LONDON: The extradition trial of Vijay Mallya, wanted in India on charges of Rs 9,000 crores fraud and money laundering, began on Monday at a UK court here, with the prosecution asserting that the embattled liquor baron had a "case of fraud" to answer. The trial, however, was briefly halted as the courtroom had to be evacuated due to a fire alarm. The 61-year-old tycoon and others waited outside the Westminster magistrates court during the fire drill. The trial began with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, presenting its opening arguments in the case which focused on loans totalling around Rs 2,000 crores sought by the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines from a consortium of Indian banks. The CPS admitted that there may have been "irregularities" in the internal processes of the banks sanctioning some of those loans but that would be a question to be dealt with at a later stage in India. "The focus of our case will be on his (Mallya's) conduct and how he misled the bank and misused the proceeds," said CPS barrister Mark Summers. He then went on to lay out a detailed chronology of events, with specific focus on a loan sought by Kingfisher Airlines from IDBI bank in November 2009. The loan sought amounted initially to Rs 950 crores but was later reduced to Rs 750 crores, after it had received Rs 200 crores from UCO bank. Meanwhile, Mallya was also sanctioned a loan of Rs 150 crores from IDBI in advance of the larger loan sought from the state-owned bank to meet "critical obligations to overseas vendors". The CPS noted that in all the loans sought, "loss-making" Kingfisher Airlines had relied on nearly the same set of security pledges, which included the UB Group's reputation, Kingfisher's own "brand value", a promised infusion of equity funds and a projected return to profit by the airline by February 2011. "The airline had claimed that it had put proactive measures in place to improve performance," the CPS noted. However, it was also a time when according to an industry analysis, the state of the airline industry was described as "grim" and as being in "intensive care". "It was not a scenario in which a state bank would have entertained such loan requests," the CPS added. The first day of the trial is expected to be taken up entirely by the CPS setting out the Indian government's prima facie case against Mallya, a fact that was not welcomed by his defence team. Mallya's barrister, Clare Montgomery, told the judge that she had hoped to set out the defence's opening arguments on the first day as well. But the CPS said it will "not be rushed" as it lays out the complete chronology of events. Meanwhile, Mallya watched the proceedings from behind a glass-windowed dock. His defence team tried to get the judge to allow him to sit outside the dock near his defence team to access some of the complicated paperwork being relied upon, but the judge denied that request saying all defendants are expected to sit in the dock. However, the judge has directed that a table be provided to Mallya for easier access to his paperwork. Earlier, Mallya looked relaxed when he entered the court to stand trial on charges of fraud and money laundering related to his erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines owing several Indian banks around Rs 9,000 crores. "These (allegations against me) are false, fabricated and baseless," Mallya told reporters outside the court ahead of the hearing. A four-member CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) team from India had also arrived at the court ahead of the trial, one of whom nodded when asked he they were "confident" about their case. Mallya, who has been out on bail since Scotland Yard executed an extradition warrant in April this year, will be in the dock for the duration of the trial - scheduled to end on December 14. A judgement in the case, being presided over by Judge Emma Louise Arbuthnot, is unlikely until early next year. The CPS will need to demonstrate a prima facie case by producing evidence to show that the criminal charges against Mallya are justified and that he should be extradited to face the Indian courts. Prison conditions in India are expected to be at the forefront during the hearing, with the Indian government providing assurances of protection of Mallya's human rights. The tycoon has been on self-imposed exile in the UK since he left India on March 2, 2016. While on strict bail conditions, which include providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, surrender of his passport and a ban on possessing any travel documents, the former Rajya Sabha member has been based at his Hertfordshire estate Ladywalk in the village of Tewin, nearly 50-km from London. The CPS had presented "supplemental" charges of money laundering to previous charges of fraud against the businessman at an earlier hearing in October.

PARIS: UNESCO member states today overwhelmingly approved the nomination of France's former culture minister Audrey Azoulay to head the embattled cultural agency. They confirmed the nomination by the agency's board last month of Azoulay, 45, who becomes UNESCO's second woman director general. "The unity you have shown in this vote is a good omen for the coming period, in which we need to stand shoulder to shoulder," Azoulay told the members after garnering 131 votes with only 19 opposed. She said she had "great faith" in UNESCO, which "bears the genuine power to transform the world." Azoulay said members were "clear-sighted as to the organisation's difficulties (but) know how irreplaceable and essential it is in the face of our world's challenges." Azoulay, who was culture minister under former president Francois Hollande, succeeds Irina Bokova, who was UNESCO's first woman director and whose second term expires this month. Azoulay narrowly defeated Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari of Qatar, also a former culture minister, in last month's politically charged election.

BERLIN: A top leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party said her website had been hit by thousands of cyber attacks- many from Russian IP addresses- before Sunday's televised election debate. German intelligence and government officials have often voiced concerns that Moscow could seek to interfere in the Sept. 24 national election, in which Merkel is widely expected to win a fourth term. Russia has repeatedly denied trying to influence foreign elections.