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 ...
Dominique de Villepin: “My innocence has been recognised” Former French PM Dominique de Villepin has been cleared of plotting to discredit President Nicolas Sarkozy when he was the interior minister. He had been accused of failing to stop the Clearstream corruption inquiry into Mr Sarkozy, despite knowing the claims against his rival were false. Both men had been hoping to succeed Jacques Chirac as president in the 2007 election. Several... [more]
Australia ranked 1 for sinning South Korea ranked 1 for lust United States ranked 1 for gluttony AUSTRALIANS are the worst sinners in the world, British researchers have decided. In a study of 35 countries, Australians come up as the most likely to commit one of the biblical seven deadly sins. An article in the February edition of Focus, a UK magazine produced by the BBC, states Australians rank first for envy and third for lust and... [more]
Several police forces are breaking privacy laws by keeping lists of car number plates using certain roads for longer than permitted, the Dutch privacy watchdog CBP said on Thursday. Police are allowed to use automatic recognition systems to spot car number plates which match people with criminal connections. But they are supposed to destroy details of the rest. However, the police in both the Rotterdam and IJsselland regions keep a list... [more]
The Dutch shareholders association VEB has called on Victor Muller, CEO of luxury car maker Spyker to come clean on who is financing the company’s takeover of Saab. The lobby group has published a list of ‘seven pressing questions’ on its website which it thinks Muller should answer, following the sale agreement reached with General Motors earlier this week. According to the Telegraaf, a company called Tenaci Capital,... [more]
The government should have intervened to halt the break-up of the ABN Amro banking group following its takeover by a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium, former board chairman Jan Kalff said on Thursday. Kalff was appearing before a government committee set up to look at the cause of the banking crisis and its effect on the Dutch economy. Kalff said ministers had failed to realise how damaging the break-up would be to the Dutch economy.... [more]
Political leaders, central bankers and financiers at the World Economic Forum have attacked China’s monetary and trade policy and questioned its ability to tackle an overheating economy. Top Chinese officials face an increasingly difficult task insisting that Beijing is acting in the interest of the world economy by keeping its yuan currency weak against the dollar and maintaining a huge trade surplus — 196.1 billion dollars... [more]
The German industrial group Siemens said on Thursday it would eliminate around 1,990 German jobs in its machine tool and industrial services activities. “Siemens intends to minimise the social impact of the planned workforce reductions to the greatest extent possible,” a statement said. The move comes amid restructuring of industrial units, with activities at Siemens’s low voltage motors group to be concentrated in Mohelnice,... [more]
Gordon Brown has announced an international fund to reintegrate Afghan Taliban soldiers. He is meeting with President Hamid Karzai and high-profile delegates from 69 countries for crucial talks. United Nations secretary general Ban Ki Moon and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton are among those present. Mr Brown announced: “As an international community responding to President Karzai’s leadership, we are today establishing... [more]
Today is Thursday, Jan. 28, the 28th day of 2010. There are 337 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 28, 1980, in what became known as “the Canadian Caper,” six U.S. diplomats who had avoided being taken hostage at their embassy in Tehran flew out of Iran with the help of Canadian diplomats. On this date: In 1547, England’s King Henry VIII died; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward... [more]
General Motors said Wednesday it would give owners of Toyota cars and trucks 1,000 dollars or free financing if they buy one of the US firm’s models. A day after Toyota suspended sales of eight models in the United States due to accelerator problems, arch-rival GM raced into the breach with the offers. The incentives are available through the end of February, said a spokesman for GM, which was overtaken as the world’s largest... [more]
