• Iran may prepare to boost nuclear work - diplomats

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    VIENNA (Reuters) - A U.N. watchdog report is expected to show that Iran has installed more uranium enrichment centrifuges at an underground site, potentially boosting output capacity of nuclear work major powers want it to stop, Western diplomatic sources say. Two sources said the Islamic state may have placed in position nearly 350 machines since February - in addition to the almost 700 centrifuges already operating at the Fordow facility - but that they were not yet being used to refine uranium. If confirmed in the next quarterly report on Iran's nuclear programme by the U.N. ... More »Iran may prepare to boost nuclear work - diplomats

  • Russian rights chief urges Putin to veto protest law

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin's human rights adviser said on Wednesday he will urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to veto a bill to increase fines for protesters deemed to have broken the law. The bill has been proposed by the dominant United Russia party to try to suppress protests against Putin's rule. It proposes raising fines to 1.5 million roubles $48,000 (30,588.84 pounds) for protest organisers and 1 million roubles ($32,000) for demonstrators for violating public order during government-sanctioned rallies. ... More »Russian rights chief urges Putin to veto protest law

  • Being shot was price of democracy - Breivik victim

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    OSLO (Reuters) - Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is a "cowardly little man," one of his teenage victims said on Wednesday, after showing a court the scars left by four bullets that had pierced her body. Ylva Helene Schwenke, 15, described how Breivik had shot her in the neck and then several more times as she lay bleeding on the floor, declaring the bullets she was hit with a price worth paying for democracy. "He is a cowardly little man, really," Schwenke told reporters after her testimony. ... More »Being shot was price of democracy - Breivik victim

  • Hollande pushes EU to talk about joint euro bonds

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande, standing firm in the face of stiff German opposition, said on Wednesday that European leaders should broach the possibility of jointly-issued euro bonds and that no option to resolve the bloc's crisis should be taboo. Hollande, due to join other European Union leaders later on Wednesday for talks over dinner, said all options should be put on the table because the gathering was about exchanging views before a decision-making summit at the end of June. ... More »Hollande pushes EU to talk about joint euro bonds

  • Spain P.M. - Best for Greece to stay in euro

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    MADRID (Reuters) - The best option for Greece and for the rest of Europe is for the country to stay in the euro monetary union, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Wednesday. "I simply hope that the euro group doesn't have a lot of work to do on this and that Greece stays in the euro. I sincerely think that is the best for Greece and for Europe," Rajoy said after meeting new French President Francois Hollande in Paris to discuss policy. (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Sonya Dowsett) More »Spain P.M. - Best for Greece to stay in euro

  • Belgium says contingency planning for Greek euro exit exists

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian Finance Minister Steven Vanackere said on Wednesday that contingency planning for the eventuality of Greece leaving the euro zone was taking place, even if euro zone governments hoped it would never happen. Asked by reporters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels whether there were contingency plans for a scenario of the debt-laden country leaving the single currency area, Vanackere said: "All the contingency plans (for Greece) come back to the same thing: to be responsible as a government is to foresee even what you hope to avoid. ... More »Belgium says contingency planning for Greek euro exit exists

  • Merkel wants stronger EIB, sees no decisions at summit

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Germany will propose strengthening the European Union's investment arm, the European Investment Bank (EIB), and deepening the bloc's internal market but expects no decisions at a summit focused on boosting growth. Merkel also reiterated her opposition to jointly-issued euro bonds, saying they were against EU law and would make no contribution to growth. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Annika Breidthardt in Berlin) More »Merkel wants stronger EIB, sees no decisions at summit

  • ECB questions holes in Greek bank recap plans

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has given its backing to Greece's plans to recapitalise its banks but raised a number of key questions about how the fund set up to do the job will work. Athens has set the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) as a capital backstop to bolster its viable banks. Funded by the euro zone and the IMF, it will inject up to 50 billion euros into banks in return for shares which it hopes to sell one day. ... More »ECB questions holes in Greek bank recap plans

  • Timeline - European ministerial meetings in 2011/2012

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    (Reuters) - The two-year euro zone debt crisis has led to a slew of European Union ministerial gatherings over the last year, the latest of which is due to begin in Brussels on Wednesday. Following is a look at some of the major meetings in the last year and the agreements reached: March 12, 2011 - Euro zone leaders agreed to raise the capacity of the region's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, to 440 billion euros (382 billion pounds) from 250 billion, but left it to finance ministers to work out how. May 16 - Euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels. ... More »Timeline - European ministerial meetings in 2011/2012

  • Greece denies contingency plans for euro exit ordered

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's finance ministry on Wednesday denied that a teleconference of the Eurogroup Working Group had agreed each euro zone country should prepare contingency plans in case Greece leaves the bloc. "Such reports not only are false, but actually hinder the efforts of the Hellenic Republic to address its challenges at this critical juncture," the finance ministry said in a statement. ... More »Greece denies contingency plans for euro exit ordered

  • Euro exit worry prompts more Greeks not to pay tax

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    ATHENS (Reuters) - Greeks are notoriously reluctant to pay taxes, but even those that do are holding off at the moment until they are sure their country stays in the euro zone. State coffers are on track for a 10 percent fall in revenues this month as a result, a senior finance ministry official said on Wednesday. Two tax officials who declined to be named told Reuters that May revenues fell by 15-30 percent in tax offices away from the major cities and relative wealth centres of Athens and Thessaloniki. ... More »Euro exit worry prompts more Greeks not to pay tax

  • Hollande pushes EU to talk about joint euro bonds

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande, standing firm in the face of stiff German opposition, said on Wednesday that European leaders should broach the possibility of jointly-issued euro bonds and that no option to resolve the bloc's crisis should be taboo. Hollande, due to join other European Union leaders later on Wednesday for talks over dinner, said all options should be put on the table because the gathering was about exchanging views before a decision-making summit at the end of June. ... More »Hollande pushes EU to talk about joint euro bonds

  • Europe shares extend losses as EU summit hopes fade

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    European shares extended losses in afternoon trade on Wednesday, taking cue from a sell off on Wall Street on fears that an EU summit may fail to come up with concrete, new measures to tackle the region's sovereign debt crisis. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 2.1 percent to 972.20 points by 1431 GMT, reaching a new intraday low. "I think people who were long on the market have been caught out," said one Geneva-based trader. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Toni Vorobyova) More »Europe shares extend losses as EU summit hopes fade

  • Dutch PM not in favour of ESM recapitalising banks

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Wednesday he was not in favour of letting the euro zone's bailout funds recapitalise banks directly. "What I don't feel for is implementing the possibility to recapitalise banks directly from the EFSF or ESM (bailout funds). That should always run via the capital cities, making it possible to force the capitals to reform," Rutte said in parliament. ... More »Dutch PM not in favour of ESM recapitalising banks

  • Egyptians vote for Mubarak successor in historic poll

    AFP - Wed, May 23, 2012

    Egyptians voted Wednesday in the country's first free presidential elections, with Islamists and secularists vying for power with competing visions of an Egypt liberated from ousted president Hosni Mubarak's iron grip. More »Egyptians vote for Mubarak successor in historic poll

  • Egypt protesters hurl shoes, abuse at ex-PM Shafiq

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters threw stones and shoes at Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq after he cast his ballot on Wednesday, taking aim at the former prime minister for serving under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak. As the ex-air force commander and aviation minister voted at a Cairo polling station, protesters gathered outside chanting "Down with military rule" and "Down with the regime." Relatives of people killed in last year's uprising that toppled Mubarak clutching pictures of the victims. "The coward is here. ... More »Egypt protesters hurl shoes, abuse at ex-PM Shafiq

  • 'Landmark' Election For Post-Mubarak Egypt

    Sky News - Wed, May 23, 2012

    Egyptians have been going to the polls in the first "free and fair" presidential election in the nation's history, 15 months after Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power. More »'Landmark' Election For Post-Mubarak Egypt

  • Myanmar to boost electricity after protests

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's government announced emergency measures on Wednesday to boost electricity supplies following protests over chronic power outages that are testing the nascent democracy. Six generators purchased from U.S.-based Caterpillar Inc, the world's largest maker of construction machinery, will be air-freighted within a week, and two 25-megawatt gas-turbines would be bought from General Electric Co, the largest U.S. conglomerate, state television said. Those steps follow the suspension of U.S. ... More »Myanmar to boost electricity after protests

  • Fear for the future as Egyptians vote

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    CAIRO (Reuters) - For Egyptians worn down by a tumultuous military interregnum, the first opportunity to choose their leader freely looked as much like a poisoned chalice as a triumph of democracy. They queued to vote in an election whose uncertain outcome breaks with five millennia of autocratic rule from the pharaohs to Hosni Mubarak, but many appeared vexed by the choice before them, with fear of the unknown muddying the waters. "They confused us," said Ali Helmy, 26, as he struggled to decide before stepping into a Cairo voting station on Wednesday. ... More »Fear for the future as Egyptians vote

  • WHO releases mixed Fukushima radiation report

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    GENEVA (Reuters) - Spikes in radiation caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster were below cancer-causing levels in almost all of Japan, but infants in one town appear to be at a higher risk of developing thyroid cancer, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. In a preliminary report, independent experts said that people in two locations in Fukushima prefecture may have received a radiation dose of 10-50 millisieverts (mSv) in the year after the accident at the power station operated by TEPCO. Separately on Wednesday, a U.N. ... More »WHO releases mixed Fukushima radiation report

  • Top 10 New Species Revealed By Scientists

    Sky News - Wed, May 23, 2012

    A 'devil's worm', a sneezing monkey and an orchid that only blooms at night have been named in the latest top 10 list of new species. More »Top 10 New Species Revealed By Scientists

  • Syria kidnap triggers alarm over Lebanon

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BEIRUT (Reuters) - The kidnap by Syrian gunmen of Lebanese Shi'ite pilgrims caused international allies and adversaries of President Bashar al-Assad to sound an alarm on Wednesday about a spread of sectarian violence across Syria's borders. As the Lebanese government tried to calm protests by Shi'ite families by saying that it expected the dozen men seized in Aleppo on Tuesday to be free "very soon", both Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim foe of Assad, and Russia, which has defended him, warned that Syria's strife could reignite civil war in Lebanon. "There is now ... ... More »Syria kidnap triggers alarm over Lebanon

  • Syria assails rebel town, admits sanctions hurting

    AFP - Wed, May 23, 2012

    Syrian forces tried to storm the rebel bastion of Rastan on Wednesday under cover of heavy gunfire, shelling and rocket bombardment, reports said, as Damascus admitted sanctions were biting hard. More »Syria assails rebel town, admits sanctions hurting

  • U.S. confirms powers made detailed proposal to Iran

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department confirmed on Wednesday major powers unveiled a detailed proposal laying out steps Iran could take to build confidence that its nuclear program is solely peaceful at talks in Baghdad. "The EU3+3 side put forward a detailed proposal which includes confidence-building measures that can pave the way for Iran to demonstrate that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington. ... More »U.S. confirms powers made detailed proposal to Iran

  • Kuwait cancels parliament session after govt no show

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    KUWAIT (Reuters) - A meeting of Kuwait's parliament was cancelled on Wednesday when the cabinet boycotted the session after a row over plans by opposition lawmakers to quiz the embattled finance minister. Local media and analysts say Finance Minister Mustapha al-Shamali may step down rather than face a vote of no confidence and risk triggering a deeper political crisis. The minister was not available for comment on Wednesday when contacted by telephone, but a senior government official said Shamali would go through with the questioning session. ... More »Kuwait cancels parliament session after govt no show

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