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 ...
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives suffered a historic loss in Baden-Württemberg on Sunday, ending nearly six decades in power. The Greens will lead a German state for the first time. The environmentalist Greens and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) managed an unprecedented political upset in the wealthy southwestern state, which is normally a stronghold for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Official results... [more]
Germany is expected to see its biggest-ever anti-nuclear demonstrations on Saturday, with major protests expected in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. The protests are being organized by an alliance of environmental groups, churches and trade unions, while opposition political parties are also calling on people to turn out. As many as 50,000 people have been registered in Berlin alone, where a procession will go past the headquarters... [more]
The German president’s wife Bettina Wulff is opening the annual horticultural exhibition at Keukenhof in Lisse. Her husband President Chritian Wulff and Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander will attend the ceremony. A tulip will be named after Bettina Wulff during the opening ceremony. The theme this year at the famous gardens close to the bulb fields on the Dutch coast is ‘Germany, a country of poets and thinkers’. The... [more]
Air currents are expected to bring radioactive particles from Japan to Central Europe on Wednesday, though radiation levels will be negligible, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) said Wednesday. In recent days experts have measured the spread of radioactivity from the nuclear crisis at Fukushima first in California, then in Iceland, head of the BfS gauging station near Freiburg, Erich Wirth, told broadcaster MDR INFO. “And... [more]
Porsche announced Monday the sale of its most expensive model ever, the 918 Spyder hybrid “super sports car.” The luxury German carmaker will make just 918 units costing a cool €645,000 – before tax, that is. The company has begun accepting orders for the fancy model, with plans to begin delivery in November 2013, Porsche said in a statement. The car will cost an estimated €770,000 ($1,091,690) in Germany including the country’s... [more]
Russia’s bid to build a rival to a US-backed gas pipeline to Europe received a major boost this week when the project was joined by the hydrocarbon subsidiary of the German powerhouse BASF. Wintershall’s preliminary agreement to acquire a 15 percent stake in South Stream for about €2 billion provides the vital stamp of approval that Russia’s Gazprom gas giant needed from the European Union’s biggest economy. The... [more]
Germany’s popular defense minister resigned Tuesday amid a deepening scandal over plagiarism allegations that threatened to become a liability for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in upcoming regional elections. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg announced his decision days after Bayreuth University revoked his doctoral title. It said he had violated academic standards in his thesis by failing to sufficiently credit some of... [more]
An error on a Google map suggests that Emden harbour in western Germany has been annexed by the Netherlands. Emden is close to the German-Dutch border, which runs roughly along the middle of an estuary separating the two countries. The border as drawn on Google Maps, however, shows the harbour water as an appendix of the Dutch area. Emden residents complained when they spotted the error, after which the city contacted Google. City spokesman... [more]
A Group of 20 meeting on Saturday has a “good chance” of breaking a deadlock over which indicators to use to measure global economic imbalances, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. Schaeuble also said Germany was backing French proposals to work on increasing transparency in commodity markets and for implementing a financial transaction tax — something they will put again to the group of leading economic powers. “I... [more]
Bundesbank boss Axel Weber pulled out of pole position in the race to become the next European Central Bank chief on Friday, dashing Berlin’s hopes of having a German in the post for the first time. After days of speculation, Axel Weber told Chancellor Angela Merkel in a meeting in Berlin that he would quit the German central bank on April 30 “for personal reasons,” the government said. “A successor will be named... [more]
