Our compendium of headlines from the world of human economic and political actions and their impacts on our environment opens with a health alert from The Guardian:
Worldwide cancer cases expected to soar by 70% over next 20 years
New cancer cases expected to grow from 14m a year in 2012 to 25m, with biggest burden in low- and middle-income countries
Cancer cases worldwide are predicted to increase by 70% over the next two decades, from 14m in 2012 to 25m new cases a year, according to the World Health Organisation.
The latest World Cancer Report says it is implausible to think we can treat our way out of the disease and that the focus must now be on preventing new cases. Even the richest countries will struggle to cope with the spiralling costs of treatment and care for patients, and the lower income countries, where numbers are expected to be highest, are ill-equipped for the burden to come.
The incidence of cancer globally has increased in just four years from 12.7m in 2008 to 14.1m new cases in 2012, when there were 8.2m deaths. Over the next 20 years, it is expected to hit 25m a year – a 70% increase.
Closer to Casa esnl, the latest coverage of class war in Babylon by the Bay from USA TODAY:
SF residents caught in middle of tech hostilities
For the past month, protesters have confronted buses that transport employees from Google, Apple and Facebook to Silicon Valley. The flare-ups highlight the yawning gap between those benefiting from the enormous wealth generated by the tech boom and those left behind. Multimillion-dollar tax breaks for SF-based companies like Twitter have stoked rebellious tensions.
“We have a group which is mostly young and has not learned social norms or responsibility gaining wealth and power,” says Vivek Wadhwa, a Fellow at Stanford Law School. “This group has its own value system and lives in its own bubble. It is displacing the larger population of San Francisco.”
The city has had its neighborhood battles – hippies in the Haight in the 1960s, gays in the Castro in the ‘70s. But the latest gentrification clash is moving faster, making the current situation dicey.
The Verge Googles eyesore:
California orders Google to move floating barge from current construction site
The state of California has ordered Google to move its massive floating barge away from its current construction site in the San Francisco Bay. San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission executive director Larry Goldzband said the four-story structure has drawn numerous complaints. “It needs to move,” Goldzband said. He also claims that Google never had the proper permits to start work on the project at Treasure Island. But today’s development may not spell any real trouble for Google — the company simply needs to relocate the barge to another Bay facility where construction is fully permitted. The news was first reported by the Associated Press.
Sightings of the barge led to rampant speculation about its purpose last year. Google eventually admitted ownership of the San Francisco barge, teasing that it hopes to explore using it as a space where “people can learn about new technology.” We reached out to the company for more details on how it plans to respond to this latest challenge. In a statement, a Google spokesperson told The Verge, “We just received the letter from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission and we are reviewing it.”
From Bloomberg, the usual suspects operating in the usual way:
IBM Uses Dutch Tax Haven to Boost Profits as Sales Slide
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has reduced its tax rate to a two-decade low with help from a tax strategy that sends profits through a Dutch subsidiary.
The approach, which involves routing almost all sales in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and some of the Americas through the Netherlands unit, helped IBM as it gradually reduced its tax rate over 20 years at the same time pretax income quadrupled. Then last year, the rate slid to the lowest level since at least 1994, lifting earnings above analysts’ estimates.
IBM is aiming for $20 a share in adjusted earnings by 2015, up from $11.67 in 2010 — a goal made more difficult as the company posted seven straight quarters of declining revenue. To stay on target, IBM has bought back shares, sold assets, and fired and furloughed workers. A less prominent though vital role is played by its subsidiary in the Netherlands, one of the most important havens for multinational companies looking for ways to legally reduce their tax rates.
MarketWatch tanks anxiously:
U.S. stocks see worst selloff in several months
Manufacturers expand in January at slowest rate in eight months
The U.S. stock market closed with sharp losses on Monday, after a much weaker-than-expected reading on manufacturing data as well as concerns over a slowdown in China, triggered the worst selloff in several months.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day with the steepest decline since June 20.
U.S. manufacturers expanded in January at the slowest rate in eight months as the pace of new orders sharply decelerated, according to the closely followed ISM index. The Institute for Supply Management index sank to 51.3% from 56.5% in December. That’s the lowest level since last May. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected the index to drop to 56%
From the New York Times, a belated recognition:
The Middle Class Is Steadily Eroding. Just Ask the Business World.
As politicians and pundits in Washington continue to spar over whether economic inequality is in fact deepening, in corporate America there really is no debate at all. The post-recession reality is that the customer base for businesses that appeal to the middle class is shrinking as the top tier pulls even further away.
If there is any doubt, the speed at which companies are adapting to the new consumer landscape serves as very convincing evidence. Within top consulting firms and among Wall Street analysts, the shift is being described with a frankness more often associated with left-wing academics than business experts.
The Washington Post notes a sea change:
Report: Majority of U.S. kids under age 2 are now children of color
For the first time, a majority of American children under age 2 are now children of color — and 1 in 3 of them is poor, according to a disturbing new report. “The State of America’s Children 2014.” that cites the neglect of children as the top national security threat.
The report, published by the Children’s Defense Fund, calls on President Obama and America’s political leaders “in every party at every level to mount a long overdue, unwavering, and persistent war to prevent and eliminate child poverty.”
From the Project On Government Oversight, why the hell not?:
Could Post Offices Become Public Banks?
The U.S. Postal Service is floundering—2013 was the seventh year in a row to report a net loss, at a whopping $5 billion—and nobody is quite sure how to fix it. Go Private? Close branches? Deliver Mail only four days a week? Ideas are being thrown around but little progress has been made in improving the troubled agency.
But last week, the office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service released a report with an out-of-the-box suggestion that would produce $8.9 billion in new annual profits: Turning the Post Office into a bank, with savings accounts, loans and debit cards. Furthermore, it would greatly benefit the poor, who lack banking options and are often gouged by predatory financial services.
The idea has been floated before but with official backing from the Inspector General it has a higher degree of credibility and plausibility. Add in the fact that it wouldn’t require Congressional approval, only an executive order from the President, and maybe the out-there proposal could actually become a reality.
Still think the idea sounds crazy? Consider this: The Post Office already was a bank. From 1911-1967, savings accounts were offered with 2 percent interest, ending because of competition from private banks with higher interest rates. The post office still provides money orders.
From Medical Daily, a notable side effect:
Medical Marijuana Cuts Suicide Rates By 10% In Years Following Legalization
Legalization of medical marijuana has been found to correlate to a significant drop in suicide rates, providing additional evidence that the federally outlawed substance may have a positive effect on U.S. public health.
The new study, which is published in the American Journal of Public Health, shows that the suicide rate among men ages 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 fell by 10.8 percent and 9.8 percent respectively following a given state’s decision to legalize medical marijuana. Although the relationship was weaker and less precise among women, the authors believe that the findings provide strong evidence in favor of medical cannabis. “The negative relationship between legalization and suicides among young men is consistent with the hypothesis that marijuana can be used to cope with stressful life events,” they wrote.
On to Europe with an anxious twist from CNNMoney:
Pressure building for ECB rate cut
Another interest rate cut in Europe could be just around the corner as the risk of deflation rears its ugly head again.
The first official estimate of eurozone inflation in January was a weaker-than-expected 0.7% — the same level that prompted the European Central Bank to cut rates in November. Consumer prices rose by 0.8% in December.
The weaker January number “puts significant pressure on the ECB to take further stimulative action at its February policy meeting next Thursday,” said IHS Insight’s chief European economist Howard Archer.
Cheaper energy was largely to blame, but the stronger euro has also been pulling import prices down, economists said.
Quartz covers mordida:
Lithuanians and Romanians are more than six times as likely to be asked for bribes than the EU average
A fifth of Danes think corruption is prevalent, for example (the lowest level in the EU), but only 3% say they are personally affected by it in their daily lives. Some 12% claim they know someone who has taken a bribe, but only 1% say they have paid, or been expected to pay, a bribe themselves.
In much of western Europe, then, it seems that corruption is a somewhat abstract concept for the common person—confined to criminal cliques or a select few who abuse their positions of power (Danes reckon politicians are the most corrupt group in their country). But as you travel to the south and east, corruption appears to creep into one’s daily life, a depressingly routine feature of doing business or accessing public services. In the past 12 months, around one in three Lithuanians and one in four Romanians say they were asked or expected to pay a bribe; the EU average is less than one in 20.
Al Jazeera America sets the cost:
Report: EU corruption costs $162B annually
All 28 member states suffer from some level of corruption, the report found
Corruption affects all member countries of the European Union and costs the bloc’s economies about 120 billion euros ($162.19 billion) a year, an official EU report published Monday said.
European Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who presided over the first-ever official EU-wide study on corruption, said the estimated amount lost annually due to padded government contracts, covert political financing, bribes to secure health care and other corrupt practices would be enough to fund the European Union’s yearly operating budget.
All 28 EU member states suffer from some level of corruption — defined broadly by the report as the “abuse of power for private gain” — the report found.
One more headline [only], from BBC News:
Corruption across EU ‘breathtaking’ – EU Commission
On to Britain and a call for caution from Deutsche Welle:
Steinmeier urges UK to stay in EU, voices doubt on treaty change
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has appealed to the UK to remain in the European Union, regardless of progress on the EU treaty change sought by Britain’s Conservative-led government.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier made his first visit to London since returning to the foreign minister’s post on Monday, asking his British counterpart William Hague not to lose sight of the benefits of EU membership.
“In this 21st century world, we want to protect our political, economic and cultural influences,” Steinmeier said, adding that, on the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, such European ties “really must not be underestimated.”
The German foreign minister said it would be “an exaggeration” to assert that Germany and the UK were on precisely the same page when it came to treaty reform for the EU.
Xinhua sounds the alarm:
London housing market under price bubbles risk, warns Ernst and Young
Housing market in London is beginning to show signs of bubble-like conditions, said a research report issued by Ernst and Young Item Club (EY ITEM Club) on Monday, while asking the government to monitor the trend closely and be prepared to intervene.
The EY ITEM Club forecast showed the average house price in London is expected to reach nearly 600,000 pounds (980,000 U.S. dollars) by 2018, some 3.5 times the average price in Northern Ireland and more than 3.3 times the average in the North East.
It said the average house prices in Britain growing by 8.4 percent this year and 7.3 percent in 2015, before cooling to around 5.5 percent in 2016.
And simultaneously booms:
British manufacturing off to strong start in 2014
Britain’s manufacturing sector maintained its strong growth into 2014, posing an improved domestic demand and solid output growth supported by rising export orders in January, said a survey report on Monday.
The report, jointly issued by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), showed the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for the British manufacturing sector was at 56.7 in January of this year.
The figure is at its lowest level in three months, but still showed a robust improvement in overall operating conditions for the manufacturing sector.
A reading of 50 points or greater indicates expansion, while below 50 indicates contraction.
A qualified UK separatism endorsement from El País:
Spain will not oppose Scottish EU entry: foreign minister
But García-Margallo warns that re-entry to the Union will take considerable time
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo has stated that should Scotland elect to break away from the United Kingdom, Spain will not oppose the move because it does not have any bearing on the internal affairs of the country. “If the Constitution of the United Kingdom permits – and it seems that it does – that Scotland call a referendum on their possible independence, we will say nothing on the matter,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.
However, the minister adhered to the Popular Party (PP) administration’s line over Catalonia’s own designs on a referendum for independence; one of staunch resistance.
On to Sweden and a call from TheLocal.se:
EU: Sweden should ban secret party donations
While the EU’s executive body acknowledged that Sweden was among the least corrupt countries in the EU, it pointed to several areas of potential improvement.
Specifically, Sweden could improve its transparency if it considered a general ban on anonymous political party donations. Sweden remains one of few EU countries without total party-funding transparency, and the government came under fire last month when it decided to keep the lid on private donations.
The report also hinted that Sweden could do more to combat the risk of corruption at the municipality and county level, which the commission said could be fixed by making authorities obliged to secure transparency in public contracts with private entrepreneurs.
TheLocal.se again, with hard times intolerance:
Afrophobic hate crimes on the rise in Sweden
Hate crimes directed against Sweden’s black population have increased in recent years, according to a report published on Monday, prompting grave concern from Sweden’s integration minister.
Afrophobia, defined as hostility towards people with a background from sub-Saharan Africa, is soaring in Sweden, according to the researchers who compiled the government-commissioned report. They wrote on Monday in the opinion pages of the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN) that it was time society took these statistics seriously.
Between 2008 and 2012, the number of reported hate crimes against Afro-Swedes, defined as anyone with African heritage living in Sweden, rose by 24 percent, while hate crimes in general during the same period decreased by six percent. Between 2011 and 2012 alone, the number of Afrophobic hate crimes rose by 17 percent, the researchers explained.
On to Brussels and a critique via DutchNews.nl:
Brussels criticises ‘revolving door’ between Dutch politics and industry
While the Dutch integrated approach to preventing corruption and bribery could serve as a model to other EU countries, the Netherlands should still do more to improve transparency in politics, the European Commission said on Monday.
While welcoming the fact that much has been done in the Netherlands to improve transparency, the Commission went on to recommend improvements in the way the business interests of ministers are examined.
Officials’ private, financial and business interests are considered a private matter and information about their assets and interests is not available to the public, the report points out.
Nor are there any rules forcing MPs to declare potential conflicts of interest or barring them from holding financial interests or engaging in external activities.
Germany next and a peculiar call from TheLocal.de:
Industry boss: ‘Too many students harm economy’
One of Germany’s top commerce experts warned on Monday that there were so many young people at university, and so few in traineeships, that the country’s economy would suffer.
“The consequences to Germany’s economy will be damaging, if the trend to study at any cost is not stopped,” said Eric Schweitzer, president of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK).
Schweitzer was referring to the amount of young people who undertake lengthy study in Germany, while companies struggled to fill traineeships.
“The truth is that many years of increasing student numbers in Germany have resulted in our classrooms now bursting at the seams, while companies are desperately seeking apprentices,” he said in a statement.
France next and a concession to the “family values” set from TheLocal.fr:
Hollande puts off family law to avoid new fight
A day after massive protests over President François Hollande’s “family phobia”, his government on Monday abruptly postponed plans to pass a controversial new family bill, that would likely have picked another fight with France’s traditional conservatives.
France’s Socialist government on Monday put off plans for a new family law after demonstrations by thousands of angry conservatives.
Hollande’s administration announced on Monday it was postponing its plans to move ahead with legislation that would have legalized medically assisted procreation for same sex couples, and tackled issues like surrogacy.
A source in Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault’s office said the government would no longer present a bill this year that officials had said was aimed at modernising the law to reflect the new “diversity” of families.
Nature’s newsblog takes the pledge:
Hollande pledges to avoid cuts to France’s science funding
French President François Hollande promised to spare the research and higher education budget from savings of €50 billion (US$67 billion) that his government has pledged to find over the next three years to reign in its massive public deficit.
The government will find other ways to cut the deficit, avoid tax increases and ensure business can increase investment and create jobs, he said during a visit to the University of Strasbourg.
In a speech devoted entirely to research and higher education, Hollande also said he would maintain the controversial research tax credit (CIR) because companies appreciate it and it helps attracts foreign investment.
And from TheLocal.fr, a demand:
EU: France must root out corruption at local level
France remains a country where the worlds of international business and public procurement are blighted by shady dealings and corruption, according to a new EU report. But just how bad is corruption in France and how does it compare to other countries in Europe?
France needs to do more to fight corruption a new report from the European Commission argues, especially in the areas of international business transactions and public procurement, which are still ripe with misdeeds.
“Corruption-related risks in the public procurement sector and in international business transactions have not been addressed,” the report concludes.
On to Switzerland and the first of a schizy set of headlines from TheLocal.ch:
Swiss ban proposed on sex education for kids
Swiss voters will decide whether to ban compulsory sex education for children under nine after conservative groups mustered enough signatures to force a plebiscite, the authorities said on Monday.
The federal administration said campaigners had gathered more than the 100,000 signatures of voters required to put their measure to the public for approval.
The campaign coalition — whose goal is the “protection against sexualisation in kindergartens and primary schools” — handed in its petition in December and the government is now obliged to set a date for a vote.
And out of left field, also from TheLocal.ch:
Swiss want to reopen pot legalization debate
A Swiss parliamentary committee looking into drug issues wants to reopen the debate on the legalization of marijuana in the wake of developments in the US, Uruguay and New Zealand.
“Many models that exist around the world should be studied and analyzed, that is the basis of our reflection,” Toni Berthel, committee president and a member of the Swiss association for addiction, is quoted as saying by the ATS news agency.
Berthel confirmed information reported on Sunday by the Schweiz am Sonntag weekly newspaper about the new look at Swiss cannabis laws.
Spain next and a matter of perception from El País:
95 percent of Spaniards see corruption as institutionalized
“Political will is absent” in battle against graft, notes Brussels report
Ninety-five percent of Spaniards believe corruption is generalized, according to the first continent-wide study on the issue by the European Commission. Only respondents in Greece (99 percent) and Italy (97 percent) outdid Spain. The report, which was presented on Monday in Brussels, underscores the magnitude of the issue in Europe: three out of four EU citizens believe corruption is an institutional problem.
In two areas of the survey Spain topped the charts. Asked if the level of corruption has risen in the past three years, 77 percent said yes, more than in the other 27 member states. Two out of every three respondents said that corruption affected their daily lives, more than in any other nation. The survey was conducted in February and March 2013, when a series of corruption scandals involving the government, labor unions, political parties and the monarchy occupied the front pages in Spain.
From TheLocal.es, Coke Zero:
Zero tolerance to Coke plant closures
Thousands of workers from Coca-Cola bottling factories in Spain marched on Sunday in protest at plant closures they say will cost 750 jobs.
In red caps and vests bearing the logo of the giant US drinks company, crowds marched in Madrid and the eastern city of Alicante, where two of the threatened plants are located.
Coca-Cola’s plan to close four of its bottling factories in Spain is expected to lead to 750 workers being laid off and 500 others being offered relocation to other plants.
Another protest from thinkSPAIN:
Nationwide protest over ‘abusive’ electricity costs
THOUSANDS of people across Spain joined in a countrywide protest over rocketing electricity prices on Saturday.
Demonstrations were held in 23 cities, mostly provincial capitals, including Madrid, Valencia, Alicante, Barcelona, Murcia, Málaga, Almería, Granada, Córdoba, Huelva, Sevilla, Cádiz, Jaén, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Carrying banners calling for Luz a precio justo (‘electricity at a fair price’), the demonstrators clamoured against the government’s forcing the consumer to bear the cost of its own debt with energy suppliers, leaving already hard-pressed householders suffering prohibitive prices.
And an austerian measure from TheLocal.es:
King freezes wages of Queen and Princess
King Don Juan Carlos has gone against the trend of royal secrecy in Spain and publicized the new fixed salaries of his wife Queen Sofía and daughter-in-law Princess Letizia.
It’s the first time the 76-year-old monarch has willingly made information on royal earnings available to Spain’s general public.
In a press release published by Spain’s Zarzuela Palace, the newly-fixed wages of royal family members have been disclosed in detail.
Queen Sofía of Spain will earn €131,739 in 2014, a sum roughly resembling her wages last year but which is no longer determined by so-called representation costs.
As for Letizia Ortiz, wife of Prince Felipe and future queen of Spain, she will receive a grand total of €102,464.
El País schmoozes:
Rajoy looks to 2015 race with soothing pledges for tax reform and stimulus measures
PM bashes Rubalcaba for being negative and blames Socialist leader for current “agony”
The Popular Party (PP) on Sunday officially kicked off the beginning of the second half of its current term in government with pledges from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to carry out his long-awaited ambitious tax reform and other economic measures to help Spain get back on its feet.
As PP officials begin to look toward the next general elections scheduled for the end of next year, the ruling party has tried to use its three-day political conference in Valladolid to showcase proposed strategies in an effort to win voters’ confidence in its recovery plan. But at the close of national meeting, Rajoy avoided offering any specifics on his plans, but was able to muster rallying cheers from stalwart party members with an unusually aggressive attack on opposition Socialist Party leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba.
The verbal blitzkrieg was seen as an attempt to breathe new life into an increasingly embattled Popular Party, which finds itself bitterly divided on a range of issues, including the government’s proposal for abortion reform; the route that should be taken that would lead to ETA’s eventual demise; and the ongoing public corruption inquiries that have engulfed many of its members.
Italy next, starting with a Bunga Bunga bounceback from New Europe:
Italy: Poll finds Berlusconi-led government would win election
Judges may be convicting him and prosecutors opening yet new probes, but it seems that Italians would yet again elect a Berlusconi-led government it they had to vote now. According to a new poll published in February 3, a center-right alliance led by embattled former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would be the most likely winner if Italians were to vote now under a reform proposal currently before parliament.
The poll, commissioned by newspaper Corriere della Sera and conducted by the Ipsos agency found that potential center-right coalition would get 37.9 percent of the vote, above the 37 percent threshold needed under the new rules being examined to obtain a large winner’s bonus of parliamentary seats without having repeat elections.
The centre left according to the same poll would get 36 percent while Bepe Grillo’s 5-Star protest movement 20.7 percent.
TheLocal.it hyperbolizes:
Five Star bloggers ‘potential rapists’: MP
Italy’s lower house speaker has accused the anti-establishment Five Star Movement of instigating violence and slammed bloggers on the party website as “potential rapists” following a flurry of sexist abuse online.
Laura Boldrini was commenting on a post on the Facebook page belonging to the Five Star Movement’s leader Beppe Grillo, which asked on Saturday “what would you do if you found Boldrini in your car?”
The question, which accompanied a satirical video and was taken up on the movement’s official website, sparked a series of abusive comments, including calls for Boldrini to be raped.
The post was an “instigation to violence, just look at the comments it prompted, nearly all of which were made in a sexist context,” Boldrini said in an interview late Sunday on Italian television.
And from TheLocal.it, ubiquity:
Almost all Italians think corruption is rife
Almost all Italians believe that corruption is widespread in their country, according to the European Commission’s anti-corruption report released on Monday. While some progress has been made, the EU’s executive body highlighted a number of areas in need of urgent action.
Ninety-seven percent of Italians think that corruption is rife, second only to Greece with 99 percent and well above the European average of 76 percent, the European Commission report found.
Bribery and connections are the easiest ways to get certain public services, 88 percent of Italians believe, compared to 73 percent of Europeans.
People in Italy, however, are more optimistic than those in Greece, where 93 percent of the population believe bribery is the easiest way to get what you want, compared to 92 percent in Cyprus and 89 percent in Slovakia and Croatia.
TheLocal.it again, with oldies and not-so-goodies:
Crisis-hit Italians survive on out of date food
Italians may be well-known for their healthy diet, but more are eating food well past its use-by date as the effects of the financial crisis continue to bite, according to new figures from Coldiretti, the Italian farmers association.
Fifty-nine percent of Italians, or six out of ten, eat out of date food, with fifteen percent eating food that is a month or more old, the association revealed.
Eight percent are eating food that is way beyond a month after its use-by date, while 34 percent are consuming products up to a week old and two percent never check expiry dates.
Coldiretti said the “worrying trend” poses a “significant risk to health”
After the jump, the latest on the Greek crisis, Ukrainian uncertainty, Russia currency freefall, Indian action, Thai troubles continue, Vietnamese expectations, more Chinese warning signs and neoliberal moves, Abenomics fails, pesticide alerts and other environmental woes, and the latest edition of Fukushimapocalypse Now!. . .and more:
From To Vima, our first Greek headline and an infuriating question:
Did European banks offload Greek bonds and exacerbate the crisis?
IMF documents suggest that European banks sold off toxic bonds to avoid billion dollars worth of losses
Confidential IMF documents dated the 9th of May 2010, during the time when the first Greek bailout was approved, reveled that German, French and Dutch banks sold off Greek bonds, despite having promised to preserve them.
The shocking revelation was made by the Spanish daily El Pais, according to which representatives from Germany, France and the Netherlands had originally promised to the European Council that they would hold on to the Greek bonds they had bought. This was presented as an argument in order to approve the Greek loan and ease the reservations of those who claimed that a debt haircut was necessary.
According to the Spanish newspaper however, as soon as the loans to Greece were approve, the German, French and Dutch banks began selling off the Greek bonds. By the end of 2011, when the PSI was announced, they had already sold off about half of the bonds in their portfolio.
ANSAmed measures red ink:
Crisis: Greek taxpayers’ debts to state rose by 9.2 bln euro
The amount that Greek taxpayers owe to the state increased by 9.2 billion euros in 2013, reaching a total of 62.2 billion, as Kathimerini online reports quoting figures released by the Finance Ministry.
Last year, just 3.2 billion euros of arrears were collected, the ministry added. This was partly down to fewer checks than those planned being carried out. A total of 561 preliminary inspections were carried out against a target of 680. As for full checks, the aim had been to complete 596 but only 324 were completed.
ANA-MPA comes back:
Greek PMI rises to highest levels since Aug 2009
Greece’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) grew to 51.2 points in January, from 49.6 points in December, recording the first reading above the 50-point level, marking a growing manufacturing sector since August 2009.
A report by Markit, which compiles the index, said that both production and new orders grew significantly in January, as a further cut in prices boosted sales in the first month of 2014. At the same time, the rate of decline in job positions in the sector remained stable.
Production levels in Greek manufacturing factories grew for the third consecutive month in January, in the fastest rate since September 2008, reflecting production of intermediate goods.
Setting the price with EUobserver:
Third Greek bailout to be worth €10-20bn
Greece’s third bailout is in the making, with a German finance ministry paper leaked to Der Spiegel putting the price tag at €10-20 billion.
In a separate interview with Wirtschaftswoche magazine out on Monday (3 February), German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble also said there will be a new Greek package, but noted it will be “far smaller” than the two previous ones, which totalled €240 billion in loans.
Talk about a third bailout resumed last week at a finance ministers’ meeting, after the troika of international lenders (the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) identified a shortfall of €15 billion in Greece’s funding once the current bailout ends this year.
From Kathimerini English, casting doubt:
Berlin plays down reports of a third aid package
German officials appeared to give out conflicting messages about the country’s position on Greece on Monday with officials from both countries playing down reports about a new Greek loan package in the coming months, but expressing support for Athens’s reform efforts, while a top-ranking German official suggested that Greece would be more suited to support from the World Bank than the International Monetary Fund.
A government spokesman in Berlin was quick to rebuff reports in Der Spiegel over the weekend, according to which a third aid package of 10 or 20 billion euros could be extended to Greece in exchange for more economic reform commitments. “There is no new situation regarding Greece,” a spokesman said, and ruled out a debt haircut “categorically.”
Senior sources at the Greek Finance Ministry also reacted to the German press reports, noting that a funding gap in the Greek financial program was created due to decisions taken by eurozone officials. “We are open to any discussion about a package on the condition that there will be no more fiscal measures, only structural measures,” one official said.
To Vima breaches a notion:
“Die Linke” argues for the imposition of an asset tax in Greece
Everyone with assets worth 500,000 euros or more (including real estate) would be liable to pay the tax
The Vice President of the German left-wing party Die Linke MP Sahra Wagenknecht has asked for the imposition of an asset tax for the rich in Greece. The proposal came in response of a similar proposal of the German central bank and the rumors that the Germany is preparing for a new bailout loan to Greece or debt haircut.
According to Mrs. Wagenknecht’s proposal, this new tax should only be applicable to the wealthier Greeks and as such would only affect taxpayers who have assets that are worth more than 500,000 euros. The German politician explained that such a tax could avert a future collapse and argued that the German government and European Commission are “advocates for millionaires”.
And there’s this from the European Commission:
Summaries of the national chapters from the European Anti-Corruption Report
Greece:
The institutions fighting corruption in Greece are under the same pressure as much of Greece’s public administration. Although there have been some positive steps, including the development of sectoral strategies and the appointment of a national anti-corruption coordinator, corruption poses considerable challenges in Greece. The anti-corruption framework remains complex and struggles to deliver results. In this report, the European Commission points out that public procurement remains a risk area, where greater oversight would be beneficial. More could also be done to carry out the sector-specific plans and to strengthen the work of the anti-corruption coordinator. Increasing supervision of party funding and declarations of interests by politicians, and revisiting the issue of immunity, would also contribute to a better situation in Greece.
Alongside an analysis of the situation in each EU Member State, the European Commission is also presenting two extensive opinion polls. More than three quarters of European citizens agree that corruption is widespread in their home country. Amongst Greeks, that number is 99 percent. Four percent of Europeans, and 7 percent of Greeks, say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year.
What’s Greek for Pinocchio? From Greek Reporter:
Greek Minister of Health: ‘I Lied about the Memorandum’
A video that shows Greek Minister of Health, Adonis Georgiadis, confessing that he lied about Greece’s memorandum has attracted media attention. This confession was made by Adonis Georgiadis on October 23, 2013 during a TV show on the Greek TV channel Antenna.
The Greek Minister of Health said that at the very early stages of the memorandum he was more optimistic than he should have been, seeing as all the Greek politicians knew that the memorandum equals the country’s devastation.
He admitted that all those who voted in favor of the memorandums were fully aware of the negative impact this decision would have on the Greek people.
ANA-MPA investigates:
Swiss federal prosecuting team in Athens to investigate money laundering through Swiss banks
Representatives of the Swiss federal prosecutor’s office on Tuesday will examine former defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, currently in jail over a kickbacks for defence contracts scandal. Tsohatzopoulos will be questioned in the context of an ongoing investigation into a money laundering case involving a Swiss bank employee, it was announced.
The Swiss prosecutors’ office team on Monday also questioned the former minister’s cousin and long-time close associate Nikos Zigras, who appears as the beneficiary of Swiss bank accounts through which, according to the Greek justice, illegal money linked with armaments programmes was transferred.
The Swiss investigation focuses on the involvement in the case of a Greek Morgan Stanley employee in Switzerland and the transfer of roughly 30 million CHF through two bank accounts that belonged to Zigras. The likelihood that payments made via Swiss banks were associated with money laundering is also being examined.
After Zigras’ questioning, the head of the Swiss team told reporters that the federal prosecutor’s office launched an investigation after 2012, when Greek authorities requested access to bank accounts and information relating to these.
To Vima tries desperate measures:
Polydoras and Zois join forces to form the “Patriotic Union”
The new political party of the former New Democracy and ANEL MPs will be announced at noon on Thursday
The “Patriotic Union” is the name of the new right-wing political party of Byron Polydoras and Christos Zois, which will formally be announced at noon on Thursday at the offices of the journalist federation ESIEA.
The two men began discussions for a new political party after Byron Polydoras was recently expelled from New Democracy. The main goal is to participate in the upcoming elections for European Parliament and local government in Greece.
The new party will seek to attract right-leaning voters from Polydoras and Zois’ former parties, New Democracy and ANEL, as well as disgruntled voters from the right wing who have turned to other parties, such as Golden Dawn.
From EurActiv, the far right presses on:
Greece’s Golden Dawn vows to run in EU elections despite crackdown
Greece’s ultra-right Golden Dawn will find a way to contest local and European elections in May despite a crackdown on the party, a senior lawmaker told a defiant crowd of a few thousand supporters in central Athens.
Golden Dawn’s leader and five other lawmakers are in jail due to an investigation into whether it is a criminal organization, but it remains Greece’s third most popular party.
The fate of the party is being closely watched ahead of the May vote – where it is expected to perform strongly due to a wave of anger against government cuts – amid speculation of new efforts to rein in the group, which denies it is neo-Nazi.
From Index on Censorship, hypocrisy in action:
Greece: A tale of two protests
On Saturday, banned Golden Dawn were left to march in peace, while police clashed with demonstrators at an anti-fascist protest
Following the reappearance of Golden Dawn’s “battalion squads” last week in Keratsini, where hip hop artist Pavlos Fyssas was murdered, antifascist rallies and demos are increasingly met with state repression and police violence.
On 25 January, a group of 80-100 neo-fascists took down a banner in Fyssas’ honour and attacked a self-managed hangout called “Resalto”. As documented on social media, the riot police merely looked on during the attack.
On Saturday 1 February, two protests, one from anti-fascists and anarchists, and one from Golden Dawn, were planned at different locations in the centre of Athens.
Anti-fascists were calling for a rally in protest at Golden Dawn’s disrespect to Pavlos Fyssas, as well as the refugee tragedy at Farmakonisi, an alleged pushback operation which had already prompted an investigation and led to condemnation from international human rights organisations.
Golden Dawn had called for its annual march at the Imia memorial. Members and supporters of the party gathered to commemorate the Imia crisis in 1996, a conflict between Greece and Turkey over two small rocky islands during which three Greek navy officers died.
Even though the police had banned all marches — though not rallies — “for reasons of public safety”, Golden Dawn defied the ban and marched through central Athens. There was no intervention from the police.
Elsewhere in the capital, at Syntagma Square, clashes broke out between protesters and the police when two men with Greek flags on their jacket were spotted and chased down. One of them managed to escape through the riot police and the other one was attacked and injured slightly. Despite anti-fascist efforts to safeguard the rally, riot police dispersed the protesters using stun grenades and tear gas. Some protesters were arrested.
From ANA-MPA, raising the political stakes:
SYRIZA’s Tsipras in Paris to support European Commission presidency candidacy
Main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) leader Alexis Tsipras will be holding meetings in Paris on Monday and Tuesday to garner support for his candidacy as European Commission president.
In the morning, Tsipras met the leader of the French ‘Left Front’ Jean-Luc Melenchon, whom he invited to visit Greece before the European Parliament elections. The focus of the meeting between the two politicians was the Left in Europe and Melenchon, addressing SYRIZA’s leader, told him in relation to his candidacy “you are the best option (…) we shall carry out a campaign for you in France”.
Melenchon and Tsipras agreed that “the Euroelections constitute a considerable opportunity for the peoples of Europe to take take their fortunes in their own hands.” They also agreed that “social democracy is in a strategic deadlock, the dominant neoliberal right has also led Europe itself into a deadlock, therefore the only alternative for the people is the Left.”
On to the Ukraine and an offer in the wings from Deutsche Welle:
EU, US mull economic aid package for restless Ukraine
European Union sources have said the bloc, along with the US and the IMF, is considering a financial aid package for Ukraine. Such a deal would, however, be tied to a solution to the political unrest in Kyiv.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday confirmed that Brussels was looking at options to provide financial assistance to Ukraine once the country solved its political troubles.
“What we can do for a country in difficulties, a country facing enormous challenges, whether we can do a little more in this critical phase, that’s what we’re currently discussing with other partners,” Barroso said.
This followed an interview with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, where she said Brussels and Washington were “developing a plan” to look at what help Ukraine needed “in different parts of the economy right now.” Ashton will fly to Kyiv this week for her third set of negotiations with Ukraine’s government and opposition since the unrest began.
CNN gives the word:
Stop the ultimatums, Russia tells Ukraine protesters
Ukraine’s President returned to work Monday after four days of sick leave as neighbor Russia called on protesters who have tried to curb his powers to stop their “threats and ultimatums.”
President Viktor Yanukovych, who went on sick leave last Thursday for “acute respiratory disease,” is seeking a way out of a deepening political crisis that has paralyzed Kiev, the capital.
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators have packed Kiev’s Independence Square since November, underscoring tensions in a country split between pro-European regions in the west and a more Russia-oriented east.
From Deutsche Welle, depreciation depreciated:
Moscow unfazed by ruble depreciation
The Russian ruble is in free-fall dragged down by a capital outflow in the wake of tighter US monetary policy. But unlike other emerging economies, Moscow fails to stem the capital flight, raising ire among investors.
Russia’s ruble currency has been on a downward slide for weeks, hitting an all-time low to the euro of 48.5 rubles at the end of January. About a month ago, Russians had to pay 45 rubles to acquire the single European currency, while the exchange rate was still 40 rubles to the euro at the beginning of 2013.
The decline by 20 percent over the year in the Russian currency is partly a result of tighter monetary policy in the United States, which has led to an outflow of capital from emerging markets to the US in the hope for higher returns on investment there.
On to Latin American and uppage outrage from the Buenos Aires Herald:
‘Shell’s price hike is conspirational’
Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich today questioned the hike on gasoline prices announced last weekend by Shell oil company considering the decision a “unilateral attitude”, and regretting that sometimes the Government is fighting economic groups alone.
The company announced a 12 percent hike in gasoline prices to be in effect as of today.
In his daily press conference at the Government House, Capitanich accused Shell of lacking “technical reasons to fix these prices” while it only responds to “greed.”
China Daily delivers the challenge:
Cuba challenges neighbors on poverty
Cuban President Raul Castro challenged Latin American and Caribbean leaders to improve healthcare and education, telling a regional summit on Tuesday they have the natural resources to eradicate poverty but may lack the political will.
The speech also listed a series of Latin American grievances that directly or indirectly involve the United States, attempting to unify the 33 countries at the summit against their neighbor to the north, which was not invited.
“We have every possibility to abolish illiteracy,” Castro told leaders of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). “We should have the political will to do it.”
On to Asia, starting in India with Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
Thousands of India’s disabled protest to demand equal rights
Thousands of disabled people protested in the Indian capital on Monday, demanding parliament pass long-awaited legislation that gives them equal rights including to education and employment.
Thousands with intellectual or physical impairments gathered to support the bill drafted for the country’s 40-90 million disabled people, who have long been among the most excluded and stigmatised in society.
“We have been waiting since independence for this, some of us even longer,” National Association of the Deaf president Zorin Singha said of the country’s estimated 18 million deaf people.
“This bill will change everything for us,” he told AFP, sitting in front of India Gate among a crowd of supporters waving placards that read, “We want our rights, not your charity”.
Thailand next, first with Deutsche Welle:
Protesters in Bangkok vow to press on to remove Thai PM Yingluck after vote
Thai protesters have vowed to nullify the results of the weekend’s elections. On Sunday, demonstrators forced polling booths to close in Bangkok and southern Thailand, angering registered voters.
On Monday, anti-government protesters vowed to press on with street rallies aimed at ousting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of the Puea Thai party after a disrupted election failed to cut a path through the kingdom’s political protests.
“We are not giving up the fight,” protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said on Monday. “We will still keep fighting. Our mission is to keep shutting down government offices, so don’t ask us to give those back.”
As a result of the protesters’ successful bid to shut down some polling places on Sunday, the government cannot fill all vacant parliament seats and must hold a series of by-elections to complete voting, potentially extending Thailand’s political paralysis for months.
On to Vietnam with the Nikkei Asian Review:
China investment pours into Vietnam textile industry on free trade hopes
Chinese companies are showing strong interest in Vietnamese textile companies, with an eye toward using the Southeast Asian country as an export base for the U.S. once the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement is in force.
Vietnam, however, remains ambivalent about the increasing investment due to political tensions with its northern neighbor.
In July, major Chinese spinning company Texhong Textile Group began operating a giant factory in Mong Cai, a Vietnamese city near the border. The new facility, in Quang Ninh Province, sits on a roughly 350,000-sq.-meter plot. A total of six buildings are planned be built there to enable start-to-finish production covering every process, from spinning to dying to sewing.
And then to China, first with an alarm from the London Telegraph:
The $15 trillion shadow over Chinese banks
China analyst Charlene Chu explains why the nation is on the verge of crisis
Drawing attention to the problems at an individual bank is never likely to make you popular, but calling time on an entire financial system is another thing entirely.
For eight years, until her resignation last month, Fitch banks analyst Charlene Chu has done just that, warning of the impending collapse of China’s debt-fuelled bubble.
Born and raised in America and a graduate of Yale, she has claimed in painful detail that China has embarked on an unprecedented experiment in credit expansion that far exceeds anything seen before the financial crisis that rocked Western markets six years ago.
China Daily declines:
China’s non-manufacturing PMI drops in January
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s non-manufacturing sector slipped for a third straight month in January due to a slowdown in the real estate sector, new data showed.
The index dropped to 53.4 percent last month, the lowest since February 2012, from 54.6 percent in December, according to official figures released on Monday.
The index tracks non-manufacturing sectors i