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 ...
Google has said the Chinese government is interfering with its email services in China, making it difficult for users to gain access to its Gmail programme. Google said its engineers have determined there are no technical problems with the email service or its main website. “There is no technical issue on our side; we have checked extensively. This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail,”... [more]
Driving rain on Monday disrupted rescue efforts in Japan and compounded the misery of disaster survivors now fearing radioactive fallout from the smouldering wreck of a nuclear plant. The bad weather forced Prime Minister Naoto Kan to call off a helicopter flight to the battered northeast coast including a trip to a football training centre about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant. The centre is now a staging... [more]
A continuing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant has spurred nations around the world to review the safety of their own nuclear installations. The European Union reached an agreement to conduct “stress tests” on the continent’s nuclear plants as it tries to draw lessons from the events in quake-hit Japan. Amid soaring public concern on nuclear energy, the EU gathered ministers, national safety chiefs... [more]
Workers battling to see off meltdown at Japan’s damaged nuclear plant have been forced to suspend operations following a rise in radiation levels. Frantic attempts have been under way to cool down the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi following a series of blasts triggered by Friday’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami and smoke was seen rising from reactor three and after a blaze broke out at reactor four for the second time... [more]
Discovery, NASA’s oldest and most journeyed space shuttle, is poised to launch Thursday on its final mission to the International Space Station, wrapping up a near three-decade legacy of orbital travel. When the storied spacecraft lifts off at 4:50 pm (2150 GMT), it will mark the beginning of the end of the US space shuttle program, with Discovery the first of the remaining three shuttles headed for retirement this year. The closure... [more]
NASA said Tuesday that the space shuttle Discovery is “ready to fly” on its final mission to the International Space Station and weather looks 80 percent favorable for launch day on February 24. “Over the last few months the team has been very busy effecting repairs to the external tank and making it stronger than ever,” said NASA test director Steve Payne. “We have also resolved a problem with a hydrogen vent... [more]
A European rocket blasted off Wednesday bearing a 20-tonne supply ship destined for a rendezvous with the manned International Space Station. The super-charged Ariane 5 ES rocket departed from Kourou, French Guiana, just shy of 2151 GMT after an initial attempt the day before was scratched at the last minute due to a minor technical glitch with the fueling system. The liftoff had to take place at that time and no other. “As we are... [more]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton will exchange the instruments of ratification for the New START arms reduction treaty on Saturday. The ceremony, after which the pact will formally enter into force, will be held in Munich, where the two top diplomats are attending a security conference. The new deal, replacing START 1, which expired in December 2009, was signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev... [more]
Iran’s president says not even 100,000 U.N. Security Council resolutions will stop his country’s nuclear ambitions. The semiofficial Fars news agency says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the remarks during a meeting with a group of journalists Tuesday in Tehran. Iran has hardened its position on its nuclear program ahead of Jan. 21-22 talks with world powers in Istanbul, Turkey. Tehran says it will refuse to talk about its right to... [more]
China has become one of only a handful of countries that can reprocess spent nuclear fuel but is not yet capable of doing so on an industrial scale, a UN atomic expert said Monday. Earlier this month, the China National Nuclear Corporation said it had achieved a significant “breakthrough” by developing a fuel reprocessing technology that will extend the lifespan of Beijing’s proven uranium deposits to 3,000 years, from... [more]
