Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- European Union finance ministers tussled over a plan to cushion their 27-nation economy from the effects of the global recession and may need to revisit the multibillion-euro package later this month. The debate over how much fiscal stimulus EU members can afford and how it should be paid for is fueling tensions between countries as European leaders struggle to coordinate 200 billion euros ($254 billion) in stimulus measures -- equivalent to 1.5 percent of EU economic growth -- without breaking their own budget rules. EU heads of state will discuss the package next week at a summit in Brussels. "There was a reasonable degree of consensus in discussions today, not total consensus unfortunately," EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters in Brussels following today's meeting of finance ministers. Central banks and governments around the world are slashing borrowing costs and boosting spending as the biggest economies slide into the first simultaneous recession since the Second World War. The U.S. economy, the world's largest, entered a recession a year ago, the panel that dates American business cycles said yesterday, making the contraction already the longest since 1982. "We agreed that 1.5 percent of gross domestic product was a necessary figure to launch this recovery plan," French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who led today's meeting, said at the Brussels briefing. "We also agreed that it should include a mixture of national measures as well as European-funded measures."
Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- European Union finance ministers tussled over a plan to cushion their 27-nation economy from the effects of the global recession and may need to revisit the multibillion-euro package later this month.
The debate over how much fiscal stimulus EU members can afford and how it should be paid for is fueling tensions between countries as European leaders struggle to coordinate 200 billion euros ($254 billion) in stimulus measures -- equivalent to 1.5 percent of EU economic growth -- without breaking their own budget rules. EU heads of state will discuss the package next week at a summit in Brussels.
"There was a reasonable degree of consensus in discussions today, not total consensus unfortunately," EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters in Brussels following today's meeting of finance ministers.
Central banks and governments around the world are slashing borrowing costs and boosting spending as the biggest economies slide into the first simultaneous recession since the Second World War. The U.S. economy, the world's largest, entered a recession a year ago, the panel that dates American business cycles said yesterday, making the contraction already the longest since 1982.
"We agreed that 1.5 percent of gross domestic product was a necessary figure to launch this recovery plan," French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who led today's meeting, said at the Brussels briefing. "We also agreed that it should include a mixture of national measures as well as European-funded measures."
BRUSSELS: Alexander Just, a European Union archivist, may not be a coffee connoisseur. But the espresso from a new, state-of-the-art Italian machine at his office tasted strange enough that he was willing to shell out €70 from his own pocket to have it tested. The findings? Astronomically high levels of nickel and elevated amounts of lead. Enough for the European Commission to pull the plug on all 20 of the machines - installed in January at a cost of about €5,000, or $6,350, each. Soon the machines may be removed from the upper floors of the iconic Berlaymont, the building in Brussels where top European Commission officials have their offices. There has been no evidence of anyone getting sick, but the problem is likely to give ammunition to EU critics who complain about excessive spending in Brussels - and trouble the commissioners themselves, who now may have to line up in the cafeterias with thousands of less lofty bureaucrats to get a cup of coffee. A commission spokesman said it was "premature" to comment on whether the EU would need to ask for its money back - a sum amounting to about €100,000. The brouhaha has already degenerated into a court battle involving the Belgian authorities, who issued a Europe-wide health alert in November, and the manufacturer, Cimbali, which said its machines were not to blame.
BRUSSELS: Alexander Just, a European Union archivist, may not be a coffee connoisseur. But the espresso from a new, state-of-the-art Italian machine at his office tasted strange enough that he was willing to shell out €70 from his own pocket to have it tested.
The findings? Astronomically high levels of nickel and elevated amounts of lead. Enough for the European Commission to pull the plug on all 20 of the machines - installed in January at a cost of about €5,000, or $6,350, each.
Soon the machines may be removed from the upper floors of the iconic Berlaymont, the building in Brussels where top European Commission officials have their offices.
There has been no evidence of anyone getting sick, but the problem is likely to give ammunition to EU critics who complain about excessive spending in Brussels - and trouble the commissioners themselves, who now may have to line up in the cafeterias with thousands of less lofty bureaucrats to get a cup of coffee.
A commission spokesman said it was "premature" to comment on whether the EU would need to ask for its money back - a sum amounting to about €100,000. The brouhaha has already degenerated into a court battle involving the Belgian authorities, who issued a Europe-wide health alert in November, and the manufacturer, Cimbali, which said its machines were not to blame.
It sounds very odd that just these machines have the high amounts of contaminant. keep to the Fen Causeway
Cimbali has certified its factory production processes according to ISO 9001 standards. Its products are accredited by major international organizations including TUV and UL. Furthermore they comply with the most rigorous international hygiene and sanitation authorities including NSF and ETL. The Cimbali product range is RoHS compliant. Moreover, the company is in process of certifying its environmental management system to ISO 14001 standards. Cimbali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cimbali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
i'm amazed that China is not mentioned once in the article nor in the Wikipedia entry. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
Sure, it's state of the art . . . but damn . . .
[On seeing the UFO in the Area51 secret government lab] President Thomas Whitmore: I don't understand, where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this? Julius Levinson: You don't actually think they spend $20,000.00 on a hammer, $30,000.00 on a toilet seat do you?
President Thomas Whitmore: I don't understand, where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this?
Julius Levinson: You don't actually think they spend $20,000.00 on a hammer, $30,000.00 on a toilet seat do you?
Where are we hiding our UFO ? keep to the Fen Causeway
It's the last place on Earth conspiracy theorists would expect to find a crashed UFO research facility.
Obviously there's a story we're not being told here.
SARAJEVO: Several thousand demonstrators took to the streets of Pristina, Kosovo's capital, on Tuesday to protest the planned deployment of a European Union judicial mission that many ethnic Albanians fear will partition the new country. The protesters marched through the city center holding banners saying "No Partition" and "Kosovo Is Ours," witnesses said. Some chanted "Thaci is a traitor," referring to Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaci. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership declared independence from Serbia in February after nine years of being administered by the United Nations. At issue now is who will control the country. Under a six-point plan agreed to last week by the United Nations Security Council - and backed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Belgrade and the European Union - the 2,000-strong EU mission would be deployed under a UN mandate and would take a neutral position regarding Kosovo's independence.
SARAJEVO: Several thousand demonstrators took to the streets of Pristina, Kosovo's capital, on Tuesday to protest the planned deployment of a European Union judicial mission that many ethnic Albanians fear will partition the new country.
The protesters marched through the city center holding banners saying "No Partition" and "Kosovo Is Ours," witnesses said. Some chanted "Thaci is a traitor," referring to Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaci.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership declared independence from Serbia in February after nine years of being administered by the United Nations.
At issue now is who will control the country. Under a six-point plan agreed to last week by the United Nations Security Council - and backed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Belgrade and the European Union - the 2,000-strong EU mission would be deployed under a UN mandate and would take a neutral position regarding Kosovo's independence.
Because that's the nearest place that the IHT have bothered to have a press office?
many ethnic Albanians fear will partition the new country
And has anyone been able to make any sense out of this yet?
... the police in the ethnic Albanian areas would report to the EU while Serb police officers in the Serb-dominated northern part of the country would report to the United Nations. <...> A small explosive device was thrown last month at the International Civilian Office that housed the EU's special representative. The police initially believed the attack could have been motivated by discontent with the deployment of the new EU mission. But they then arrested three Germans, thought to be intelligence operatives, in connection with the explosion.The three men - who media outlets in Germany describe as members of the German foreign intelligence agency, the BND - were later released by a UN panel of judges for lack of evidence.Germany was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Kosovo.
... the police in the ethnic Albanian areas would report to the EU while Serb police officers in the Serb-dominated northern part of the country would report to the United Nations. <...>
A small explosive device was thrown last month at the International Civilian Office that housed the EU's special representative. The police initially believed the attack could have been motivated by discontent with the deployment of the new EU mission. But they then arrested three Germans, thought to be intelligence operatives, in connection with the explosion.
The three men - who media outlets in Germany describe as members of the German foreign intelligence agency, the BND - were later released by a UN panel of judges for lack of evidence.
Germany was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Kosovo.
A report by the International Organization for Migration shows that Germany is the number one country of destination for migrants to Europe. The search for employment is at the heart of most movement in the 21st century. Germany hosted 10.1 million migrants in 2005, according to the World Migration Report 2008 by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva. This was an increase from 9.8 million in 2000 and kept Germany in the number one spot as the principal country of destination for migrants. The report published on Tuesday, Dec. 2 said that labor movement made up a substantial share of total migration flows. "People are becoming increasingly mobile within and across borders to meet the social and economic challenges of globalization with the search for employment at the heart of most movement in the 21st century," the report said. Europe's migrant population growing Western and central Europe is one of the most important regions of destination for migratory flows, it said. Within Europe, Germany with its 10.1 million migrants in 2005 is followed by France (6.5 million), the UK (5.4 million), Spain (4.8 million) and Italy (2.5 million) as migrant destinations.
Germany hosted 10.1 million migrants in 2005, according to the World Migration Report 2008 by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva. This was an increase from 9.8 million in 2000 and kept Germany in the number one spot as the principal country of destination for migrants.
The report published on Tuesday, Dec. 2 said that labor movement made up a substantial share of total migration flows.
"People are becoming increasingly mobile within and across borders to meet the social and economic challenges of globalization with the search for employment at the heart of most movement in the 21st century," the report said.
Europe's migrant population growing
Western and central Europe is one of the most important regions of destination for migratory flows, it said. Within Europe, Germany with its 10.1 million migrants in 2005 is followed by France (6.5 million), the UK (5.4 million), Spain (4.8 million) and Italy (2.5 million) as migrant destinations.
The majority of migrants come from within the region or adjacent countries.
(My quote comes from page 457, which also seems to imply that "the majority" means 30%. I don't get it).
Benefit claimants will face lie detector tests and will lose benefits for a month if found guilty of fiddling the system under proposals unveiled by Gordon Brown on the eve of today's Queen's speech. The "one strike and you're out" proposal is contained in a tough summary of the speech released yesterday by the Cabinet Office. The government is also proposing to give the public clearer information, mainly via the internet, on how criminals are sentenced in local courts. Communities are to be given a bigger role in deciding what form of community punishment local criminals should be forced to undertake. The proposals mark a break by the prime minister from his focus on the economic crisis for the past five months and suggest he knows he needs to broaden his political agenda if he is to claw back lost votes. The introduction of a lie detector test for benefit claimants is the most striking shift to a more populist programme, similar to Tony Blair's respect agenda.So far, 25 local councils administering housing benefit to 500,000 claimants are using "voice risk analysis technology" to test whether a claimant is providing false information.The government introduced the technology in Harrow, north-west London, last year, but says it plans to make the technology available nationwide. In the first three months of using the technology Harrow saved £300,000, suggesting that levels of benefit fraud may be higher than government estimates. Ministers are cracking down on benefit fraud even though it is officially at its lowest recorded level, down 66% since 2001.
Benefit claimants will face lie detector tests and will lose benefits for a month if found guilty of fiddling the system under proposals unveiled by Gordon Brown on the eve of today's Queen's speech.
The "one strike and you're out" proposal is contained in a tough summary of the speech released yesterday by the Cabinet Office. The government is also proposing to give the public clearer information, mainly via the internet, on how criminals are sentenced in local courts. Communities are to be given a bigger role in deciding what form of community punishment local criminals should be forced to undertake.
The proposals mark a break by the prime minister from his focus on the economic crisis for the past five months and suggest he knows he needs to broaden his political agenda if he is to claw back lost votes.
The introduction of a lie detector test for benefit claimants is the most striking shift to a more populist programme, similar to Tony Blair's respect agenda.
So far, 25 local councils administering housing benefit to 500,000 claimants are using "voice risk analysis technology" to test whether a claimant is providing false information.
The government introduced the technology in Harrow, north-west London, last year, but says it plans to make the technology available nationwide. In the first three months of using the technology Harrow saved £300,000, suggesting that levels of benefit fraud may be higher than government estimates. Ministers are cracking down on benefit fraud even though it is officially at its lowest recorded level, down 66% since 2001.
