Eurozone finance ministers were to confer by telephone on Saturday after 12 hours of talks in Athens failed to produce a breakthrough on a deal to bail out Greece, the Greek finance minister said. Evangelos Venizelos added that a planned meeting by eurozone ministers on Greece originally scheduled for Monday would now be held on Wednesday. "I will participate in a Eurogroup telephone conference at 1230 GMT" to discuss details of a rescue deal for Greece worth 130 billion euros ($171 billion) which officials have been trying to seal since October, the minister said in a statement. "Critical issues pertaining to the country's ...
Australia's flood crisis deepened Saturday as authorities braced for waters to peak in Queensland where one woman is missing after being swept away while elsewhere thousands remain stranded by the surge. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said eight military helicopters would help in search, evacuation and resupply missions in the eastern state, where days of heavy rainfall have prompted hundreds of evacuations and dozens of rescues. "The helicopters will be available to assist in rescue operations as required until the immediate crisis has passed," Gillard said in a statement. In the inland Queensland town of Charleville authorities are on alert amid fears a temporary ...
Tens of thousands people are braving the bitter cold at two major rallies in downtown Moscow on Saturday as a power play between champions of political liberalization and supporters of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin continues to unfold. The first demonstration demands fair elections at the March 4 presidential polls, at which Putin is expected to secure a third term in the Kremlin. It also calls on Russians “not to give a single vote” to Putin. The opposition rally is widely seen by analysts as a litmus test of protesters’ ability to maintain momentum after two earlier protests against alleged vote fraud in favor of ...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday wrapped up a visit to China where she tried to reassure her hosts on the strength of the euro and Europe's ability to overcome its debt crisis. During her three-day trip to the world's second largest economy, Merkel praised the advantages of the single currency and urged China to put pressure on Iran and to condemn Syria at the United Nations. Merkel, who was prevented from meeting journalists and a human rights lawyers, ended her official visit in the southern city of Guangzhou, Xinhua news agency reported. Merkel, who held talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and President ...
Norway’s government has said it wants non-European immigrants to carry residency cards equipped with data chips bearing their fingerprints. In a proposal presented on Friday, the justice ministry said the new identity cards would help tackle illegal immigration. “The residency card system will increase security surrounding residency permit documentation, thereby contributing to the prevention of illegal immigration and illegal residency,” said Justice Minister Grete Faremo (Labour Party) in a statement. The move follows pressure from the European Union to ensure that immigrants from outside the European Economic Area, of which Norway is a member, are provided with residency cards that include fingerprint details. Faremo ...
Greece expects its 2011 budget deficit will be smaller than expected at between 9.1 and 9.4 percent of GDP, thanks to an emergency property tax, a finance ministry official said on Friday, a development that could help Athens in its bailout talks with the EU and IMF. Greece, which is racing to complete talks with the EU and the IMF on a second bailout worth 130 billion euros, had previously estimated that the deficit would be above 9.5 percent of GDP. "The numbers aren't final yet but we believe the deficit will come in at between 9.1 and 9.4 percent (of GDP)," ...
China has rejected Japanese protests over alleged improper exploration of gas deposits in the East China Sea. The Foreign Ministry said Friday the recent activity had taken place within Chinese-controlled waters and was completely normal. A ministry statement said China was strongly dissatisfied with recent comments from Japanese officials. Japan's chief Cabinet secretary on Wednesday said Japan protested to China after a flare was seen a day earlier at a Chinese structure at an undersea gas deposit. The deposit, known as Kashi in Japan and Tianwaitian in China, sits near a median line in the countries' overlapping exclusive economic zones. Japan and China agreed ...
The leader of Russia's Islamist rebels ordered a halt to attacks on civilians, saying mass opposition protests showed the public no longer supported Vladimir Putin, according to a video posted Friday. Doku Umarov, whose Caucasus Emirate group claimed atrocities including a deadly Moscow airport bombing in 2011 and a metro attack in 2010, said from now only security objects and officials would be targeted. "I order all special groups that are carrying out or plan to carry out special operations in Russia to put a halt to these operations that could hurt the peaceful population," Doku Umarov said in a video address ...
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday the Asian giant had neither the ability nor the intention to "buy Europe", amid concerns over growing Chinese investment in debt-stricken eurozone economies. China is "willing to cooperate with Europe to fight the current crisis. Some people say this means China wants to buy Europe", Wen told a German-China business forum in the southern city of Guangzhou. "This a concern and doesn't fit reality. China doesn't have this intention and doesn't have this ability." German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in China for a three-day visit to boost her host's confidence in Europe, also attended the forum along with ...
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is to resign from the Government after it emerged he is to face prosecution over allegations that he asked his ex-wife to take a speeding penalty for him. The Liberal Democrat MP has been charged with perverting the course of justice after an investigation into the 2003 incident by Essex Police. His former wife, the economist Vicky Pryce is also facing charges of perverting the course of justice. They are due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on February 16. The maximum sentence for perverting the course of justice is life in prison, the CPS and the Sentencing ...
After a tense few months when the fate of his stable was in the balance, Swiss racing boss Peter Sauber is unveiling his new cars in Valencia. Hans-Markus Tschirren, a racing commentator for Swiss television from 1981 to 2008, tells swissinfo.ch about the decades he’s spent following Sauber. Sauber recently clinched a deal to take back charge of his Formula One team after his former partner, Bavarian automaker BMW, pulled out at the end... [more]
A regional train collided with a snow-clearing vehicle in Lübeck in the state of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday, in a weekend of traffic chaos caused by snowstorms across northern Germany. First investigations indicated that the vehicle was in the middle of clearing a country road when the barriers were lowered as the truck reached a level crossing. The driver was unable to get the truck off the rails, but managed to jump from it... [more]
A FINAL decision on whether to extradite filmmaker Roman Polanski to the United States may be a year away, the Swiss justice minister said. Polanski, 76, is under house arrest in Switzerland over a decades-old child sex case and has been held since September on a US arrest warrant for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. Swiss authorities are to decide within the coming weeks whether or not to comply with the formal US extradition request... [more]
Riot police detained dozens of anti-Kremlin protesters, including leading opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, in central Moscow Sunday, defying a plea by rights group Amnesty International to let the rally go ahead. At least 100 people gathered in protest against what they say is a long-running Kremlin campaign to dismantle the constitutional right to peaceful protest, one of the few avenues open to Russia’s weak and fragmented opposition. At... [more]
Pope Benedict Sunday called on businesses and officials to stem job losses and made an explicit reference to two Italian plants to be shut soon, in a surprise boost to union efforts to keep the factories open. “The economic crisis is causing the loss of many jobs and this calls for a huge sense of responsibility by everyone: entrepreneurs, workers, governing officials,” the pope said after his weekly Angelus blessing. “I... [more]
Ireland’s “bad bank” scheme faces further delays as European Union approval is not expected until the end of February at the earliest, the Sunday Business Post newspaper reported, citing unnamed European Commission sources. An Irish finance ministry spokesman said he had no comment on the report. Earlier this month, Irish government officials said they were confident the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) would have... [more]
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon on Sunday criticised power-grabs in Africa in a speech to the continent’s leaders as Libya’s Moamer Kadhafi reluctantly handed over the presidency of the African Union to Malawi. The build-up to the three-day AU summit in Addis Ababa had been dominated by the expectation that Kadhafi would try to extend his 12-month tenure as head of the 53-member body. But soon after Ban issued his appeal at the summit’s... [more]
Today is Sunday, Jan. 31, the 31st day of 2010. There are 334 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 31, 1950, President Harry S. Truman announced he had ordered development of the hydrogen bomb. On this date: In 1606, Guy Fawkes, convicted of treason for his part in the “Gunpowder Plot” against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed. In 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief... [more]
A group of 10 American Baptists were being held in the Haitian capital Sunday after trying take 33 children out of Haiti. The church group, most of them from Idaho, allegedly lacked the proper documents when they were arrested Friday night in a bus along with children from 2 months to 12 years old who had survived the catastrophic earthquake. The group say they were setting up an orphanage across the border in the Dominican Republic. “In... [more]
Today is Saturday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2010. There are 335 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 30, 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was shot and killed by a Hindu extremist. On this date: In 1649, England’s King Charles I was beheaded. In 1882, the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y. In 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor... [more]
