A new report says that joining the eurozone has proved to be a "damaging step" for Ireland now facing further economic decline.

The study is published just a few days before Irish citizens will have a chance to vote on the eurozone fiscal discipline pact.

The Irish go to the polls on 31 May to give their verdict on the controversial deal thrashed out by EU leaders.

Called "Ireland and the euro - A journey without a map", the study argues that the decision to join the EU currency union has proved to be "damaging for the Irish economy and development of the country".

It goes on to warn that "without taking necessary action the future of Ireland is likely to be one of unrelieved economic decline marked by plunging living standards, mass unemployment and emigration".

The study was published in Brussels by a right-leaning think tank, "New Direction - The Foundation for European Reform."

The EU has been accused of not allowing a wine to be called wine because it is made from grapes sourced outside the EU.

According to EU law, an English wine produced in Kent by Chapel Down & Wines of Argentina cannot be classified as a wine.

This is despite it being made of Malbec grapes air-freighted to the UK from Argentina.

As a result, the wine owner has been told he must call it a "fruit derived alcoholic beverage from produce sourced outside the EU".

...The ruling has been attacked by UKIP leader Nigel Farage who hosted a "non-wine" tasting event in parliament to highlight the issue.

Farage said, "This must be one of the most ridiculous EU stories of the year. It is up there with bendy bananas."

...Further comment from UKIP member Roger Helmer who said, "It is about time the EU backed off and left the English language to the English."

Oh, it's an English language problem?

Downing Street has played down suggestions of a rift between David Cameron and Francois Hollande ahead of their first face-to-face meeting.

Downing Street said the talks are "not awkward" despite Mr Cameron's backing for Mr Hollande's opponent in the recent French presidential election.

The prime minister had earlier praised the newly elected Socialist president's deficit reduction plans.

He was speaking ahead of the G8 summit in the United States.

The leaders of the G8 group of the world's most powerful economies say they want debt-stricken Greece to remain in the eurozone.

In their summit communique, G8 leaders also committed themselves to promoting growth alongside fiscal responsibility.

However, the leaders acknowledged "the right measures are not the same for each of us".

Greece's possible exit from the eurozone was high on the agenda, following inconclusive elections there.

A bomb exploded in front of a girls' school in southern Italy, killing a 16-year-old girl and wounding seven others with suspicion quickly falling on the local Mafia.

The explosion, near the entrance of a school named after the wife of murdered anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, occurred as girls were arriving for the start of the school day, which in Italy includes Saturdays.

Authorities said at least two gas canisters appeared to have been placed in or near rubbish containers at the school on Saturday, which local media said was located near the main court in Brindisi, a port city on the "heel" of the Italian peninsula.

"This is a tragedy," Mimmo Consales, the mayor of Brindisi, told SkyTG24 television.

There was no claim of responsibility and no indication of who had planted the bomb, but initial suspicions were directed at the local mafia, known as the United Sacred Crown.

Consales noted that the incident occurred just a few days before the 20th anniversary of the murder of Falcone and his wife, Francesca Morvillo, by a bomb in Sicily on May 23, 1992.

An anti-Mafia march had been planned in Brindisi later in the day.

(Reuters) - Troubles at Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE) aren't just bad news for the company, its staff and shareholders. They're also a warning sign for the small Nordic country's welfare model.

Just as Nokia's sure touch with well-designed, consumer-friendly products seems to have deserted it, fears are growing that Finland, whose reputation for innovation rested largely on the handset maker's success, may be losing its competitive edge.

While Finland remains one of the few triple-A rated countries in the euro zone, its reputation as an egalitarian society with a stellar education system belies worries about a decline in once-mighty export manufacturers and a rapidly ageing population.

For the 5.4 million Finns, the message is stark: prepare for tougher times, later retirement or lower pensions. And for government, the need is to encourage business growth beyond traditional mainstays like forestry while balancing social commitments with economic realities.

On Tuesday Finland reported a second straight monthly current account deficit. For 2011 as a whole, it posted a deficit of 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) due to slower export growth.

(Who are the candidates for the neuro again?)

"Germany #3″ in effect placed the right bet: by locking in chronic devaluers to a currency union (thereby precluding the traditional expedient of currency devaluation to regain export competitiveness), Berlin in effect entrenched Germany's mercantilist model and consolidated the country's dominance as the trade superpower of Europe. The benefits are self-evident, given the contrasting data between Germany and the PIIGS.

...

More to the point [regarding the Hartz reforms], Germany benefited from "first mover advantage": they initiated these reforms in the context of a growing global economy. Demanding such wage repression in the context of a global recession makes such "reform" virtually impossible, to say nothing of the fallacy of composition problems, when all other countries seek to deflate their wages in order to gain the elusive export competitiveness.

...

The German response so far? "Oops. This guy is blackmailing us. What shall we do?" Because Germany as a creditor nation faces huge losses if the entire banking system starts to come under pressure, to say nothing of the end of their vaunted "wirtschaftwunder" as the entire eurozone implodes. Greece, by contrast, has already experienced 5 years of unremitting economic austerity. The country has been virtually reduced to the state of a barter economy. What has it got to lose at this juncture by refusing to roll over to the Troika?

Rome, May 20 (AFP) Panicked people rushed into the streets when a powerful earthquake shook northern Italy early today, killing three people and injuring at least 50, emergency services said. The 5.9-magnitude quake struck around 0730 IST and was felt throughout the northeast of the peninsula, from the Emilia-Romagna region to Venice, with its epicentre at Finale Emilia, 36 kilometres north of Bologna. It took place at a depth of 10 kilometres and lasted around 20 seconds, followed by several aftershocks. Earlier a 4.1-magnitude quake shook the Lombardy region around Milan, Italy's financial and business capital, and was felt in the historic cities of Modena, Mantua, Ferrara and Rovigo. Rescue services said the three fatalities were workers on night shifts.

Un ex ufficiale dell'aeronautica, con un passato vicino ai Servizi, famigliari che vendono bombole di gas e buone conoscenze di ingegneria elettronica. E' una delle piste seguite ieri dagli investigatori, che lo hanno interrogato a lungo, seguendo l'ipotesi del gesto isolato per l'attacco alla scuola. E assieme all'uomo - secondo quanto riferisce Brindisireport.it, il sito che per ieri ha diffuso le prime immagini dell'attentato - ci sarebbe anche una seconda persona interrogata.

an ex airforce officer, with a past connection to secret service, family members in the gas cylinder business and good knowledge of electronics, was lengthily interrogated. there are supposedly incriminating pix.

trib ex translate never worked for me, sorry.

The power of knowledge is in mortal combat with the knowledge of power. It really is that simple... That's the Edenic apple we are all munching on.

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In my frequent visits to the United States these days, I am asked most insistently two questions about Europe: "What will happen in 1992?" and "Can a united European market work?" Many Americans are either skeptical about the future of Europe or nervous about it. Some predict that when put to the test a united Europe will quickly splinter under national and local political pressures. Others fear that Europeans will drop their internal trade barriers only to erect a higher new external wall, creating a kind of "Fortress Europe."

I have reason to believe that neither of these doomsday scenarios will come to pass. My hope is not mere irrational optimism, but is rooted firmly in the history of the last forty years. Who would have believed that the very same nations that twice in this century nearly destroyed each other would be as closely united as they are now? If we are able to travel a similar distance in the next forty years, a truly united Europe is well within our grasp.