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 ...
Growing old in Norway will becomd tougher in the decades to come. The welfare offers will become a lot poorer than young people can imagine, leading economists believe. Experts fear that Norway will end up in a crisis worse than the one Greece is in, because Norway keeps building up the welfare state. Meanwhile, the petroleum fund is all too small to take care of pensions, when today’s 50-year-olds retire. The only solution is tough... [more]
The EU debt crisis strikes Norwegian industry directly, and worsens an already difficult situation with order drought and diminishing cash reserves. 85 percent of the Norwegian industry enterprises are dependent on an Europe that can afford to buy its products. - The EU crisis may lead to more Norwegian industry jobs disappearing”, Knut Sunde, CEO of Norsk Industri says. Share this: {lang: 'en-US'} function... [more]
Sweden’s Finance Minister Anders Borg argued on Monday that the UK has a clear self-interest in helping to back the European Union bailout fund as Londonwould be hit hard by a bank financing failure. “It is completely unrealistic to think one cannot help” by contributing to the stability fund, Borg told reporters in Stockholm upon returning from Brussels, where EU finance ministers agreed to the €750 billion... [more]
The German cabinet will hold a special session on Tuesday to approve the emergency rescue package passed over the weekend by theEuropean Union to save indebted eurozone countries. Berlin’s participation in the EU rescue package requires parliamentary approval, and the first reading of the draft law is scheduled at the next regular week-long session in Berlin. Parliamentary party groups are also set to meet over the aid fund... [more]
President Nicolas Sarkozy assured French union leaders on Monday that his government was not implementing Greek-style austerity measures, despite a recent announcement by French PM François Fillon that France would freeze public spending from 2011. France is not implementing an austerity plan as fellow EU members have done, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told union leaders gathered at the Elysée presidential palace on Monday. “Some... [more]
Russia and the United Arab Emirates have offered their assistance in tackling the consequences of an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Department of State said. “Regarding the Deep Water Horizon oil spill… we received two additional offers of assistance which we are grateful for from the United Arab Emirates and Russia,” Philip Crowley, the department’s assistant secretary, told a daily press briefing in... [more]
Jessica Biel and rising actor Luke Evans are in final negotiations to star in “Vivaldi,” a period tale of forbidden romance. The project centres on composer, priest and violin virtuoso Antonio Vivaldi and his protégée, singer Anna Tessieri Giro, leading him to write his enduring masterpiece “The Four Seasons.” Giro was Vivaldi’s favourite prima donna and part of his entourage. Vivaldi denied any romantic... [more]
Today is Tuesday, May 11, the 131st day of 2010. There are 234 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On May 11, 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was established. On this date: In 1502, Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere. In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor of New Netherland. In 1858, Minnesota became the... [more]
The White House is praising the European Union and its member countries for acting aggressively to contain a spreadinggovernment debt crisis on the continent. The White House comments Monday came after the EU announced a $1 trillion package to support the euro and prop up troubled governments amid fears the crisis would spread from heavily indebted Greece to other financially weak countries such as Spain and Portugal. In a statement,... [more]
A $1 trillion global emergency package to stabilise the euro unleashed a spectacular rally in world stocks on Monday but analysts said EU leaders had only bought time to tackle deep-seated fiscal problems. The “shock and awe” rescue plan — the biggest since G20 leaders threw money at the global economy following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 — triggered the biggest one-day rise in European shares in 17... [more]
