother than in the past. Peacekeepers, he says, will be no more than 20 minutes away from any polling station.

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FINAL LOOK: Judge denies motion to block Tennessee mosque construction

Here's our roster of stories that managed to evade the full-on blog treatment:

o A judge has denied a motion to stop a Tennessee county from issuing permits for the construction of a mosque. ()

o Frustration over Bristol Palin's success on "Dancing With the Stars" inspired a Wisconsin man to shoot his television. ()

o Investigators in Aruba think that the discovery of human bones may provide a break in the Natalee Holloway case. ()

o A New Jersey pastor has ordered his flock to delete their Facebook accounts because he believes that social networking sites can lead to marital infidelity. ()

o The number of people watching cable television in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest point in 30 years. ()

o Wind storms are creating havoc up and down the East Coast today. ()

o People magazine named Ryan Reynolds as its new "Sexiest Man Alive." ()