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 ...
On Sunday the British public was introduced to what one political journalist has painted as the dark face of the country’s prime minister: An angry and abusive man whose rages were so intense the country’s top bureaucrat had to intervene to comfort his distressed staff. The description, carried in book “The End of the Party,” by The Observer journalist Andrew Rawnsley, is vigorously contested by Prime Minister... [more]
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s approval ratings have sunk to near record lows, a poll showed on Sunday, amid frustration over political mistakes and rising unemployment one month before regional elections. A poll by Ifop for the weekend newspaper Journal du Dimanche showed approval of Sarkozy at 36 percent, down 2 points from a month earlier and close to an all-time low of 35 percent in May 2008, a year after he took office. Workers... [more]
A ruling party-backed candidate lost an election for governor in southern Japan on Sunday, public broadcaster NHK said, a new sign of trouble for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama ahead of a mid-year national election. The defeat could embolden opposition parties to step up calls for probes into a funding scandal embroiling the ruling Democratic Party’s No.2 leader, stalling debate on a record budget for the year from April 1 intended... [more]
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende believes Labour Party leader Wouter Bos broke the unity of the cabinet over the question of Uruzgan and that this was the major cause of the country’s current political crisis. Speaking on the television programme Buitenhof on Sunday, Mr Balkenende offered his view of the cabinet’s fall. He said that, given the Labour Party’s position, it had been inevitable. He added that in such a situation... [more]
Dutch troops are likely to leave Afghanistan this year as planned, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said on Sunday, as early polls showed his rivals benefiting from the government’s collapse over the mission. Balkenende’s fourth cabinet in the last eight years fell apart on Saturday morning after the Labour Party pulled out of government, insisting it could not support a NATO request to extend the Dutch mission past this... [more]
Jordan and France called for an international conference that would support efforts to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians. “The two sides welcome all efforts that back the peace process, including holding an international conference at a suitable time and in coordination with all parties,” visiting French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and his Jordanian counterpart, Samir Rifai, said in a joint statement at a... [more]
A man who is only 22 inches (56 centimeters) tall left his home country of Nepal on Sunday in a quest to be recognized as the world’s shortest living man. Khagendra Thapa Magaris traveling to Europe to campaign for the Guinness World Record title. He applied to London-based group for a place in the record book in October, soon after turning 18, but said he has not received any response. Magar’s family initially filed a claim... [more]
Rescue workers dug frantically Sunday to free cars and homes buried under heaps of caked mud in Madeira, after torrential flash floods and mudslides killed at least 40 people on the popular Portuguese island. More than 120 others were injured and an unknown number of others were missing, possibly swept away or smothered, authorities said, adding that they expected the death toll to rise. Heavy rain lashed the island Saturday, turning... [more]
Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning a long tour of the US in April in order to improve strained relations between the US and Europe, according to a magazine report. She will also attend a nuclear weapons security summit. According to a report in news magazine Der Spiegel, Merkel plans to accept an invitation from President Barack Obama to attend a ‘Nuclear Security Summit’ in Washington on April 12 and 13. State leaders from... [more]
Iran’s leading hardline newspaper, Kayhan, was in court to face defamation charges on Sunday from a number of plaintiffs, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights campaigner Shirin Ebadi. A close aide to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the controversial Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, was among the plaintiffs, complaining that the paper had accused him of an “anti-national act.” Ebadi has accused Kayhan of... [more]
