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 ...
A Japanese banker who is a key figure in the Olympus accounting fraud came into public view for the first time since the scandal broke, appearing on Friday at his divorce hearing in a Florida court. Hajime “Jim” Sagawa ran a U.S. investment firm that earned a massive $687 million fee for advising Olympus in a 2008 acquisition deal that ranks as the largest advisory payment in history. Olympus has admitted the deal along with... [more]
SStandard & Poor’s has decided to downgrade France’s top-notch credit rating but will spare Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, an EU government source told AFP on Friday. “France loses its triple-A rating,” the source said on condition of anonymity. Standard and Poor’s Corp earlier on Friday declined to comment on rumours on the markets that it was about to downgrade several eurozone... [more]
Asian stock markets rose Friday, driven higher by a successful bond issue inEurope that eased worries over the continent’s sovereign debt crisis. Benchmark oil rose to nearly $100 per barrel and the dollar fell against the euro but was steady against the yen. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.1 percent to 8,479.24 and South Korea’s Kospi index edged up 0.2 percent at 1,867.17. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 was 0.4... [more]
The economy risks contraction in the first half of 2012 and better-than-expected retail sales over Christmas are unlikely to offer much respite, as shoppers were only lured by margin-eroding discounts, business leaders warned on Tuesday. A survey from the British Chambers of Commerce showed Britain’s economy was “very likely” to contract in the first half of 2012 after stagnating in last year’s final quarter... [more]
The euro is unlikely to “vanish” this year, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Friday, but warned a report this month will show the global economy growing slower than the 4.0 percent estimated in September. “Will 2012 be the end of the euro? My answer is, I don’t think so,” she told a press conference during a visit to South Africa. “The currency itself is not likely to vanish or disappear in 2012.” “Will... [more]
Britain will not accept the European single market being discussed by any group other than the full 27 members of the European Union, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday. “Why are we in the organisation (European Union)? We’re there because we’re a trading nation, and we want access to the single market and a full say about the rules of the single market,” Cameron told BBC Radio 4. “What we can’t... [more]
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has recalled 169,000 baby high chairs sold in the United States and Canada over reports that the safety belts can open unexpectedly. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada announced the recall on Thursday and IKEA posted a warning on its website over the ANTILOP high chair, sold from August 2006 through January 2010 for around $20. The safety regulators said IKEA had received eight complaints... [more]
Blacks Leisure has announced it is going into administration and suspended its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: LSE.L -news) . The troubled retailer said its 306 stores, which employ some 3,500 staff, will continue to trade as normal. But it said it expects to sell most of the business within the next few days. It is hoped that the deal will help it save many of the jobs by allowing buyers to cherry-pick its best assets, including... [more]
Amsterdam’s most expensive shopping thoroughfare, the P.C. Hooftstraat, has come in at number three on the list of the world’s nicest places to shop. Singapore’s Orchard Road came at the top of the list, which is in its fourth year of publication. Luxembourg’s Avenue de la Liberté came second. The list is compiled by the international shopping public on behalf of the French marketing agency Presence. Almost 400 shops,... [more]
Embattled oil refiner Petroplus said on Thursday that lenders had frozen access to its remaining credit lines in a further blow to the firm in the process of shutting down three of its refineries. “Access to all credit lines under the Revolving Credit Facility have been suspended,” pending the outcome of ongoing talks with lenders, the Swiss firm said in a statement. Petroplus, Europe’s largest independent oil refiner,... [more]
