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 ...
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,”... [more]
Temperatures plunged to a perishing -37 degrees Celsius on Tuesday to give Telemark county in southern Norway its coldest day in more than three decades. Tore Larsen, who lives in a cottage on the shores of Møsvatn lake, decided to rethink his plans for the day after taking a look at his thermometer. “Right now it’s -37 degrees here. I was actually supposed to travel to West Telemark today to install a satellite dish but I’ve put... [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]
Oslo and Islamabad insisted on Thursday that their relationship remains strong despite the resignation of the Norwegian domestic intelligence chief after she appeared to reveal that Norway has secret agents in Pakistan. The head of Norway’s Police Security Service (PST), Janne Kristiansen, widely criticised after the July 22nd attacks last year, informed the justice ministry on Wednesday night of her decision to give up her post. Amid... [more]
Norway’s ambassador in Islamabad has been summoned to a meeting with Pakistani authorities after outgoing domestic security chief Janne Kristiansen said Norway has intelligence agents posted in Pakistan. The meeting was set to take place at 12pm on Thursday, newspaper Aftenposten reports. Kristiansen resigned on Wednesday night after coming under fire for a presumed breach of confidentiality when she exposed details of Norway’s foreign... [more]
Janne Kristiansen, the head of Norway’s domestic intelligence service, has resigned over an alleged breach of confidentiality after she told parliament that Norway had agents operating in Pakistan. Kristiansen, who took over as chief of the Police Security Service (PTS) in 2009, informed Justice Minister Grete Faremo (Labour Party) of her decision on Wednesday night. Speaking on Wednesday at an open parliamentary hearing on the July 22nd... [more]
Norwegian authorities called Wednesday on the country’s whaling industry to counter the dramatic drop over the past decade in the number of boats partaking in the annual whale hunts. The number of Norwegian vessels actively hunting whales has shrunk from 33 in 2001 to just 19 last year, Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries said in a statement. “The authorities are therefore stressing the importance of the sector itself working... [more]
The United States embassy sent an email to US citizens in Oslo on Tuesday urging them to take extra care when out and about in the Norwegian capital after a spate of violent crimes in recent months. The embassy made reference to a knife attack on a tram at Solli Plass on January 5th, two stabbing incidents at Oslo Central Station on January 10th, as well as a number of assaults in the city’s parks, particularly Slottsparken (The Palace... [more]
Radical Islamists pose the biggest threat to Norway even though it was a right-wing extremist who carried out the twin attacks last July that killed 77 people, Norwegian intelligence service PST said on Tuesday. “The threat associated with these groups is worrying today,” PST chief Janne Kristiansen said as she presented the agency’s annual threat assessment report. “In recent years, we have seen that these are people... [more]
December, the export of goods amounted to NOK 81.2 billion, while the imports came to about NOK 40 billion. The trade surplus for the month was thus NOK 41.2 billion. Neither the exports nor the trade surplus have been this large since 2008, Statistics Norway reports. However, if oil and gas exports were excluded, the trade balance for 2011 would have been NOK 132 billion in the negative. The trade surplus for December was 10.8 per cent... [more]
