Greece Unemployment Hits Highest Rate in European Union

 

The latest unemployment rate for Greece has risen to 26.8%, the highest figure recorded in the European Union (EU).

The Greek government is continuing with major spending cuts which are affecting the economy

 

The official Greek data for October sees Greece overtake Spain as the country with the highest unemployment rate in Europe.

The Greek economy remains mired in recession and the government is in the process of imposing significant austerity measures.

Athens is cutting spending to meet the terms of its financial bailouts.

So far, the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the European Commission have pledged a total of 240bn euros ($315bn; £196bn) in rescue loans, of which Greece has received more than two thirds.

The Greek government required the bailouts because it was struggling to meet the interest payments on its existing debts.

Under the terms of the rescue funds, Greece is having to agree to substantial spending cuts, such as redundancies and pay freezes in the public sector, and reduced pensions. This is having a major knock-on impact on the wider Greek economy.

While Greece's unemployment rate in October was 26.8%, the most recent official figure for Spain - for the month of November - was 26.6%.

Spain is also in recession, with its government having to cut spending to reduce its debts.

The BBC's Athens correspondent, Mark Lowen, said: "Greeks blame austerity for the rise, with the number of jobless more than doubling since the country was first bailed out in 2010.

"And with more spending cuts this year, many predict the rate will soon hit 30%."

Source: BBC

Electoral Pact Blocks Berlusconi PM Ambitions

After announcing deal with former Italian prime minister's party, Northern League says he cannot stand for the top job.

 

 

Berlusconi's last government ended in November 2011 under pressure from financial markets [Reuters]

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has formed an alliance with the Northern League ahead of next month's elections, a move that puts an end to his previously stated plan to run for the premiership. League leader Roberto Maroni confirmed the coalition pact on Monday, telling a news conference it "says explicitly that the candidate for prime minister will not be Silvio Berlusconi". "Silvio Berlusconi accepted the request not to stand as prime minister," he said. Earlier, in an interview on the Italian radio station RTL, scandal-plagued Berlusconi said he would prefer to be the economy minister The 76-year-old was convicted just months ago of tax fraud and likely facing two criminal verdicts in the coming weeks. Still, opinion polls have seen his conservative party gaining since he pulled its support for Prime Minister Mario Monti's technical government last month. The February 24-25 national election is shaping up into a race with Monti in the centre, Berlusconi to the right and Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani on the left, along with a movement founded by political agitator Beppe Grillo. The conservative coalition has been polling second to Bersani's centre-left forces. 'I am the leader' While the Northern League has ruled in coalition with Berlusconi three times, the relationship has been rocky at best - with the League being behind the downfall of previous Berlusconi governments. The markets have expressed a lack of confidence in his ability to reform Italy's economy. Italy's extraordinary high public debt is the second highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the 17-nation eurozone after Greece. Monti, an economist, came in to shore up Italy's finances and launch economic reforms. His spending cuts and tax increases have brought down borrowing costs but they have also pushed Italy into recession. Monti resigned last month after Berlusconi withdrew his support and is running a caretaker government until the national vote. Berlusconi said it was still not clear whom the centre-right coalition would back to run as premier, saying one possible candidate was Angelino Alfano, the leader of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party. The Northern League, however, was pushing for former Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti. Berlusconi did not acknowledge that some Northern League members were reluctant to back him for the post. "I am the leader of the coalition and I will decide with the other parties involved, in the case of victory, who to propose ... for premier,'' the billionaire media mogul said. Berlusconi has for weeks been toying with a run for a fourth term. He has come out strongly against Monti's unpopular decision to impose a property tax on first homes and has been voicing opposition to any moves by Air France to increase its stake in Alitalia. Berlusconi could see verdicts in two criminal cases before the election, including the sensational sex scandal in which he is accused of paying an underage Moroccan teen for sex and then trying to cover it up. That trial has been slowed by the failure of the Moroccan teen, Karima el-Mahroug, to show to testify. She has been vacationing in Mexico instead. The court has fined her and ordered her to appear on January 14.

 

Source: AlJazeera

Plastic Bullets Fired at N Ireland Protesters

Police battle to keep rival groups apart as clashes continue for fifth consecutive night over flying of British flag.

 

 

Protests in Northern Ireland has entered its fifth consecutive night [Reuters]

Police officers in Northern Ireland have fired plastic bullets and used water cannon after coming under attack from rioters, as protests continued for the fifth consecutive night in the capital Belfast. About 1,000 pro-British loyalists held a peaceful demonstration outside the City Hall on Monday as councillors held their first meeting since last month's decision to limit the number of days it flies the British flag, or Union flag, above the City Hall. But trouble erupted as a group of around 250 arrived at a known boundary between loyalist and republican neighbourhoods after leaving the City Hall protest. Police battled to keep the two groups apart, firing plastic bullets and using water cannon after coming under fire from a hail of masonry and petrol bombs on the city's Newtownards Road. Northern Ireland's chief police officer Matt Baggott earlier accused the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) of orchestrating the violence. "Their protests are pointless and they will have absolutely no impact on decisions that we take " - Nationalist party Sinn Fein's Jim McVei Loyalists believe last month's ruling to fly the flag on certain designated days was a concession too far to republicans who want Northern Ireland to be part of Republic of Ireland. The first of these days will be on Wednesday to mark the birthday of the Duchess of Cambridge. Elected representatives from political parties on both sides have received death threats, the latest being SDLP Assembly member Patsy McGlone. Nationalist party Sinn Fein's Jim McVeigh said politicians "won't be intimidated by those threats". "Their protests are pointless and they will have absolutely no impact on decisions that we take," he added. The flag vote has raised tensions in the province, which was torn apart by three decades of sectarian violence until peace accords in 1998 led to the creation of a power-sharing government between Protestants and Catholics. More than 60 police officers have been injured and around 100 people arrested since the row began.



N Ireland Violence Continues Despite Dialogue

Rival groups clash for fourth night running as leaders hold talks in bid to quell row over flying of British flag.

 

Violence has flared for the fourth night running in Northern Ireland, hours after politicians and Church leaders held talks in a bid to quell a row over the flying of the British flag at Belfast City Hall.
Northern Ireland's chief police officer Matt Baggott said on Sunday that 52 officers had been injured following three nights of rioting and attacks on police in the city.
Baggott warned that police would deal firmly with the violence for as long as it was necessary.
"You may be assured there will be sufficient resources in the event of more disorder for however long is necessary," Baggott said.
But as darkness fell on Sunday, a mob gathered and hurled steel barriers, bricks, fireworks and bottles at officers patrolling Castlereagh Street in the east of the city. Unrest was also reported on Mountpottinger Road and Beersbridge Road.

"What it quite clearly demonstrates is the fact that paramilitaries have hijacked this flags protest issue and they have now turned their guns on the police " - Terry Spence, chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland

The protests were triggered by a December 3 decision by the council to stop flying the British flag year-round.
The ruling was viewed by pro-British loyalist groups as a concession too far to Republicans who want Northern Ireland to be part of Ireland.
The discussions aimed at ending the violence took place at a Belfast church.
Robin Newton, of the Democratic Unionist Party, said a lack of engagement from protest organisers was making it difficult to see an end to the unrest.
"We have to find a way out of this, but how we do it I don't know," he said.
UVF 'exploitation'
Police used water cannon and fired baton rounds on Saturday as they confronted more than 100 protesters who were throwing fireworks and bricks.
There have been on-off demonstrations in Belfast ever since the decision about the flag.
So far, 70 people have been arrested in connection with the sporadic rioting and 47 people have been charged with criminal offences.
Terry Spence, chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents the interests of police officers, said the firing of shots at police proved that armed groups had infiltrated the protests.
"What it quite clearly demonstrates is the fact that paramilitaries have hijacked this flags protest issue and they have now turned their guns on the police," he said.
"There is no doubt that it has been exploited by the paramilitary grouping known as the Ulster Volunteer Force, and it is very clear that there are members of the UVF, leading members of the UVF, who are exploiting this and are organising and orchestrating this violence against police officers."
Northern Ireland endured three decades of sectarian violence until 1998 peace accords led to a power-sharing government between Protestants and Catholics.
Protestants mainly want to stay in the UK while many Catholics want to unite with the Republic of Ireland.

Source: AlJazeera

Three Kurdish Activists Found Dead in Paris

Deaths of Fidan Dogan, Sakine Cansiz and Leyla Soylemez come as Turkish government and PKK leader conduct negotiations.

Three Kurdish women activists have been killed overnight inside the Kurdish Information Centre in Paris, including a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Their bodies were found at around 2am on Thursday morning [0100GMT]. All three were shot in the head. "The scene leads one to think of an execution, but the investigation will determine the exact circumstances," a police source told the AFP news agency. Manuel Valls, French interior minister, who visited the centre, also described the killings as an execution. "This is a very grave matter and this explains my presence," he said at the scene. "This is unacceptable." Ak Jazeera's Rory Challands, reporting from Paris, said that Valls described the killings as "precise, assassination-style executions. "Three bullet casings were found near the bodies, all of them with headshot wounds". Sources in Diyarbakir, in eastern Turkey, told Al Jazeera that one of the women, Sakine Cansiz, was a co-founder of the PKK, the group involved in a decades-long armed campaign against the Turkish government. Cansiz was one of the PKK's European representatives. Al Jazeera's Goncha Chennai, reporting from Ankara, said that Cansiz was an "important figure" in the PKK, especially in Europe. Another victim was 32-year-old Fidan Dogan, who worked in the information centre, according to its director, Leon Edart. The third was Leyla Soylemez, described as a "young activist". "Soylemez was an activist from the National Congress of Kurdistan, the Brussels-based organisation," our correspondent said. Political significance The three were last seen on Wednesday at the information centre, which was locked by late afternoon. Andrew Finkel, a journalist and expert on Turkish politics, says the timing of the crimes is very significant. It occurred shortly after the Turkish government resumed negotiations with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader, about disarming his group in exchange for greater rights for the country's Kurdish minority, is very significant. "There appears to be serious negotiations going on between Turkish government and the imprisoned leader or former leader of PKK," Finkel told Al Jazeera from Istanbul. "Now these talks appear to be going somehwere. I think if we needed confirmation that they are going somewhere is the fact that someone is trying to disrupt those talks. "Many Kurds in the Paris are blaming the [Turkish] government, but they do not really have a history of these rogue assassinations. "It could be that there is an element within the Turkish state that is unhappy with the talks, but there is an equally probably explanation that its a faction within the PKK itself. "Not everyone in the PKK is happy to see disarmament talks going ahead." Zubeyir Aydar, a European representative for the PKK, blamed the attack on "dark forces" trying to interrupt the talks. On the other hand, Huseyin Celik, deputy chairman of the Turkey's ruling AK Party, said the attack appeared to be the result of "an internal feud" within the PKK, and suggested they were an attempt to derail talks with the group. Hundreds of Kurds gathered outside the information centre in Paris on Thursday to protest, with some chanting "We are all PKK!" and blaming Turkey for the killings. "There was a demonstration of about 300-400 Kurds who came down to protest against the killings," Al Jazeera's Challands said. 617

Source: AlJazeera

 

Spain Seizes $36.5m Worth of Mubarak Assets

 Millions of assets of ex-Egyptian president and associates located, including Marbella beach properties and luxury cars.

Straight Thuggin



Mubarak has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the deaths of protesters during Egypt's uprising [Reuters]

Spanish police have seized $36.5m in assets owned by Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, and people close to him.
Egypt had made an international request to block the assets, including Marbella beach properties and luxury cars, of 130 people associated with Mubarak's rule.
Spain's interior ministry said on Thursday it had frozen $24m worth of the assets.
The properties include two houses in La Moraleja, a wealthy neighbourhood of Madrid, seven properties in the Mediterranean beach resort of Marbella, financial products in three banks and several expensive vehicles.

UK Unemployment Falls Dramatically

Britain's unemployment rate has shrunk by the biggest quarterly amount in more than a decade, with a record number of people working, official data showed. The number of unemployed people fell by 82,000 to 2.51 million in three months through to October - the lowest since March to May 2011 - the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The jobless rate stayed at 7.8 per cent, in line with forecasts. The ONS also revealed that the number of people in work has struck a new record high, jumping by 40,000 to 29.6 million people over the same period. Despite the upbeat figures, British Prime Minister David Cameron cautioned that long-term unemployment remained "stubbornly high". "Obviously, there is no room for complacency - there are still far too many people who are long-term unemployed," Cameron told parliament in his weekly question-and-answer session. "But in these figures we can see 40,000 more people in work, vacancies are up, unemployment is down by 82,000 and the claimant count is down." The numbers claiming jobless benefits slid 3,000 in November to 1.58 million people, compared with October. ING economist James Knightley said: "The UK jobs report shows some reasonably encouraging newsflow on the labour market. "The fact that UK unemployment is rising, consumer confidence is up and anecdotal evidence of retail sales have not been too bad, offers some hope that the domestic situation in the UK is stabilising." Continued austerity The latest ONS data also showed that many Britons still faced a squeeze on their finances. Average weekly earnings including bonuses grew by 1.8 per cent in the three months through to October. Analysts had forecast a rise of 1.9 per cent. Excluding bonuses, pay increased by 1.7 per cent. Both figures were below inflation, which jumped to 2.7 per cent in October. "Such a picture is not supportive for the spending profile int he coming months as households remain under pressure in the current uncertain environment, even if labour markets remain resilient," said Annalisa Piazza at Newedge Strategy. Presenting a half-yearly budget statement to parliament last week, Finance Minister George Osborne said Britain will endure more austerity and miss a key debt-cutting goal as the economy looks set to grow far more slowly than previously thought.

 

Source:

Al Jazeera

 

EU Ministers Clinch Deal On Bank Supervision

 

European Central Bank granted authority to police euro zone's major banks and intervene when small lenders have trouble.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the new system on bank supervision begins in March 2014 [EPA]

 

European Union (EU) finance ministers have agreed a deal granting the European Central Bank (ECB) new powers to supervise euro zone banks.

The deal, clinched on Thursday, is the first step in a new phase of closer integration to help underpin the euro, the currency used in 17 EU member states.

The ministers from the 27-member bloc held talks for more than 14 hours, ending months of tortuous negotiations and paving the way for the ECB to directly police the euro zone's biggest banks and intervene in smaller banks at the first sign of trouble.

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"We have a deal," said an EU official, sending the euro to a session high in Tokyo of 1.3080 against the US dollar.

The plan sets in motion one of the biggest overhauls of any European banking system since the financial crisis began in mid-2007 with the near collapse of German lender IKB.

The onus is now on EU leaders, who meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, to give their full political backing.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, said the new system to supervise banks in the euro zone would be up and running from March 1, 2014.

"We have reached the main points to establish a European banking supervisor that should take on its work in 2014," Schaeuble told reporters in Brussels after talks with his counterparts.

No More Charges for Pentagon Hacker

 

British prosecutor says charging UK man who hacked Pentagon and NASA computers would pose "considerable difficulties".

 

McKinnon's mother, right, said she hopes US authorities would now drop their extradition warrant [Reuters]

 

A senior British prosecutor has said Gary McKinnon, a hacker wanted in the United States for breaking into military computer systems, will face no further criminal charges in Britain.

"The prospects of a conviction against Mr McKinnon which reflects the full extent of his alleged criminality are not high," Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions, said.
Starmer said there would have been considerable difficulties in bringing a case against the 46-year-old McKinnon in Britain.

Anti-Austerity Coalition Wins Romania Polls

PM Victor Ponta's ruling centre-left alliance wins up to 60 per cent of votes in Sunday's parliamentary polls.

The party of Prime Minister Victor Ponta [L] won comfortably over parties associated with President Basescu [R] [AFP]

 

 

Romania's centre-left governing coalition has comfortably won a weekend parliamentary poll with nearly 60 per cent of the vote, partial results have showed.

With 80 per cent of the polling stations reporting, the results confirmed exit polls that declared the Social-Liberal Union (USL) headed by Prime Minister Victor Ponta as winner in Sunday's poll.

Despite the fact that it (USL) has only held power since May, many voters saw it as the party of change because it has promised to roll back austerity cuts undertaken by prevous government.

Parties close to President Traian Basescu came in a distant second with nearly 17 per cent of the vote.

Turnout was low at 41.6 per cent as disenchantment with politics remains high in the newest European Union member.

Simmering tension

The win deals a blow to President Basescu who is due to officially appoint the new prime minister.

There has been no reaction yet on the outcome of the poll from Basescu, who will be travelling to Oslo on Monday together with other heads of state to collect the Nobel peace prize awarded to the EU earlier this year.

Ponta was appointed prime minister in May, the third prime minister this year, but he had a bitter battle with Basescu, whose mandate expires in 2014.

Basescu's allies, who were in government from 2008, grew unpopular due to harsh austerity measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund and European Union in exchange for a $26bn (20 billion euro) bailout loan in 2009, and allegations of cronyism.

Ponta restored most pensions and salaries that were slashed as part of the loan agreement, but has largely continued the policies as previous Basescu-allied governments including a 24 percent sales tax, one of the highest in the EU.

Basescu, who is due to officially name the new prime minister after the poll, has already repeatedly hinted that he could refuse to re-appoint Ponta as premier, describing his nemesis as a "mythomaniac".

Call for calm

But Ponta himself appeared to extend an olive branch, saying that after months of bitter feuding, "Romania now needs a period of calm".

"We need to overcome political fights, hatred and revenge," he said, adding "he was ready to lead the next government".

The president has accused USL leaders of driving the country away from the EU, which it joined in 2007.

Analysts and investors have called for political stability as Romania, the 27-member bloc's second-poorest member after Bulgaria, is struggling to recover from one of Europe's most painful austerity drives.

The average monthly wage currently stands at 350 euros ($450) and about three million Romanians have emigrated looking for jobs and better living conditions elsewhere.

The 2012 growth forecast was revised down to 0.7 per cent from 1.7 per cent.

Source: AlJazeera

Greece Unveils $13bn Bond Buyback Plan

 

Move is part of efforts to reform country's stricken economy and will pave way for vital international bailout loans.

The government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has staved off bankruptcy by seeking bailout loans [EPA]



Greece says it will spend $13bn in a bond buyback programme that it hopes will help stabilise its huge debt.
The buyback, one of the steps Greece is taking to secure the disbursement of vital international rescue loans, is part of efforts to reform the country's stricken economy and reduce its debt to sustainable levels.
In an interim report on monetary policy released on Monday, the central bank said the new measures, if implemented on time, "are positive developments, which create plausible expectations of a recovery of the Greek economy".
"This outcome, however, hinges upon a consistent implementation of all the measures legislated, together with policies that will speed up the onset of recovery, including a broader program of structural reforms," warned the Bank of Greece.

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"Any delays will push the recovery back, with consequences that will be far more severe than anything that has so far happened."

UK Government to Make Further Spending Cuts

Finance minister tells parliament latest data shows debt-to-GDP ratio not falling as planned, meaning more cuts needed.

The UK economy has not met the recovery targets set by the government, and more spending cuts will be required in order to control public finances, the Britain's finance minister has said.
George Osborne told politicians on Wednesday that a poor recovery and a downturn in Europe means that the economy would grow by 1.2 per cent next year, down from the two per cent predicted in March.
The minister's target for public sector debt to start dropping as a percentage of GDP by 2015-2016 has also been pushed back a year.
"The tougher economic conditions mean that while our deficit is forecast to go on falling, instead of taking three years to get our debt falling, it's going to take four," Osborne said.

Serbia's Ambassador to NATO Jumps to Death

 

Branislav Milinkovic jumps from multi-storey car park in Brussels in presence of other diplomats in apparent suicide.

Belgian authorities said no investigation was planned, as there was no doubt the envoy had committed suicide [AFP]

 

Serbia's ambassador to NATO has jumped to his death from a multi-storey carpark in Brussels airport, officials have said.

Serbian authorities said they were investigating Wednesday's incident, which was witnesses by several other diplomats.

Branislav Milinkovic, 52, was attending a conference of NATO foreign ministers, but officials did not make any connection between the meeting and his suicide.

"We are shocked and we are investigating all circumstances" surrounding the ambassador's death, said a Serbian Foreign Ministry official who asked not to be named.

Spain Unemployment Hits Record Levels

 

Latest data shows that unemployment rate rose by 1.5 per cent in November, hitting 4.9 million.

                                 Thousands of people have turned up for recent strikes against unemployment and government budget cuts [AFP]

Spain's number of unemployed people has almost hit the five million mark, as the country's recession shows few signs of slowing down and its banks await crucial bailout cash.
On Tuesday, Spain's labour ministry said that unemployment rose by 74,296, or 1.5 per cent, in November to a record level of 4.9 million.

NATO Approves Patriot Missiles for Turkey

NATO foreign ministers agree to deployment of Patriot missiles to defend country's southern border with Syria.

The NATO military alliance has agreed to the deployment of Patriot missiles as requested by member Turkey to help defend its border against possible threats from Syria.
"NATO has agreed to augment Turkey's air defence capabilities in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey and to contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along the alliance's border," a statement released on Tuesday said.
The statement, attributed to the foreign ministers of the alliance, cited "repeated violations of Turkey's territory" as the reason the deployment had been approved.
"We stand with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity,'' Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, said in Brussels.
"To anyone who would want to attack Turkey, we say, 'Don't even think about it!'"
The ministers said: "We express our appreciation to the Turkish people and authorities for assisting Syrian citizens who found refuge in Turkey.  We call for an end to violence in Syria, which represents a serious threat to stability and security in the region.
"We fully support the efforts of the international community to find a peaceful solution."

Former PM Wins Slovenia Presidential Vote

Preliminary results give Borut Pahor a comfortable win over incumbent president, after protests over austerity measures.

 

Go to this URL for a video:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/12/20121221815075247.html

 

Borut Pahor, Slovenia's centre-left former prime minister, has been elected president in a runoff vote, beating incumbent President Danilo Turk, preliminary official results suggest.
Pahor won 67 per cent of the vote against Turk, who received a 33 per cent, according to the State Electoral Commission, after nearly all votes were counted. Final results are expected later in the week.
"This victory is only the beginning of a new hope, a new time," Pahor said after exit polls indicated he won.
Slovenians voted on Sunday amid growing discontent with cost-cutting measures designed to avoid an international bailout.

Eurozone Unemployment Hits Record High

 

Overall jobless rate hits 11.7 per cent in October, as European Central Bank predicts recovery to only start late 2013.

Unemployment in the eurozone hit a record high in October, with more than 170,000 extra jobs lost and youth joblessness at almost 24 per cent, as the economy slumped into recession.
Overall, the eurozone had a jobless rate of 11.7 per cent in October, up from 11.6 per cent in September, with the numbers out of work rising to 18.7 million from 18.49 million, the Eurostat data agency said.
Year-on-year figures from the agency showed a particularly bleak picture for under 25 year olds, with almost one in four out of work both in the 17-nation eurozone, and 27-nation European Union - against one in five a year earlier.
Compared with October 2011, an extra 279,000 young people were out of work in the EU, and 350,000 in the eurozone in October this year.
The youth unemployment rate rose to 23.9 per cent in the eurozone and to 23.4 percent in the EU compared with 21.2 per cent and 21.9 per cent respectively a year earlier, Eurostat said.
In Greece, 57 per cent of under 25 year olds were jobless in August, the latest available figures, and in Spain 55.9 per cent in October.

Migrants 'Terrorised' by Greek Crackdown

Africans living in the financial crisis-plagued country say they are worried about anti-immigrant backlash.

 

Find a video on this topic at this url:

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2012/12/2012123103547548566.html

 

The UN rapporteur on the human rights of migrants is due to release his findings following a nine-day mission to Greece.
The financial crisis has led to the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment, and Greek police are cracking down on undocumented workers. But migrants living in the country legally say they also are being targeted.

Source: AlJazeera