STOCKHOLM: The Icelandic central bank struck a deal with the central banks of Sweden, Norway and Denmark on Friday that allows it to buy euros with Icelandic kronur, giving strong support to the island's beleaguered currency. Each swap arrangement is for as much as €500 million, or $774 million, but analysts said it was not the amount that mattered but the deal itself, which underlined how the Icelandic central bank, the Sedlabanki, was actively working on ways to support the currency. The Sedlabanki termed the move a "precautionary measure" while the head of the Swedish Riksbank said central banks had a responsibility to cooperate in times of uncertainty. "This of course is bound to be positive news," said Jon Bentsson, economist at Glitnir in Reykjavik.
STOCKHOLM: The Icelandic central bank struck a deal with the central banks of Sweden, Norway and Denmark on Friday that allows it to buy euros with Icelandic kronur, giving strong support to the island's beleaguered currency.
Each swap arrangement is for as much as €500 million, or $774 million, but analysts said it was not the amount that mattered but the deal itself, which underlined how the Icelandic central bank, the Sedlabanki, was actively working on ways to support the currency.
The Sedlabanki termed the move a "precautionary measure" while the head of the Swedish Riksbank said central banks had a responsibility to cooperate in times of uncertainty.
"This of course is bound to be positive news," said Jon Bentsson, economist at Glitnir in Reykjavik.
It's a disaster waiting to happen, as its Nordic cousins well know.... "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
"A man can steal more money with a briefcase than a man can steal with a gun," as Don Henley informed us. The magnitude increases exponentially if the "man" runs a national bank. Is there any bound on this increase? Perhaps the world money supply? As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Police in France, Germany and the Netherlands detained 10 people on suspicion of having financial ties to an Uzbek group linked to al Qaeda. Eight of the suspects were arrested in the eastern French city of Mulhouse and in the central Rhone region on Friday, May 16, according to a source close to the French investigation. All of the suspects arrested in France were of Turkish origin, the unnamed source told AFP news agency. The arrests in France were coordinated with police in Germany and the Netherlands. Two other suspects were arrested during those raids and police were reportedly searching the suspects' homes Friday. All those arrested were suspected of supporting a funding network that helped finance the group in Uzbekistan, an unnamed French source told Reuters news agency.
Eight of the suspects were arrested in the eastern French city of Mulhouse and in the central Rhone region on Friday, May 16, according to a source close to the French investigation.
All of the suspects arrested in France were of Turkish origin, the unnamed source told AFP news agency.
The arrests in France were coordinated with police in Germany and the Netherlands. Two other suspects were arrested during those raids and police were reportedly searching the suspects' homes Friday.
All those arrested were suspected of supporting a funding network that helped finance the group in Uzbekistan, an unnamed French source told Reuters news agency.
suspicion of having financial ties to an Uzbek group linked to al Qaeda.
How many degrees of separation? In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
That would be the number of degrees between the White House and DW staff. Two? Three at most? As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Global search engine colossus Google has been warned by the EU data protection chief that the "Street View" feature on its Google Maps service could run up against European privacy laws if it launches in EU countries. Street View allows users of Google's online map service to have a full-colour, 360-degree look around city streets. Users can digitally walk up and down the virtual street, which is built from composites of photographs taken by roaming Google cars with roof-mounted cameras. Peter Hustinx, the EU data protection supervisor, told reporters while presenting his annual data protection report on Thursday (15 May) that if Google launched such a feature in Europe, the company would first have to comply with European privacy legislation, which in many member states is stricter than in the United States. "I would encourage Google to think about how to do this," Mr Hustinx said, AP reports. "Making pictures on the street is in many cases not a problem, but making pictures everywhere is certainly going to create some problems. I'm quite sure they are aware of this."
I've used Google's Street View before, and can't really see how it differs from walking down a street. Member of the Anti-Fabulousness League since 1987.
As friend back in the 60s used to say, "Its not paranoia if they really are out to get you." As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
The European Union is preparing to introduce tough new rules on car advertising, forcing manufacturers to include conspicuous and easily understood information about petrol consumption and emissions. The new line follows the EU's decision to exert ever-greater control on the way that tobacco, alcohol and food products can be advertised, counterbalancing the claims and sales lines of advertisers with warnings about the health implications of their products. Details of the proposal to compel car manufacturers to own up to the carbon footprint of their vehicles will be unveiled by the end of the month, after which the politicians and car industry representatives will discuss them for the first time. As well as spelling out the environmental implications of the cars, the draft regulations are said by Der Spiegel magazine to require manufacturers to put a brake on the prose and the images used to imprint the desirability of their latest models. Any reference to sportiness will apparently be frowned on.The target of the new rules is obviously the gas-guzzler, and as the country that produces the great majority of Europe's luxury cars - including those driven by the chauffeurs of most European Commissioners - the German industry is already up in arms about the restrictions.
The European Union is preparing to introduce tough new rules on car advertising, forcing manufacturers to include conspicuous and easily understood information about petrol consumption and emissions.
The new line follows the EU's decision to exert ever-greater control on the way that tobacco, alcohol and food products can be advertised, counterbalancing the claims and sales lines of advertisers with warnings about the health implications of their products.
Details of the proposal to compel car manufacturers to own up to the carbon footprint of their vehicles will be unveiled by the end of the month, after which the politicians and car industry representatives will discuss them for the first time. As well as spelling out the environmental implications of the cars, the draft regulations are said by Der Spiegel magazine to require manufacturers to put a brake on the prose and the images used to imprint the desirability of their latest models. Any reference to sportiness will apparently be frowned on.
The target of the new rules is obviously the gas-guzzler, and as the country that produces the great majority of Europe's luxury cars - including those driven by the chauffeurs of most European Commissioners - the German industry is already up in arms about the restrictions.
Is any manufacturer willing to say that it wants to hide the emissions of its cars? Or to say that emissions are a good thing?
This should be a no brainer. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
What they never mentioned was that it became CO2 in next to no time and had little effect on the streetside atmosphere.
But it was cheaper to install catalytic converters than to seriously change the way petrol is burnt in cars to remove NO, NO2, SO, SO2, which are pretty noxious at all times. Nobody mentioned that.
Score for the industry. keep to the Fen Causeway
Or to say that emissions are a good thing?
Well, they don't need to be. In a hydrogen based transportation economy the emissions, water, could easily be collected during transport and then released where it is most valuable. It may not be worth doing in most climates but remains a possibility. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
BERLIN: Wrapping up a five-day visit to Russia, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told President Dmitri Medvedev on Friday that German industry was prepared to help modernize the Russian economy and reduce its dependence on energy and commodities as the main engines for the country's recent growth. But there was a noticeable absence in Steinmeier's packed itinerary, which started in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Monday night and ended Friday in St. Petersburg, home of Vladimir Putin, the former president who was sworn in as prime minister last week. At the last moment, Putin canceled his meeting with Steinmeier, citing protocol reasons and the need to focus on domestic issues, according to German officials who were quick to play down the significance of the schedule change. Analysts, however, suggested that Putin wanted to give at least some of the limelight to Medvedev. His role as a president capable of setting policy independent of Putin's influence has been constantly questioned since he was promoted by Putin for the presidency and therefore owes his position to his patron. Steinmeier's talks with Medvedev in Moscow were the first with a foreign diplomat that the Russian president has conducted at home since taking office. The fact that Steinmeier was the first in the Kremlin to meet Medvedev - and is not even a government leader - confirms the importance Russia places on its relationship with Germany, particularly with the Social Democrats, Steinmeier's party.
BERLIN: Wrapping up a five-day visit to Russia, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told President Dmitri Medvedev on Friday that German industry was prepared to help modernize the Russian economy and reduce its dependence on energy and commodities as the main engines for the country's recent growth.
But there was a noticeable absence in Steinmeier's packed itinerary, which started in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Monday night and ended Friday in St. Petersburg, home of Vladimir Putin, the former president who was sworn in as prime minister last week. At the last moment, Putin canceled his meeting with Steinmeier, citing protocol reasons and the need to focus on domestic issues, according to German officials who were quick to play down the significance of the schedule change.
Analysts, however, suggested that Putin wanted to give at least some of the limelight to Medvedev. His role as a president capable of setting policy independent of Putin's influence has been constantly questioned since he was promoted by Putin for the presidency and therefore owes his position to his patron.
Steinmeier's talks with Medvedev in Moscow were the first with a foreign diplomat that the Russian president has conducted at home since taking office.
The fact that Steinmeier was the first in the Kremlin to meet Medvedev - and is not even a government leader - confirms the importance Russia places on its relationship with Germany, particularly with the Social Democrats, Steinmeier's party.
Portugal's parliament has voted to introduce contentious changes to the Portuguese language in order to spell hundreds of words the Brazilian way. The agreement standardises numerous spellings and adds three letters - k, w and y - to the alphabet. A large majority of lawmakers backed government proposals to phase in the changes during the next six years. But a petition against the move was signed by 33,000 people who argue it is a capitulation to Brazilian influence. Proponents counter the move will make the language more uniform globally, making such things as internet searches and legal documents easier to understand.
Portugal's parliament has voted to introduce contentious changes to the Portuguese language in order to spell hundreds of words the Brazilian way.
The agreement standardises numerous spellings and adds three letters - k, w and y - to the alphabet.
A large majority of lawmakers backed government proposals to phase in the changes during the next six years.
But a petition against the move was signed by 33,000 people who argue it is a capitulation to Brazilian influence.
Proponents counter the move will make the language more uniform globally, making such things as internet searches and legal documents easier to understand.
Once they governed an empire, their crusaders and missionaries spreading the faith to newly discovered corners of the world. Today the Catholics of Spain are an angry and fearful group, convinced that the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero wants to oust them from public life. The Socialists are "engaged in a brutal assault on the Catholic Church on many fronts", says Elena Fernández-Trapiella, a Madrid-based public relations executive with three sons in primary school. "They are attacking the very Christian foundations of Spain." Like many Catholic parents she is particularly concerned about the Government's new citizenship classes, introduced this academic year amid great controversy. "I am worried because of my children," she says. "They are trying to demolish fundamental pillars of our society that I grew up with, believe in and feel comfortable with. They are leaving us in a moral void."
Once they governed an empire, their crusaders and missionaries spreading the faith to newly discovered corners of the world. Today the Catholics of Spain are an angry and fearful group, convinced that the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero wants to oust them from public life.
The Socialists are "engaged in a brutal assault on the Catholic Church on many fronts", says Elena Fernández-Trapiella, a Madrid-based public relations executive with three sons in primary school. "They are attacking the very Christian foundations of Spain."
Like many Catholic parents she is particularly concerned about the Government's new citizenship classes, introduced this academic year amid great controversy. "I am worried because of my children," she says. "They are trying to demolish fundamental pillars of our society that I grew up with, believe in and feel comfortable with. They are leaving us in a moral void."
Britain's £800m international project to help the poorest countries in the world adapt to climate change was under fire last night after it emerged that almost all the money offered by Gordon Brown will have to be repaid with interest. The UK environmental transformation fund was announced by the prime minister to international acclaim in November 2007, and was widely expected to be made in direct grants to countries experiencing extreme droughts, storms and sea level rise associated with climate change. But the Guardian has learned that the money is not additional British aid and will be administered by the World Bank mainly in the form of concessionary loans which poor countries will have to pay back to Britain with interest. A letter signed by two government ministers and seen by the Guardian shows that Britain has been pressing other G8 countries to also give money to the new fund, which will be launched in July in Japan at the G8's annual meeting.
Britain's £800m international project to help the poorest countries in the world adapt to climate change was under fire last night after it emerged that almost all the money offered by Gordon Brown will have to be repaid with interest.
The UK environmental transformation fund was announced by the prime minister to international acclaim in November 2007, and was widely expected to be made in direct grants to countries experiencing extreme droughts, storms and sea level rise associated with climate change.
But the Guardian has learned that the money is not additional British aid and will be administered by the World Bank mainly in the form of concessionary loans which poor countries will have to pay back to Britain with interest.
A letter signed by two government ministers and seen by the Guardian shows that Britain has been pressing other G8 countries to also give money to the new fund, which will be launched in July in Japan at the G8's annual meeting.
After all, the repayment cashflow is far more lucrative, money that doesn't move goes stagnant, it must constantly churn to be refreshed. Of course a few black people will starve to death, but Bono and Geldof can deal with that. Trebles all round
The most charmless aspect is the pettiness, Brown talks about poverty and compassion, but everything he does is stripped down to a Scrooge-like meanness. keep to the Fen Causeway
Sixty-eight per cent of Italians, fuelled by often inflammatory attacks by the new rightwing government, want to see all of the country's 150,000 Gypsies, many of them Italian citizens, expelled, according to an opinion poll.The survey, published as mobs in Naples burned down Gypsy camps this week, revealed that the majority also wanted all Gypsy camps in Italy to be demolished .About 70,000 Gypsies in Italy hold Italian passports, including about 30,000 descended from 15th-century Gypsy settlers in the country. The remainder have arrived since, many fleeing the Balkans during the 1990s.Another 10,000 Gypsies came from Romania after it joined the European Union in January 2007, according to an Italian human rights organisation, EveryOne, part of the approximately half million Romanians believed to be in Italy.
Sixty-eight per cent of Italians, fuelled by often inflammatory attacks by the new rightwing government, want to see all of the country's 150,000 Gypsies, many of them Italian citizens, expelled, according to an opinion poll.
The survey, published as mobs in Naples burned down Gypsy camps this week, revealed that the majority also wanted all Gypsy camps in Italy to be demolished .
About 70,000 Gypsies in Italy hold Italian passports, including about 30,000 descended from 15th-century Gypsy settlers in the country. The remainder have arrived since, many fleeing the Balkans during the 1990s.
Another 10,000 Gypsies came from Romania after it joined the European Union in January 2007, according to an Italian human rights organisation, EveryOne, part of the approximately half million Romanians believed to be in Italy.
The question that prompted the response was:
Dismantle the camps and expel all Rom from Italy: 68% Activate policies of social integration for Rom: 27% Do nothing and leave things as they are: 1% No opinion: 4% Total: 100%
A similar intollerance is towards "extra-communitarians". 52% would like to see those that do not have a regular job expulsed.
In conclusion the following question was asked:
I consider them one of us and I like them: Rom 4%, Ex-Comm 23% I tollerate them but do not have an excessive negative sentiment towards them: Rom 24%, Ex-Comm 45% I would like to see the state chase them out of Italy: Rom 41%, Ex-Comm 10% I'm afraid: Rom 27%, Ex-Comm 15% No opinion: Rom: 4%, Ex-Comm 7% Total: 100%
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: The Dutch government, famous for liberalism on issues of personal morality, announced plans Friday to criminalize the visiting of prostitutes who are not officially licensed. The Justice Ministry said the move is necessary to force better compliance with the country's legalized prostitution policy. At the same time, authorities will compel prostitutes to be registered in a national database "before they may offer sexual services." "There are still too many problems in the prostitution sector, including human trafficking," the Justice Ministry said in a statement. Prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since 2000, when a long-standing tolerance policy was formalized.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: The Dutch government, famous for liberalism on issues of personal morality, announced plans Friday to criminalize the visiting of prostitutes who are not officially licensed.
The Justice Ministry said the move is necessary to force better compliance with the country's legalized prostitution policy.
At the same time, authorities will compel prostitutes to be registered in a national database "before they may offer sexual services."
"There are still too many problems in the prostitution sector, including human trafficking," the Justice Ministry said in a statement.
Prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since 2000, when a long-standing tolerance policy was formalized.
Chatting to union leaders after the Yvette Cooper meeting, they were both angry and perplexed. Unions cannot understand why the Treasury clings to the belief that public sector pay rises fuel inflation. There is no evidence to support such a link and very few reputable economists would argue for it. With pay deals in the private sector currently running at 4% or more, it makes no sense to claim that a rise in public sector pay would fuel inflation.
This is yet another collision of the "reform" propaganda with reality.
