Tourism Industry in Southern Europe Benefits From Unrest

By RAPHAEL MINDER

ANDORRA — As political turmoil continues to spread across North Africa and other parts of the Arab world, countries in Southern Europe are drawing more visitors and witnessing a rebound in tourism.

That recovery is particularly welcome for Spain, Portugal and Greece, three of the European countries whose economies are most dependent on tourism but have also suffered most since the onset of the world financial crisis. In Greece, the travel sector was also hit last year by strikes that crippled transportation and other labor protests against austerity measures that the government introduced in return for a €110 billion, or $153 billion, international bailout.

Swiss military simulates French attack

The Swiss army carried out a military exercise in August based on the premise of an attack by a fractured, financially stricken France, according to a Lausanne-based daily.

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September 29, 2013

Resignations in Italy Put Government in Crisis

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

ROME — Prime Minister Enrico Letta said that he would call for a confidence vote in Parliament, most likely on Wednesday, to clear up the political uncertainty surrounding his fragile government after the sudden resignation of five ministers belonging to Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right party.

In the vote, “everyone will assume their own responsibility, all above board,” Mr. Letta said on Italian television Sunday night, shortly after meeting with President Giorgio Napolitano to discuss the government crisis prompted by the walkout.

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Berlusconi party members resign from Italy government

By News Wires the 28/09/2013 - 18:56

All ministers belonging to Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party have tendered their resignation from Italy's coalition government, Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano said Saturday, plunging the country deeper into political crisis.

Centre-right ministers in Italy's fragile coalition government resigned Saturday, throwing the country into a fresh political crisis after Prime Minister Enrico Letta issued what they called an "unacceptable" ultimatum.
All five ministers of the People of Freedom (PDL) party took the decision at the urging of leader Silvio Berlusconi, said Angelino Alfano, Italy's deputy premier and PDL party secretary.
The flamboyant former prime minister had dismissed as "unacceptable" a demand by Letta on Friday for parliament to express support for the government next week, in a bid to end a crisis that has driven the bickering ruling coalition to the brink of collapse.
Letta told a cabinet meeting, tasked with approving key measures to rein in the recession-hit country's budget deficit, that no further legislation would be enacted until the political crisis was resolved.
The cabinet had convened to determine how to delay a controversial planned rise in its value added tax, but the meeting ended in disarray amid escalating tension over Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction.
"I have no intention of limping along or being the subject of continuous threats," Letta said in a statement.
Stressing "the inescapable need to clarify the political situation in parliament", he said a temporary "stop to every government decision, even on tax or economic themes, cannot be avoided."
Berlusconi allies had threatened to resign from the uneasy five-month-old coalition with the centre-left Democratic Party over the media mogul's legal problems.
Letta said Italy could not commit "to measures worth billions of euros without a guarantee on the government's continuity."
The premier was expected to ask parliament to assure its support from as early as Monday.
Berlusconi's loyalists threatened to resign if a special Senate committee votes to oust the 76-year-old from his seat in the upper house following his conviction, which was upheld by Italy's top court in August.
The committee is set to meet on Friday, when Berlusconi supporters have announced they will take to the streets of Rome in protest.
The billionaire's legal team has reportedly suggested that any decision about removing him from parliament should wait until the European Court of Human Rights rules on his argument that he should be exempt from the relevant law because it should not apply for convictions on crimes committed before its adoption, as in his case.
Letta has repeatedly called for political stability as Italy struggles to emerge from its longest recession since World War II.
The International Monetary Fund warned Friday that tensions within the coalition were a "key risk" for the economy.
Letta's government was cobbled together following a two-month stand-off after an inconclusive general election in February, and while the government has launched major reforms, it has been hobbled by the tensions.
The clash over the VAT hike is just the latest in a long string of bitter differences.
The PDL has been pushing hard for the government to delay the tax rise, but to do so Italy would need to find over 3.0 billion euros ($4.05 billion) to plug the gap and bring the deficit below the EU ceiling.
A plan to fund the delay by increasing fuel taxes sparked anger among members of the centre-right, who said it would punish already hard-hit consumers.
(AFP)

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Source URL: http://www.france24.com/en/20130928-berlusconi-party-members-resign-italy-government

EUROPE

28 September 2013 Last updated at 15:25 ETGreece crackdown: Golden Dawn leader Michaloliakos chargedThe leader of the far-right Golden Dawn party, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, has been formally charged with belonging to a criminal organisation.Four more Golden Dawn MPs, a party leader in an Athens suburb and 15 other people face the same charges.They were arrested on Saturday amid anger over the murder on 18 September of anti-racist musician, Pavlos Fyssas.A man held for the stabbing told police he was a Golden Dawn supporter, though the party strongly denies any link.

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We provide insight into global developments.

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9/19/2013 @ 1:17PM |971 views

Europe: What To Expect After Germany's Elections

 

Map of Europe with flags of Europe and Germany imbedded (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Much of Europe is eagerly anticipating the results of Germany’s Sept. 22 parliamentary elections, but this anticipation may be somewhat misplaced. Of course, Germany’s importance to Europe is well founded. It is Europe’s largest economy and its main bailout creditor to struggling eurozone countries, so Germany’s economic health is vital to the economic health of Europe as a whole.

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Merkel fails to woo voters in Berlin’s ‘Little Istanbul’

By Sébastian SEIBTin BERLIN, Germany the 19/09/2013 - 15:42

German Chancellor Angela Merkel may be favoured to win Sunday's national elections, but in the immigrant-dominated Kreuzberg district of Berlin – better known as "Little Istanbul" – Merkel is not popular.

400,000 person human chain stretching 250 miles for Catalan independence


Photo: RAYMOND ROIG/AFP
By Fiona Govan, Madrid
7:43PM BST 11 Sep 2013

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans joined hands to form a human chain stretching 250
miles across the Mediterranean coast of the north-eastern region to demand independence
from the rest of Spain.
Activists calling for the independance of Catalonia take part in a 'human chain' during a protest in Perthus, southern France.
The mass protest on Catalonia's National Day by people dressed in yellow and waving the regional flag
demonstrated the strength of an Independence movement that is demanding a Scottish-style
referendum.

LATEST UPDATE: 16/09/2013 

- ARMS TRADE - CORRUPTION - FRANCE - FRENCH POLITICS - UMP

French billionaire Senator Dassault ‘paid for votes’

© afp

French Senator and billionaire Serge Dassault paid hundreds of thousands of euros to influence a mayoral election in 2010, according to a French news site that on Sunday presented new evidence “he will be unable to deny”.

LATEST UPDATE: 13/09/2013 

- AKP - DEMONSTRATIONS - TURKEY - UNREST

Fresh clashes between protesters, police in Istanbul

© afp

Police in Istanbul used teargas, water cannons and plastic bullets on Thursday to disperse up to 3,000 people protesting against the death of a demonstrator earlier this week. The clashes came on a second day of unrest in the Kadikoy district.

Greece: Golden Dawn offices raided after stabbing death

September 18, 2013  2:30PM ET

Far-right party investigated after self-described member arrested in fatal-stabbing of anti-fascist activist

Topics:

 

International

 

Europe

 

Greece

Though Golden Dawn members have been blamed for racially-motivated beatings and stabbings, this is the first known politically-motivated attack that can be directly linked to the far-right group.

John Kolesidis/Reuters

Police raided the offices of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party Wednesday after a man who identified himself as a party member was arrested in the fatal stabbing of a 34-year-old musician described as an anti-fascist activist.

While the party has often been blamed for numerous violent attacks in the past, the overnight stabbing is the most serious instance of violence directly attributed to a member of the extremist group.

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September 13, 2013

For Ireland, Long Road to an Exclusive Cricket Club

By HUW RICHARDS

Little is more exasperating to the cricket fan or administrator than a rain delay. But even as stoppages truncated the early stages of Ireland’s match against Scotland in Dublin this past week, Cricket Ireland chief Warren Deutrom could see some saving graces.

“We’ve got a nice group of young fast bowlers coming through,” he said after Craig Young in his debut and 20-year-old Graeme McCarter had ripped through Scotland’s top order, “and that’s very encouraging.”

Their arrival is another step in Ireland’s long, patient progress toward its declared ambition of becoming the 11th member of cricket’s elite — the group of nations permitted to play five-day test matches.

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France cautiously welcomes deal on Syria

By FRANCE 24 the 15/09/2013 - 10:19

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has welcomed a Russian-US deal on dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, calling it “a significant step” ahead of a meeting in Beijing on Sunday with his Chinese counterpart.

Ahead of a bilateral meeting in Beijing on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and his Chinese counterpart welcomed a Russian-US deal on dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal.
Fabius said the deal – which gives Damascus a week to declare the locations of its chemical weapons stockpiles – was “a significant step forward”.
"Only a few days ago, Syria was denying having chemical weapons and having used them," he said. "From now on, we are in a new phase."
Fabius cautioned, however, that there was still a long way to go, calling Saturday's agreement "only a first stage".
Fabius is in Beijing as part of a larger diplomatic push to secure international support for bringing an end to Syria’s two-and-a-half-year civil war.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the deal offered another chance to address the chemical weapons issue “through peaceful means”.

“We believe the framework agreement will ease the current tense situation that may be triggered at any moment in Syria and creates new prospects for resolving the chemical weapon issue in Syria through peaceful means,” Wang said.
Following a third day of intense negotiations in Geneva, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed Saturday on a deal to secure and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons.
Elements of the accord include a mid-2014 deadline for disarmament, an outline of Syria's compliance requirements and a clause stipulating that, if Syria falls short of its commitments, Russia and the United States would jointly seek recourse at the UN Security Council.
But the deal has been categorically rejected by anti-regime rebel forces who warn that it will not bring an end to a civil war that has already killed more than 110,000 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and displaced millions more.
"We cannot accept any part of this initiative," said Free Syrian Army chief General Selim Idriss.
"Are we Syrians supposed to wait until mid-2014, to continue being killed every day and to accept [the deal] just because the chemical arms will be destroyed in 2014?" he asked.
Opposite sides
France, which has strategic and historic interests in the Middle East, firmly backs Syria's opposition rebels and has urged military action following an August 21 chemical attack that both Paris and Washington believe was launched by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In contrast, Russia has blamed the rebels for the attack while Moscow and Beijing have consistently blocked UN resolutions aimed at sanctioning the Assad regime.
A statement on the Foreign Ministry website said that Fabius will be discussing details of the deal’s implementation at a meeting in Paris on Monday with Kerry and British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The ministry statement said  a report by UN inspectors on the chemical weapons attack outside Damascus would also probably be published on Monday.
(FRANCE 24 with wires)

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Source URL: http://www.france24.com/en/20130915-france-fabius-welcomes-usa-russia-deal-syria-chemical-weapons

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In pictures: Costa Concordia shipwreck hauled upright

By News Wires the 17/09/2013 - 07:12

Salvage crews set the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship upright in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after a 19-hour-long operation off Italy’s Giglio island. Thirty-two people were killed when the liner ran aground on January 13, 2012.

Salvage crews completed raising the wreck of the Costa Concordia in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a 19-hour-long operation on the Italian island of Giglio where the huge cruise liner capsized in January last year.

What's Driving Russia's Tactical Change On Syria?

by COREY FLINTOFF

September 11, 2013 5:28 PM

Enlarge image

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Syria to turn over its chemical weapons to avoid a strike by the U.S.

Michael Klimentyev/Ria Novosti/Reuters/Landov

For months, Russia has been playing a defensive game on Syria, blocking U.N. resolutions that could have led to the ouster of its ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad.

But Russia is now on the offense, running with a plan that could avert U.S.-led strikes against Syria by having Syria place its chemical weapons under international control.

So why the change in tactics?

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September 10, 2013

Norway’s New Premier Prepares for Talks With Anti-Immigrant Party

By KATRIN BENNHOLD

LONDON — Norway’s incoming conservative prime minister, Erna Solberg, on Tuesday prepared for tricky coalition talks with an anti-immigrant party jockeying to enter government for the first time.

The fact that the anti-immigrant Progress Party appears to hold the key to securing a majority in Parliament has caused unease in Norway because Anders Behring Breivik, a far-right militant who massacred 77 people in 2011, was once among the party’s members.

Europe, on Sidelines, Waits for Next Move on Syria

By STEPHEN CASTLE

Published: September 4, 2013

LONDON — Europeans, who prided themselves on a muscular foreign policy in Libya, arrive at this week’s meeting of the Group of 20 nations deflated and divided, waiting for the United States to take the lead on Syria and wondering just how much resistance to intervention Russia will ultimately muster.

Justin Tallis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, left, will attend the Group of 20 gathering this week.

After his parliamentary defeat last week, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain has lost much of his leverage to address the Syrian conflict, analysts said, while France’s president, François Hollande, is struggling to persuade a skeptical public of the need for military strikes against Syria after what is suspected to be its use of chemical weapons.

That makes the two-day summit meeting, which begins Thursday, the site for a potential standoff between the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin — the host of the gathering in St. Petersburg and a prominent ally of the Syrian leader, President Bashar al-Assad — and President Obama, with the Europeans largely on the sidelines.