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 ...
EU leaders reached agreement at a summit on Monday on the introduction of a permanent euro zone bailout mechanism from July 2012, with a treaty governing the fund to be signed at a later date, three EU officials told Reuters. The European Stability Mechanism, which will have a lending capacity of 500 billion euros, will take over from the European Financial Stability Facility, a temporary mechanism that has so far been used to bail out... [more]
An Oslo court on Monday jailed two men for planning to bomb the Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, in Norway’s first-ever guilty verdict for plotting terrorism. Norwegian national Mikael Davud, a member of China’s Uighur minority considered the mastermind behind the plot against the Jyllands-Posten daily, was sentenced to seven years behind bars. Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd residing... [more]
European leaders faced a damaging split Monday as a German plan to strip Greece of budget sovereignty overshadowed EU plans to focus on a deal on deficits and talk about jobs. The idea, floated by Berlin, to strip the government in Athens of its sovereignty and give the power to make decisions on finances to a special EU commissioner, opened up clear fault-lines both within and outside the eurozone. It could ultimately place in doubt... [more]
European leaders bid Monday to move away from the debt crisis and focus on much-needed growth as a new battle erupted over putting the eurozone’s Achilles heel, Greece, under EU supervision. European Union heads of state and government hold their first summit of the year from 1400 GMT to finalise a new German-driven pact to toughen budget discipline. They do so amid a general strike in Belgium over deepening austerity in their own... [more]
Chancellor Angela Merkel sought Monday to placate critics of a German proposal to put Greece under the supervision of an EU budget tsar, saying Europe must help Athens enact economic reforms. The debate must be on “how Europe can help Greece accomplish the tasks given to it,” Merkel said on arrival at an EU summit after Greek officials and some European leaders rejected the proposal. “But all of this will only work if... [more]
Exxon Mobil Corp. is selling its Japanese refining and marketing business to partner TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. in a $3.9 billion deal that reflects a long-term decline in Japan’s demand for fuel and a global strategy to refocus on exploration. TonenGeneral Sekiyu will buy 99 percent of the shares of Exxon Mobil Yugen Kaisha, which refines and sells fuel and lubricants, the Japanese refiner said about the deal, announced Sunday. Exxon... [more]
The FTSE-100 index fell on Monday, with the absence of a bond deal in Greece and fresh concerns about the debt problems of other euro zone nations keeping investors in cautious mood and hitting risky sectors such as banks and miners. London’s top share index <.FTSE> was down 0.8 percent at 5,685.09 points at 0900 GMT, adding to Friday’s losses and retreating further from a six-month closing peak of 5,795.20 set on Thursday. Banks... [more]
Some 60% of men and 44% of women in the Netherlands are overweight, according to research from the public health institute RIVM, published in Monday’s AD. And one in seven of those that are too fat is so heavy that they risk developing serious health problems, the institute says. The research involved 4,000 people aged between 30 and 70. Compared with previous research carried out 15 years ago, women aged 30 to 39 have put on most weight. More... [more]
Russia’s opposition should hold a dialogue with the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the nation needs more political cooperation, rather than the existing vertical power structure, jailed former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky said in an article in The New Times magazine, published on Monday. “The country needs a new political philosophy of cooperation instead of the vertical power structure,” Khodorkovsky told The New... [more]
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is running for the Russian presidency, on Monday called for the country’s economic diversification away from oil and gas to high-tech products to ensure future prosperity. Five weeks before the presidential election, he is expanding on crucial points of his campaign programs in weekly articles in the Russian press. Putin, who was Russia’s president from 2000 to 2008, could occupy the top... [more]
