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Vladimir Putin has made clear that he will not budge an inch on Syria ahead of an EU-Russia summit. Speaking in separate press events in Berlin and Paris on Friday (1 June), the Russian leader ruled out lifting his UN Security Council veto on economic sanctions or military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad. He also blamed civilian deaths on opposition forces and denied that Russia is selling weapons to Damascus. "Russia does not provide weapons that could be used in a civil conflict," he said in the German capital. … He also criticized Western adventurism in general, noting that...

Nicolas Sarkozy is said to be "bored" after spending a three-week post-election break with his wife and children in Morocco in which he was constantly on the phone to politicians back in France, according to reports. Mr Sarkozy, his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and their daughter Giulia, returned to Paris on Saturday, where he was spotted jogging in the Bois de Boulogne, after unwinding at King Mohammed VI's expense in one of his luxury private residences in Marrakesh. The Right-winger intends to remain "durably discreet" after losing to Socialist François Hollande in his presidential re-election bid on May 6, one of...

After a Spanish exit from the euro, there would be nothing left to exit from. I’ve never actually heard the term “total emergency” before, at least not in the context of global economics. It sounds like the title of a disaster movie. When it is uttered in sober tones by the elder statesman of an advanced democracy to describe his country’s financial condition, the effect is rather startling. The man who delivered this apocalyptic judgment, former Spanish prime minister Felipe González, being a socialist, might be expected to detest austerity programmes that require cuts to government spending. But there seemed...

Armenia appears to be intensifying integration into the European Union, despite Moscow’s unease over the growing EU presence in its former Soviet backyard. The authorities in Yerevan are particularly keen to conclude a far-reaching “association agreement” that will lead, among other things, to a permanent free trade regime with the EU. Armenian leaders are also increasingly asserting their commitment to “European standards,” with promises to hold democratic elections and carry out other wide-ranging reforms. Serzh Sargsyan at the European People's Party conference President Serzh Sargsyan highlighted that stance with his participation on December 7, as a “guest of honor,” during...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Spain is fast becoming the biggest threat to Europe's shared currency as the cash-strapped government struggles to contain a growing banking crisis. The depth of Spain's banking crisis was exposed late last week after the government announced a €19 billion rescue of one of the nation's top lenders, Bankia. The move raised worries that Spanish banks face larger-than-expected losses on bad loans stemming from the collapse of the nation's housing bubble. But the Spanish government does not have the money to bail out the entire banking sector, which analysts say could cost upwards of €100 billion....

Time Bomb? Banks Pressured to Buy Government Debt CNBC, NETNET, NET NET, EUROPE DEBT, GREEK DEBT, EUROPEAN DEBT CRISIS, ECB, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK Posted By: Jeff Cox | CNBC.com Senior Writer CNBC.com | 31 May 2012 | 02:42 PM ET US and European regulators are essentially forcing banks to buy up their own government's debt—a move that could end up making the debt crisis even worse, a Citigroup analysis says. Regulators are allowing banks to escape counting their country's debt against capital requirements and loosening other rules to create a steady market for government bonds, the study says. While that...

The head of Greece’s Radical Left Coalition, whose strong gains in last month’s elections deepened concerns over his country’s future in the European single currency, vowed Friday to cancel Greece’s international bailout agreement if he wins an upcoming repeat ballot. Alexis Tsipras, whose Syriza party came second in the inconclusive May 6 polls, said there was no way to partially implement the terms of the bailout that the heavily indebted country has come to rely on to pay its way.

Once again, a European government is standing up and declaring that public sector and private-sector bondholders mustn't suffer. But why not? Bondholders suffer all the time when the companies whose debt they purchase fail. Stockholders get wiped out first, and then the bondholders take a hit, with those holding unsecured bonds getting hit first. That's how capitalism and markets work.

The US has joined ranks with EU officials exploring ways to pump eurozone money directly into Spain's troubled banks instead of having to further burden the state budget. "We were talking about the possibility that the banks, not only Spain's but also in other countries who need it, could access funds directly without intervention from the governments and without conditions," said Spanish deputy PM Soraya Saenz de Santamaria after meeting US finance minister Timothy Geithner in Washington on Thursday (31 May). "The treasury secretary indicated that we are working in the same direction and that we must find a solution...

The True Finn Party in Finland has broken through the left-liberal consensus to take second place in the polls, reminding voters that Finland is not just a geographical area but a country defined by language, culture, and history, a country that has been defended at great cost against the Soviet desire to absorb it and which is now, thanks to the European Union, being robbed of its savings in order to replenish the pockets of Mediterranean kleptocrats. Finns have revealed that they don’t like being manipulated by political elites outside the country. They want to show the world that Finland...

'Beware a rerun of the Great Panic of 2008': Head of World Bank warns Europe is heading for 'danger zone' as world markets suffer bleakest day of the year so far Robert Zoellick: 'Far from clear leaders ready for impending catastrophe' Raft of dismal news from around world wreaked havoc on market Manufacturing output crashed in Britain, jobless up in Europe and U.S. Fast-emerging economies such as Brazil and China running out of steam By Hugo Duncan PUBLISHED: 15:49 GMT, 1 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:52 GMT, 1 June 2012 The head of the World Bank yesterday warned that financial...

The course of events in the republic of Ingushetia, the smallest and youngest republic of the Russian Federation, has changed dramatically over the past two years. In particular, changes were seen in the confrontation between the armed opposition, the Sharia jamaat and the pro-Moscow authorities, namely republican head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov. The jihadists call the republic the Velayat of Ingushetia within the Caucasus Emirate. Head of the Ingushetia republic, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov There has been an overall decline in the number of armed clashes in Ingushetia since 2010, primarily the result of the Russian security services successfully planting a mole at the...

French President Says Syria's Assad Has To Go June 1 2012 SYLVIE CORBET — France's president said Friday that only the departure of Bashar Assad would end the violence in Syria, saying his regime had acted in an "intolerable way." Francois Hollande, who was elected in May, again advocated for pressure and sanctions to force out the Syrian leader, continuing France's tough line on the country, where an anti-government uprising has raged for more than a year. "The regime of Bashar Assad has conducted itself in an unacceptable, intolerable way and has committed acts that disqualify it" from power, Hollande...

A follow up to "Is There Really Any Doubt About How Our Enemies Would Vote?"...

  With the right-wing UMP party predicted to lose upcoming parliamentary elections, former interior minister Brice Hortefeux and other French conservatives are embracing recently departed president Nicolas Sarkozy. As conservative leaders in France contemplate a likely defeat in parliamentary elections in June, some among them have rallied around an unlikely figure: defeated former president Nicolas Sarkozy.  The Friends of Nicolas Sarkozy Association was formally established in Paris on Wednesday, fuelling ongoing speculation about the uncertain future of France’s political right. Sarkozy, who lost the May 6 presidential runoff to Socialist rival François Hollande, repeated before and after the vote that he...

The Gemelli Hospital in Rome, owned by the Church, has a hole in theie accounts of one billion. This has been revealed in a letter to Cardinal Bertone: "There is danger of bankruptcy" A few days ago the Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone received a report with devastating content regarding the healthcare operations of the Catholic University of Sacred Heart which controls the Gemelli Hospital, showing a total debt of nearly one billion (750 to banks and 170 million to suppliers), and the risk of a crash is very close. "L'Espresso" has read the confidential memo dated May 17, 2012...

Earlier this week the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project released a major report entitled ‘European Unity on the Rocks’. Its survey, involving more than 9,000 respondents across eight European Union nations as well as the United States, is the stuff of nightmares for EU officials desperately trying to keep the European project together against the backdrop of the biggest economic crisis in Europe since the 1930s. In the words of the report’s authors the European project “is a major casualty of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis,” with deep-seated disillusionment with the European single currency and the broader process of...

So after a nervous night, Enda Kenny will be relieved by the 60% margin of victory in the Irish referendum on the fiscal pact. The Taoiseach's measured welcome for the result reflects his knowledge that this is not the end of Ireland's austerity, nor even the beginning of the end, although like Winston Churchill, Mr. Kenny might hope this is at least the end of the beginning. Having delivered the German Chancellor Angela Merkel a rare bit of good news, Dublin will hope Europe's leaders might reward their decision to stay within the fiscal stability pact with a reciprocal degree...

This is our favorite news item this week, hands down. The Europeans, so enamored by things green that they have implemented subsidies, mandates and regulations that have nearly strangled their economy, have found a way out of their dilemma. “Energy from gas power stations has been rebranded as a green, low-carbon source of power by a €80bn European Union programme, in a triumph of the deep-pocketed fossil fuel industry lobby over renewable forms of power,” reports the Guardian in Great Britain. There you have it. To make the green quota, simply reclassify a fossil fuel as green enough. Voila! ....

Earlier this week the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project released a major report entitled ‘European Unity on the Rocks’. Its survey, involving more than 9,000 respondents across eight European Union nations as well as the United States, is the stuff of nightmares for EU officials desperately trying to keep the European project together against the backdrop of the biggest economic crisis in Europe since the 1930s. In the words of the report’s authors the European project “is a major casualty of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis,” with deep-seated disillusionment with the European single currency and the broader process of...

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called on European politicians to come up with a vision for the euro zone for the years ahead to better tackle the region's debt crisis and to restore confidence, with greater centralization of financial sector regulation as the first possible step. "The sooner the vision is clarified the better for the European Union," Draghi said Thursday at a hearing in front of the European Parliament's Committee of Monetary and Financial Affairs. More centralized banking supervision is necessary for large banking groups that are systemically significant for the financial sector of a country, he said....

"It's all change at Bilderberg this year, with a new chairman, new media and Occupy Bilderberg knocking at the gates."... "Aside from the US presidency, the big debate of Bilderberg 2012 is likely to be: what in Hades do we do about Greece? The Eurozone is Bilderberg's biggest project, but it's been looking distinctly shaky of late. What's to be done? You can feel the unwillingness of Bilderberg to countenance a 'Grexit' ..." 'A consensus is slowly emerging that, whether a Greek exit is to be averted or weathered, there will have to be a greater level of integration in...

The European Union criticized Iran on Wednesday for an "alarming" increase in the use of the death penalty this year, calling on Tehran to introduce a moratorium on executions. "According to the latest data, compiled from a number of sources, the rate of executions in Iran during the first 5 months of 2012 confirmed the country as one of the world's leading users of the death penalty," a spokesman for the EU's foreign policy chief said. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is "deeply concerned by the alarming increase", the spokesman said. Ashton is leading negotiations between six global powers...

While the leaders of member countries were meeting in Brussels at an extraordinary summit on growth, the European Parliament approved the tax on financial transactions, known as Tobin tax, by 487 votes (152 against, with 46 abstentions). “The joint resolution of Parliament—whose opinion on the subject is only advisory—approves a proposal from the European Commission presented in September 2011,” reports La Tribune, mentioning that it will not come into force before the end of 2014. …Nine countries, including Germany and France, are defending bringing in the tax, but others, like Britain, are opposed because they fear it will provoke financial...

The United States will accelerate the resettlement of about 7,000 Iraqis referred by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and will contribute $18 million to the agency's appeal for Iraq, about one-third of the total, Undersecretary of State Paula J. Dobriansky said Wednesday. — Washington Post, 2/15/07 I hope it won't be thought impertinent, over-inquisitive, or — Heaven forfend! — mean-spirited of me to ask, but: Just what, exactly, are these refugees seeking refuge from? Us? A few more questions come to mind. Let us suppose, for example, that Sergeant John Q. American, a serving member of the U.S. armed...

Euro-zone Crisis Will Hit Russia Hard Economics / Russia May 28, 2012 - 07:38 AM By: Pravda The political collapse in Greece and Moody's downgrade of the rankings of 16 Spanish banks at once have led to the decline in stock indexes all over the world. In Russia, the head of the Central Bank, Sergei Ignatiev, showed an optimistic reaction to such unpleasant news. Making a speech at the government last week, the official urged everyone not to panic. According to him, Russia is prepared to the crisis much better than it was four years ago. Economists say, though, that...

Oil rose above $107 per barrel on Monday as fears of a euro zone break-up receded but Middle East oil supply worries resurfaced after minimal progress in talks over Iran's nuclear programme. Opinion polls suggested Greece's pro-bailout conservatives could win elections on June 17, keeping the country in the euro zone and making a swift collapse of the currency bloc less likely. Fears of a war in the Gulf that could threaten global oil supplies have returned after world powers failed to convince Iran last week to halt its most sensitive nuclear work. Tension between Iran and the West remains...

The European Parliament's chief criticised Turkey Monday for threatening to freeze ties with the EU when the bloc's rotating presidency shifts to Cyprus, which Ankara does not recognise as a sovereign state. "I criticise this. This is not possible," said Martin Schulz, the European Parliament's president, who is in Ankara for an official visit. "I take note that a candidate state says to us we will not negotiate during the presidency of a member state of the European Union," he said. Cyprus takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU on July 1, and Turkey has threatened to freeze...

Book Review of The Genocide of the Ottoman GreeksStudies on the State Sponsored Campaign of Extermination of the Christians of Asia Minor (1912-1922) and Its Aftermath: History, Law, Memory Edited by Tessa Hofmann, Matthias Bjørnlund and Vasileios Meichanetsidis ORDERS: Caratzas web site: http://www.caratzas.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=531 BOOK REVIEW by Modern Tokyo TimesThe Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks (www.caratzas.com) is a book which digs deep into the deplorable actions of the dying embers of the Ottoman Empire and the foundation of the Turkish Republic which systematically annihilated various Christian communities. These various Christian communities were the indigenous people and suffered such brutality because of...

Over the week Italy remembered those courageous souls who gave their lives in challenging the Mafia. Placido Rizzotto, a union leader killed sixty years ago by Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia, received a state funeral yesterday after his remains recently were discovered in a cave as reported by Alan Johnston for BBC News: "Italian President Giorgio Napolitano was in attendance to see him being buried in the place where he made his stand - in Corleone." And on Wednesday, in marking the 20th anniversary of the assassination of anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, Prime Minister Mario Monti urged the country's...

Fianna Fáil's infamous bank guarantee was as much about other European countries as it was about Ireland, the party admitted today. Party leader Micheál Martin has said for the first time that Irish taxpayers were left with a €34-billion ($42.6 billion) bill for basket case Anglo Irish Bank because the Government felt pressure to save the currency. "We did it for the euro," he told the Herald. The admission is unlikely to sit easy with the public, who have been hit with constant austerity since October 2008. But Martin said today that the other eurozone countries "owe Ireland". However, he...

The advent of a new administration in Paris has shifted the balance of power in the European Union away from Berlin and German austerity — a development that has been welcomed in Athens as a source of renewed hope and a light at the end of the tunnel for the Greek population. by Giorgos Malouhos With regard to what we have seen in recent years, something changed at yesterday’s extraordinary summit: there were no “guidelines” prepared a few hours in advance by the German chancellor and the French president. François Hollande did not adhere to the “tradition” established by Nicolas...

Europe’s Greek tragedy has now entered its final act, with potentially fateful consequences for the global economy—and for Barack Obama, whose reelection may hinge on the decisions of Germany in the coming weeks. The 2012 election will pivot on the public’s evaluation of the president’s economic stewardship, and a perceptible decline in the U.S. growth rate—which a badly handled Greek exit from the Eurozone would cause—could easily spell the difference between victory and defeat. Obama’s fate, then, may well lie in Angela Merkel’s hands. That doesn’t mean, though, that there’s nothing he can do about it. What are the economic...

Supporters of independence for Scotland will launch on Friday what they say is the biggest grassroots campaign in Scottish history, a move that could result in the demise of a 305-year-old union with England and the breakup of Britain. Seeking to tap into a cocktail of historical rivalry, opposing political tastes, and a perception that the British parliament in London does not nurture Scotland's national interests, the "Yes Scotland" campaign says it wants to win a referendum on independence in 2014 and for the country to become fully independent by 2016.

The UK’s double-dip recession is deeper than originally estimated, according to new figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). An updated assessment shows that gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.3% in the first three months of 2012, revised from last month’s initial estimate for the quarter of 0.2%. ...Although last month some analysts believed that the GDP estimate could be revised upwards, today’s second estimate confirms that the UK is in recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock index futures edged higher Friday, taking a cue from Europe as investor hopes appeared to rise for further stimulus action by the European Central Bank as European officials wrestle with a potential Greek exit from the euro zone. Wall Street saw a late-session reversal Thursday to post a mostly positive close after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he expected Greece to remain in the euro zone and that he believed German Chancellor Angela Merkel could be persuaded to accept the introduction of euro bonds.

Trading in the securities of Spanish lender Bankia has been suspended "due to circumstances that may affect the normal share trading," stock market regulator CNMV said on Friday. Bankia will ask the state for more than 15 billion euros ($19 billion) to bail it out when its new management team presents a restructuring plan on Friday, a financial sector source said late on Thursday.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International, in its annual State of the World Human Rights report, lambasts the UN Security Council for being “tired, out of step and increasingly unfit for purpose.” It highlighted the failure to take stronger action in Syria as evidence that a “sclerotic” council was hamstrung by vested interests. …

This week everyone is talking about the possible Greek exit from the euro and the apparently appealing idea of "why not Spain?". Let's press the reset button and start over. The Greek state, which has more public employees than Spain with four times fewer inhabitants, wasted bailout after bailout and continues delaying reforms, saying that "they'll come, be patient". And now, some demand breaking the agreement-yes-after having accepted the money. One thing is to belong to the European club with its obligations and rights, and another is to demand to participate only for the party and not to collect the...

Ok; I’ll admit that shipping Obama off to be president of Europe isn’t a very original idea. But still it bears repeating at this critical time because: 1) I don’t like Old Europe very much; 2) Under socialists it just got older; 3) Obama’s work is done here and the Mothership looks like it ran out of “green” fuel on 2008; and 4) Europe’s response to their reckless spending problem happens to be…BEGGING for more reckless spending. And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather see steward Europe’s newest, bestest, reckless stimulus plan than our first King-of-the-World: Barack Hussein Obama....

'First girlfriend': Valerie Trierweiler has been given an official title and her own team of civil servants and security She declared she would not copy the high profile of her predecessor Carla Bruni. But now Valerie Trierweiler has been given an official title and her own team of half-a-dozen civil servants and bodyguards at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Despite not being married to the new president Francois Hollande, she will be known as the The First Lady of France. Ms Trierweiler, 47, a twice-married mother of three, also has her own page on the French presidency’s website. An official...

European Union nations will be able to compensate some big energy users, including steel and aluminum producers, for extra costs resulting from changes to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) beginning next year, the Commission confirmed yesterday (22 May). A draft last month had already shown EU member states from 2013 would be able to shield big industry, to try to prevent so-called carbon leakage, which happens when rising costs drive business out of Europe. "If production shifts from the EU to third countries with less environmental regulation, this could undermine our objective of a global reduction of greenhouse gas...

The Prime Minister said Britain should be able to decide whether its tens of thousands of prisoners vote, rather than a "foreign court". He backed MPs for last year deciding to keep the 140-year-old ban on prisoner voting, even though the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that this must be changed.

The Bank of England should cut interest rates, print more money and ease the regulatory pressure on banks as part of a radical set of measures to return Britain to recovery, the International Monetary Fund has urged. In an unusually alarmist annual assessment of the UK, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said that "growth is too slow and unemployment too high, and policies to bolster demand before low growth becomes entrenched are needed" Warning that weak growth was putting the country at risk of permanently high unemployment, the Bretton Woods institution called for swift and co-ordinated action between the Bank...

A statement issued by the European Union on Tuesday seemed to suggest it supports Palestinian Authority Arabs’ rights to throw stones during non-violent protests. The statement, released on Tuesday by the spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, criticized Israel for convicting PA Arab Bassem Tamimi of dispatching stone-throwers and protesting illegally. An Israeli court convicted Tamimi on Sunday, according to an AFP report. The 45-year-old was charged with soliciting stone-throwing based on evidence that he directed such incidents from the roof-tops. He was arrested on March 24, 2011, AFP reported,...

The euro zone isn't the only economy reeling from "failed states." The United States has several of its own — most notably California and Illinois. According to the CIA's world factbook, California's economy is the ninth largest in the world with a gross state product of $1.9 trillion. Illinois' economy is the world's 23rd largest economy with a gross state product of nearly $630 billion. These are impressive figures, to be sure, but both states have seen their global position slip in recent years — and further erosion is likely thanks to poor fiscal stewardship and anti-competitive tax increases. Both...

The European Commission has said it will soon bring forward plans for an economic and political union it says is necessary for the creation of debt-mutualizing eurobonds—one of the most controversial proposed solutions to the current eurozone crisis. "We need to reflect what kind of European union would be required to deepen economic and political integration, for instance so that joint issuance of debt would make sense for all member states sharing the single currency," economics commissioner Olli Rehn told MEPs on Tuesday (22 May). He said the commission would "soon" come up with a "medium to long term roadmap"...

Euro-zone Politicians Polishing The Brass On The Titanic Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis May 22, 2012 - 06:09 AM By: Graham Summers France and other, weaker EU members have begun pushing for “growth.” This in of itself reveals how clueless the political elite in the EU are (economic growth in Europe is synonymous with living beyond one’s means and/or living off of others… the very policies that have lead to the EU Crisis). Indeed, this shift from focusing on austerity to growth is really just a switch from one side of a coin to the other… without actually addressing the...

As The Telegraph’s Tom Whitehead reports, prisoners in the UK must be given the right to vote following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). If the British government complies with this ruling, it will do so in the face of huge parliamentary and public opposition, with MPs voting against such a measure by 243 to 22 last February. This is an appalling ruling from a supranational court in Strasbourg that does not possess an ounce of democratic credibility. Americans would never accept the judgment of a foreign court over their own domestic affairs, and nor should...

We keep hearing that Greece cannot impose exchange and capital controls – as Iceland did – to contain the damage from Drachma Day, restore stability, and prevent a devaluation overshoot. We hear too that Greece would have to leave the EU if it is ejected from/withdraws from the euro. Both assertions are wrong. The European Commission published a study in its 2003 EU Economic Review examining the treaty basis for exchange controls in an emergency. It concluded that states can indeed put up barriers under the Maastricht Treaty: "Among the actions that can be undertaken when a member state experiences...