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 ...
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed the latest U.N. sanctions against it on Friday as lacking legal value, but said he did not expect China’s support for the resolution to harm ties. Ahmadinejad, speaking during a visit to China’s commercial capital of Shanghai, called the U.N. Security Council a tool of the United States and branded Wednesday’s resolution, triggered by a nuclear programme the West believes is... [more]
The Iranian president says a nuclear swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil is a one-time opportunity that should not be missed. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also says new sanctions would be a big mistake and that U.S. President Barack Obama stands to lose unless he changes his policies toward Iran. He did not elaborate. The Iranian leader was speaking Tuesday, days before the U.N. Security Council is expected to vote to punish Tehran for its refusal... [more]
Beijing has offered a loan of one billion euros (1.2 billion dollars) to fund projects in Tehran, a report said on Sunday, in a sign of increased Chinese participation in the Iranian economy. Iran’s Fars news agency, quoting a senior official from Tehran municipality, said the loan would have a repayment period of three to four years. “The one-billion-euro Chinese funding is materialising,” Hossein Mohammad Pourzarandi... [more]
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in an apparent criticism of Germany, called for a “carefully designed global approach” to financial reform on Wednesday as he arrived in Europe for talks on a euro zone debt crisis that is shaking world markets. European shares rallied from nine-month lows but the euro remained under pressure amid continuing signs of banks’ reluctance to lend to euro zone counterparts exposed to... [more]
Jailed Iranian film director Jafar Panahi, who has been on hunger strike for more than a week, was released on bail of 2 billion rials (about 139,741 pounds) on Tuesday, the official IRNA news agency reported. Panahi, winner of many international awards and a supporter of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in last year’s disputed presidential election, was arrested in March along with his wife and daughter. His family was later freed. Despite... [more]
A speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a southern port town was marred Monday by shouts from Iranians demanding jobs, a rare show of public discontent over the country’s worsening economy. Ahmadinejad was speaking before hundreds gathered inKhorramshahr, about 625 miles (1,000 kilometers) southwest ofTehran, when his speech was interrupted by people shouting “We are unemployed!” Iran’s economy is struggling... [more]
Israel launched its biggest air raid exercise Sunday to test its preparedness against possible missile strikes from Iranian-sponsored militant groups as international tensions rose over Tehran’s nuclear program. Israel has called for strong economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear plans but, in a hint of possible military action, has said all options were on the table should diplomacy fail to resolve the dispute. Israeli officials... [more]
Israel held a dress rehearsal for disaster Sunday, beginning a defense drill to test the response of soldiers, emergency crews and civilians to simulated missile barrages, terrorist attacks and chemical strikes. Israel embarked on its fourth annual home front drill at a time when Iranian-backed militants are rearming to Israel’s north and south, and Iran itself is suspected of developing nuclear arms, despite its denials. The five-day... [more]
A U.N. sanctions draft resolution against Iran has no legitimacy, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted a close ally of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying on Wednesday. “The draft being discussed at the United Nations Security Council has no legitimacy at all,” Fars quoted Ahmadinejad’s senior adviser Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi as saying. The United States handed a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council... [more]
Iranian film director Jafar Panahi has started a hunger strike in prison, his wife told an opposition website on Tuesday. Panahi, winner of many international awards and a supporter of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in last year’s disputed presidential election, was arrested in early March along with his wife and daughter. His family was later released and he was taken to Tehran’s Evin prison. “I was taken to interrogation... [more]
