Greek parliament approved austerity bill, but obstacles remain
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The austerity bill was one of the three conditions to secure EU – IMF bailout. The other two conditions – 325 mil. euros of this year´s budget cuts and commitment of all main political parties to carry on reforms after this year´s elect...
Greek parliament approved austerity bill, but obstacles remain
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The austerity bill was one of the three conditions to secure EU – IMF bailout. The other two conditions – 325 mil. euros of this year´s budget cuts and commitment of all main political parties to carry on reforms after this year´s elect...
Ken Livingstone: trust is his key weakness
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Boris Johnson is back in the lead in the latest YouGov mayoral poll in today’s Standard – but by only two points, within the margin of error. On the basis of the last three polls, the race remains neck-and-neck. What has halted Ken’s moment...
Europe at the time of the Asian boom
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Kishore Mahbubani's book analyses the risks and opportunities for the West as it faces “the irresistible rise of the East” - 2. European viewpoints / Asia...
Martin Rowson on Greece crisis – cartoon
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Athens's hopes for quick bailout agreement dashedMartin Rowson...
EU imposed sanctions on Iran: Who slapped who?
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The Iran case turned up in the Western media frontlines (again) in December 2011. With Iran enriching uranium by 20% and defying International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) regulations, it ended up with a bunch of sanctions. The majority of the wes...
Bingo!
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To the writers’ workshop this evening, where many a glass was raised to the memory of John Hellon (see previous post). I am reproducing my ‘exercise’ tonight here because it is a graphic illustration of what budding writers are alwa...
A Dangerous Method
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The dynamic between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung was one of the most fascinating and enigmatic of the early 20th Century, inevitably shaping the development of psychoanalysis and related fields. No wonder it proved such a tempting theme for Christophe...
The re-energised US left has much to teach its dismal European counterparts | Adam Price
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Moving from retreat to re-tweet, US progressives have linked the personal and political to create a sense of shared purposeIn Europe the city's aflame, but America's Athens, Philadelphia, city of the founding fathers, has lit a very different touchpa...
Russian Private Property: Based on Fairness or Legality?
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In a move to shore up popular supportbefore the presidential election in 2012, Vladimir Putin called for a windfalllevy on the dishonest privatisations of the 1990s. “We need to close theproblems of the 1990s, of what, speaking honestly, was dishon...
Further further reading
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For the commute home, - New report on trade agreements in a post-Doha world.- Tyler Cowen with more thoughts on banking and shareholder liability.- The US housing bust in one chart....
Writing a book the 2.0 way
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These are exciting times I’ve finally made up my mind on this book I have been wanting to write for some time now, but I am still at the phase [...]...
Might one presume? Luxembourg court advises Austrians on German legal provisions
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"Who gets what?" was the issue at stake in the litigation leading to Case C‑277/10, Martin Luksan v Petrus van der Let, a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Handelsgericht Wien (Austria), in which the legal issues were a goo...
Serbia's cold dead of winter
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Prospects for Serbia's EU accession are in limbo just as its economy falters...
A Safe and Just Space for Humanity: Can we live within the doughnut?
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“Humanity’s challenge in the 21st century is to eradicate poverty and achieve prosperity for all within the means of the planet’s limited natural resources. In the run-up to Rio+20, this discussion paper presents a visual framework – shaped l...
[AV meets Naked Capitalism] Bankers and bonuses
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In the first post about our meeting with Yves Smith, purveyor of the blog Naked Capitalism, we discussed the blogosphere and what prompted her to join it. Here we ask Ms Smith...
EU border agency shops around for Israeli warplanes
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Israel’s war machine may be recruited to stop impoverished foreigners from reaching the European Union.A pilotless drone manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) recently took part in a demonstration exercise organized by Frontex, the EU
Respect our elders: stop this blather about pension time bombs
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Pension time bomb. We have been warned about one so often that I often lie awake terrified by the prospect of a mass combustion of people with white hair. I can no longer walk past the communal gardens beside my house because the senior citizens tend...
'Not anti-austerity demonstrations, they're pro-democracy protests'
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Listen here to an interview I just did with a Greek environmental lawyer, social activist and peaceful protestor, who says his lungs have only just recovered from last night's tear gas. It's a ten minute Skype interview, but perhaps sums up how many...
Save Saudi writer Hamza Kashgari
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Hi comrades, Please email me back to add your/your organisation’s name to this statement. It’s urgent, so act fast - Sacha *** Freedom for Saudi writer Hamza Kashgari On 12 February, Malaysian police deported 23 yeard old Saudi columnist...
Save Saudi writer Hamza Kashgari
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Hi comrades, Please email me back to add your/your organisation’s name to this statement. It’s urgent, so act fast - Sacha *** Freedom for Saudi writer Hamza Kashgari On 12 February, Malaysian police deported 23 yeard old Saudi columnist...
Volcker defends Volcker
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UPDATE: FT.com has just pubbed a Volcker op-ed, this one directly responding to European critics of his rule. A few lines:There is a certain irony in what I read. In Europe,...
European Commission clears Motorola deal
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Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog We’re happy that today the European Commission approved our proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which we announced in August. This is an important milestone in the approval process and it moves us cl...
Democracy and transparency remain the biggest victims of the euro crisis
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Over on the Telegraph blog, we argue:The 80,000 Greeks that came out in Athens yesterday to protest the latest round of bailout austerity imposed by EU-ECB-IMF troika can shout all they want. They can even express their disgust at the polling boot...
MPS responds to media 'witch-hunt' claims
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After this column in the Sun today, following arrests of its journalists at the weekend, here is the full statement in response from the Met Police: 'The linked Operations Weeting, Elveden and Tuleta are extremely difficult and complex with literally...
A bauble for the Bon Bon: rapper does have a reputation but isn't greatly damaged, rules Aussie court
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This Kat has a little riddle with which to tease her readers. It goes like this: Question: what do you get if you cross an American rap artist with a digruntled Australian tour promoter and a song with the title 'We No Speak Americano'? Answer: a mo...
"Some dry Numbers for Henkel trocken" by Andrew Watt
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Via Gustav Horn I see that poor Hans-Olaf Henkel, that doughty scourge of the euro, is very distressed because everyone in Germany is always talking about equality and social justice and no-one about freedom. He concludes his tirade with an impressio...
CARICOM and Chile: committed to working together
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With the aim of boosting sustainable development, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States and Chile will intensify political dialogue and cooperation. Following the conclusion of the second meeting of the CARICOM-Chile Joint Commission in...
