European ministers held emergency talks in Brussels today as the region’s sovereign debt crisis threatened to engulf Italy.
07/14/2011
— Filed under: Без рубрики
Tags: crisis, eurozone, Italy
Italian police have arrested the brother of the Sicilian Mafia’s one-time top boss in another blow to Cosa Nostra on the island.
A UN committee has sharply criticized Germany’s social and education systems, saying the country fails to provide equal opportunities for immigrants and women. It’s also not doing enough to help poor children and the elderly, the UN says. But the German government alleges the report isn’t based on facts.
07/12/2011
— Filed under: Society
Tags: children, Germany, immigrants
The European Union’s enlargement chief will start a three-day visit to Turkey Monday to discuss ways of breaking an impasse in the country’s accession talks, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule’s visit will focus on «steps to accelerate Turkish-EU ties and advance the negotiation process» in the wake of last month’s elections that handed the Islamist-rooted AK Party a third straight term in power, the statement said.
Ankara will once again convey its expectations for a visa-free travel regime with the EU, it said.Turkey has warned that it will shelve a draft deal with the EU on the re-admission of illegal immigrants unless the bloc starts talks on a visa-free travel regime for Turkish nationals.Since its membership talks started in 2005, Turkey has opened negotiations in only 13 of the 35 policy areas that candidates must complete, with no new chapter opened over the past year.
Eight chapters remain frozen as a sanction for Turkey’s refusal to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels under a trade pact with the EU, with France and Cyprus blocking several others. France and Germany oppose Turkey’s membership, saying it should settle for a «privileged partnership.»
07/11/2011
— Filed under: Politics
Tags: negotiations, Turkey
European countries will support banks that fail stress tests if those lenders cannot raise capital from investors within six months, according to a draft EU document.
Bank of Ireland Plc won temporary European Union approval to receive as much as 5,35 billion euros ($7,56 billion) from the Irish government.
The European Commission said it expects the bank to submit a new restructuring plan by the end of July before it can decide on final approval for the aid.
«The commission agrees that the measures are necessary to increase the bank’s solvency ratios and maintain confidence in the Irish financial markets,» the regulator said in an e-mailed statement today.
Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks Plc (ALBK), Ireland’s two biggest lenders,» will require «close surveillance» from EU antitrust authorities because they will control the Irish market after a banking crisis forced the government to bail out several lenders, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said last month.
Bank of Ireland’s restructuring plan must show a return to long-term viability, an «adequate participation» in the restructuring costs by shareholders and subordinated debt holders and measures to limit the harm to competition caused by the state support, the EU said in the statement.
07/9/2011
— Filed under: Business
Tags: Bank of Ireland, restructuring plan
Greece has done its part and now the European Union must provide more rescue loans, Greece’s prime minister declared Friday after days of anti-austerity riots in Athens and fierce political battles in parliament.
Migrant workers are more qualified and have better attitude to work, say firms, while discrimination against them may be illegal
07/7/2011
— Filed under: Business
Tags: Iain Duncan Smith, workers
The European Union is outflanking rivals including the United States and China to seal bilateral trade deals with lucrative markets while talks for a global trade pact remain deadlocked.
07/6/2011
— Filed under: Politics
Tags: deals, EU, Korea, trade
Italian police have arrested Corleone Mafia chief Gaetano Riina after a three-year investigation.
07/5/2011
— Filed under: Crime
Tags: arrest, Italy, Mafia godfather
