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 ...
Searchers have found the stern section of a South Korean warship that was torn apart by a mystery blast near the North Korean border and divers will try to reach it later Monday, the military said. A successful dive would provide clues about the fate of 46 missing crewmen and about the cause of the blast which sent the 1,200-tonne corvette to the bottom of the Yellow Sea Friday night. Military divers will try at 2:00 pm (0500 GMT) to reach... [more]
Red Shirt leaders were set to meet Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday for the second day of talks to press for elections following weeks of protests that have rocked Thailand’s capital. A first round of negotiations — carried live on television — ended without resolution late Sunday after Abhisit refused to bow to demands from the protesters, who are loyal to fugitive deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra. “House... [more]
XIANGNING, Shanxi – The number of people trapped underground after a coal mine flooding in north China’s Shanxi Province was revised — for a second time — to 153 from 123, rescuers said late Sunday night. Investigations showed that 261 workers were in the pit of Wangjialing Coal Mine under construction when underground water gushed in at about 1:40 pm. Of them, 108 were lifted safely to the ground while 153 others... [more]
Infrastructure investor Infratil said Monday it had joined with the NZ Superannuation Fund to buy oil giant Shell’s New Zealand distribution and retail operations, along with a refinery stake. Infratil and the government pension fund will pay Shell a base price of 696.5 million dollars (491.3 million US) and a working capital adjustment of more than 208 million dollars when the deal is settled on Thursday. The purchase by the 50/50... [more]
British Airways cabin crew and their bosses faced off Monday for a fresh day of industrial action, in a dispute that has fuelled an increasingly fierce row between the prime minister and his rivals. Employees from the Unite union, which represents 12,000 BA cabin crew, entered the third day of their four-day strike, heaping fresh misery on thousands of weary passengers. The airline and the union spent the weekend trading blows over the impact... [more]
You have been tagged in 12 photos — even if you’re not signed up to the Web site. European regulators are investigating whether the practice of posting photos, videos and other information about people on sites such asFacebook without their consent is a breach of privacy laws. The Swiss and German probes go to the heart of a debate that has gained momentum in Europe amid high-profile privacy cases: To what extent are social... [more]
Google co-founder Sergey Brin urged the US administration to make the censorship row between China and the Internet giant a “high priority”, in an interview published on Wednesday. Brin said human rights issues should be given “equal time” with trade concerns in comments published by British newspaper The Guardian. China has attacked Google for stopping censorship of its Chinese-language search engine but... [more]
Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation Wednesday of Bishop John Magee, a former papal aide who stands accused of endangering children by failing to follow the Irish church’s own rules on reporting suspected pedophile priests to police. Magee apologized to victims of any pedophile priests who were kept in parish posts since he took charge of the southwest Irish diocese of Cloyne in 1987. “To those whom I have failed in any... [more]
Today is Wednesday, March 24, the 83rd day of 2010. There are 282 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On March 24, 1980, one of El Salvador’s most respected Roman Catholic Church leaders, Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, was shot to death by a sniper as he celebrated Mass in San Salvador. (Romero was assassinated after urging the Salvadoran military to halt death squads that had killed thousands of suspected... [more]
A senior US delegation led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought Tuesday to bolster joint efforts to tackle surging violence by Mexico’s powerful drug cartels. “There is no question that they are fighting against both of our governments,” Clinton said at the start of the meeting, which came barely a week after three US consulate-linked killings in Mexico’s most violent border city of Ciudad Juarez. The one-day... [more]
