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 ...
THE West must not repeat the same mistake in Libya as it did in Iraq, Italy’s foreign minister said, warning against a full-scale purging of military officials and bureaucrats from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. “Why destroy all the structure, all the apparatus in Libya like we have done in Iraq, making a big mistake,” Franco Frattini told reporters at an economics forum in the Lake Como resort town of Cernobbio. “We... [more]
An Iraqi judge says the verdict in the case of a British man accused of murdering two contractors in Baghdad has been delayed while the court studies his claim to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Danny Fitzsimons was escorted by police into a Baghdad courtroom Sunday. He is the first Westerner to be tried by an Iraqi court since the start of the war nearly eight years ago and faces the death penalty if convicted. He’s... [more]
Former prime minister Tony Blair is due to make a much-anticipated second appearance before the Iraq war inquiry. He has been recalled to explain possible gaps and inconsistencies almost a year on from his last session before Sir John Chilcot and his panel. Since then, the inquiry has heard from scores more witnesses and it is thought that some provided evidence which contradicted that given by Mr Blair. Sir John and his team have now also... [more]
Tony Blair played the “anti-French card” by falsely blaming then-president Jacques Chirac for the collapse of talks at the United Nations on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, an aide told Britain’s war inquiry Wednesday. Stephen Wall, Blair’s former EU adviser, said the ex-prime minister ordered his media chief Alastair Campbell to tell journalists that Chirac had threatened to veto any Security Council resolution —... [more]
The radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr alternated incendiary remarks with promises of moderation. The occasion was his first public speech after his return from Iran, following some four years of absence. Speaking in Najaf, Sadr invited the Iraqis to refuse any occupation, screaming “No, no America”, and reminded his supporters: “We are still fighters”. The former 37 year old commander of the Mahdi Army confirmed... [more]
Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is calling the U.S., Israel, and Great Britain “common enemies” against Iraq and is urging his Shiite followers to resist what he called “the occupiers” by all means. The radical cleric’s comments Saturday came in his first public speech in Iraq since his self-imposed exile to Iran nearly four years ago. He told the crowd of thousands to “reject America” and urged... [more]
South African airport security has been exposed ahead of the World Cup, appearing to ridicule claims by the host country its defences are water tight. Undercover radio reporters managed to take steak knives, screwdrivers, razors, pairs of scissors and even syringes on to flights without detection. The Eyewitness News reporters tested 10 flights at various host city airports. “In more than half of the incidences, we managed to get on... [more]
Total has been placed under formal investigation in an eight-year-old case over suspected bribery relating to the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme during Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, it said. A French criminal probe into the affair was closed in 2007, and the prosecutor’s office last year recommended dismissing the case against Total’s chief executive and other current and former employees. But a new investigating... [more]
A strike by British Airways cabin crew cost over 7 million pounds a day, the airline said Monday, as Prime Minister Gordon Brown sought to limit pre-election fallout from the industrial dispute. The loss-making airline ran 78 percent of its long-haul flights and 50 per cent of its short-haul flights over the first two days of the strike over planned changes to pay and conditions, it said. “Contingency plans for the three days... [more]
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki acknowledged on Sunday that he would probably need partners to gain a majority after the election on March 7, and said he was ready to join with Kurdish or other Shi’ite groups. “Alliances in forming the coming government are a must,” he said in remarks carried by the state-owned National Media Centre. “Coalition with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) and the Kurdish coalition is... [more]
