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 ...
Bindi Dupouy, an Australian living in Paris, and her French husband, just had their first child, a son born in the country. Dupouy, a 28-year-old lawyer, got almost five months paid maternity leave from her company for the birth. She can take another seven months off beyond that — a year total — unpaid, if she wants, with her job guaranteed under French law. When her son Louis was born, healthy and by way of a normal delivery,... [more]
Priest thought to have handed over 50,000 euros. Suspects obtained jobs and luxury cars ROME – The “jelly-like system” set up to manage major events is the focus of the charges brought by Florence magistrates against the head of the civil protection agency, Guido Bertolaso. Benefits the influential junior minister is alleged to have obtained for awarding contracts to Diego Anemone’s group include “cash and sexual services”.... [more]
The Netherlands will not support giving financial help to Greece on either an EU-wide or individual country basis, finance minister Wouter Bos told parliament on Thursday. Bos, who was responding to MPs’ concerns, pointed out Greece has not asked for a bail-out. Greece, he said, is responsible for solving its own financial problems and will have to take extra steps to deal with them. Earlier a majority of MPs called on the government... [more]
Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam party Partij voor de Vrijheid has spawned a number of local clones in the local elections, the AD reports on Thursday. The PVV is only taking part in the March 3 local votes in Almere and the Hague. But several new parties are using the word free (vrij) or freedom in their name hoping to cash in on Wilders’ popularity, the paper says. For example, in the small town of Spakenburg near Utrecht, the Spakenburgse... [more]
Mexican police have broken up a protest against President Felipe Calderon’s visit to a northern border city terrorized by drug gang violence. Police have dragged away dozens of demonstrators outside a convention center where Calderon is to announce a new plan for curbing violence in Ciudad Juarez and other cartel strongholds. The protesters are demanding the president resign after a recent massacre blamed on drug gangs in the city... [more]
Mexico’s interior secretary made a sudden split from President Felipe Calderon’s ruling conservative party, dealing it a new political blow on top of flagging support due to drug gang violence and an economic downturn. Fernando Gomez Mont did not explain why he dropped out of the National Action Party, or PAN, but he recently clashed publicly with its leaders over their decision to form an alliance with Mexico’s main leftist... [more]
Evander Holyfield’s wife claims the boxing great hit her several times after an argument about her payments to their church, and she has received a temporary protective order against him. Candi Holyfield, the boxer’s third wife, said her 47-year-old husband hit her in the face, the back of the head and her back on the night of Feb. 1 after she refused to show him check stubs of her giving to the church, according to Fayette... [more]
The White House announced on Thursday that President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama would meet on February 18, despite China’s warning that such talks could hurt already-strained Sino-U.S. relations. Obama’s meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader is likely to set off a new round of sniping from Beijing, which has seen tensions with Washington rise over issues ranging from trade to currency to planned U.S.... [more]
An Italian court on Thursday ordered an ancient Greek statue bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum seized so it can be returned to Italy, officials said. The Los Angeles museum said it would appeal the decision to Italy’s highest court and would “vigorously defend” its right to keep the bronze. Under Italian law, however, the decision of the Pesaro court is effective immediately, said Maurizio Fiorilli, the attorney representing... [more]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared on Thursday that theEuropean Union would not “leave Greece on its own” with its deficit crisis ahead of an EU summit in Brussels. However, the German leader stressed that Athens would also have to respect the common European rules on deficits. The EU “is not going to leave Greece on its own” she told reporters after a pre-summit meeting with French President Nicolas... [more]
