Thursday 7 June 2012

Today's Stories



Global economy

Stocks surge on stimulus hopes
Global stocks rallied the most this year, the euro strengthened and commodities jumped on speculation policy makers will take steps to revive the slowing economy. Australia's currency surged after a report showed the gross domestic product grew at twice the projected rate

US growth 'moderate' as Euro roils, says Fed
The US economy is expanding moderately but businesses remain worried over US political uncertainty and the European crisis, the Federal Reserve said in its regional economies survey Wednesday.

 Silver Catches Up To Gold's Fears
Equities, EUR, and Treasury yields have round-tripped from notable falls this morning to 'recouple' with Gold's relative stability but it is Silver that is running the show for now - up over 7.5% from pre-NFP.

Spain's Bailout Refusal Is 'Kamikaze Politics'
Pressure is growing for Spain to tap into European Union bailout money to stem its banking crisis, but the country has stubbornly refused. Instead, Madrid hopes to get around bailout conditions with direct aid to its banks. German commentators on Wednesday say that the time for pride has passed.

Commentary from Germany's Spiegel- RW
Spain to decide fate of banks in two weeks
Finance minister says plan on how to find $100bn needed for bank recapitalisation will come in "approximately 15 days".

Moody’s never sleeps: German and Austrian lenders downgraded
Moody’s rating agency has downgraded 7 German banking groups, as well as Austria’s 3 biggest lenders. The news comes amidst increasing woes over economic stability in the eurozone key economies – Germany and France.

Going global: Russian exchange launches futures on BRICS
The MICEX-RTS began trading futures on benchmark equity indexes for Brazil, India, China and South Africa, after the four BRICS Exchanges Alliance members started trading the contracts in March.
Military/intelligence

China warns on US-Australian ties
CHINA'S military intelligence establishment has warned Australia about the risks of deepening military ties with the United States while retaining its economic dependency with China.

Russia to talk Syria transition with US
AS SYRIA slides towards civil war, Russia is signalling that it no longer views President Bashar al-Assad's position as tenable and is working with the US to seek an orderly transition

US Embassy office attacked
THE US diplomatic mission in the eastern city of Benghazi was attacked with a homemade bomb overnight and a guard was lightly wounded, officials said.

GOVERNMENT forces killed about 100 people, including many women and children, in a "massacre" in Syria's central Hama province on Wednesday, the opposition Syrian National Council said.

Scores of Afghanis killed in violence
SCORES of Afghanis have been killed in Taliban bombings and other violence including a NATO air strike, highlighting persistent instability across the country as foreign troops begin their drawdown more than a decade after the US-led invasion.

Women, children among 18 Afghans dead in NATO wedding strike - report (PHOTOS)

Bring Iran and Turkey on board Syrian summit’ – Russia
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on Iran and Turkey to be included in an upcoming international meeting dedicated to ending the crisis in Syria.
"We believe it is necessary to assemble a meeting of states with real influence on different opposition groups. There are not that many,"

Washington on fast track to war with Syria: Ron Paul
man says the US government is on the fast track to war with Syria and is capitalizing on the recent massacre of civilians in the Houla village to justify the war against Damascus.


Leon Panetta: US will continue drone attacks in Pakistan
Pentagon chief Leon Panetta says the US would continue its drone attacks in Pakistan despite complaints from Islamabad that the strikes violate its sovereignty.
China's Hu sees regional role in Afghanistan
President says Shanghai Co-operation Organisation can play bigger role in troubled Afghanistan after US pullout
.
Clinton Asks Russia, China to Help in Syria Crisis
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called on China and Russia to apply its influence on Damascus to stop the bloodshed in Syria but said that it must include a political transition from the al-Assad regime

Tehran said on Wednesday failure to draft an agenda for the upcoming nuclear talks in Moscow was not conducive to their success, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported

A nuclear war been India and Pakistan, even if it is limited in nature, would result in major climate disruptions and ultimately, global famine, according to a new study.

Environmental/disasters

Earth nearing 'tipping point,' study warns
Earth is rapidly headed toward a catastrophic breakdown if humans don't get their act together, according to an international group of scientists.

 A potentially dangerous sexually transmitted disease that infects millions of people each year is growing resistant to drugs and could soon become untreatable, the World Health Organization said Wednesday



Middle East

As bill to legalize West Bank neighborhood fails, Netanyahu promises new settlement construction
In wake of Knesset vote to reject the legalizing of a Beit El neighborhood, Israeli PM warns left-wing organizations that they cannot use the legal system to 'harm the settlements.'

Food/water


Europe

Coalition under pressure to cut benefits for middle-class pensioners
David Cameron is coming under pressure from senior Cabinet colleagues to scrap free television licences, bus passes and winter fuel payments for middle-class pensioners.


Smile turns to a frown as internet bank's interest rates hit 0%
When Smile internet banking launched 13 years ago it promised higher rates from lower overheads, cocking a snook at high street banks in the process. So what's gone wrong?

Will Greece and Spain's youth jobs crisis spread to the UK?
A skills mismatch has intensified youth joblessness on the Continent, taking it above 50pc in some nations, and the worry is it could happen in Britain.

Funds released to ease healthcare crisis (Greece)
By June 17, 440 million euros of funding will have been released to cover hospital and medicine costs, caretaker Health Minister Christos Kittas said on Wednesday, as hundreds of Greeks continued to queue for drugs that pharmacists are refusing to provide on credit.


USA


US stock exchange to fork out $40m for botched Facebook trades
The US stock exchange has proposed a $40 million one-off payment to firms that suffered losses in botched Facebook trades.
30,000 secret surveillance orders demanded annually to spy on Americans

GOP establishment tries to prevent Ron Paul supporters from coming to Republican convention
Supporters of presidential hopeful Ron Paul plan to hold a massive rally in Tampa, Florida on the eve of the upcoming Republican National Convention, but festival organizers say the state GOP is generating problems for the proposed event.

Australia/NZ 

A SURGE in mining investment and an apparent upswing in consumer spending have delivered Australia one of the fastest economic growth rates in the developed world.
The government hits back at the realists --RW

THE world's biggest mining company has given the strongest signal yet that it will park planned investments - including projects in Australia worth tens of billions of dollars - as it prepares to ride out the slowdown in China and weaker commodity prices.
The reality behind the hype --RW

Road conditions in Canterbury have worsened overnight and widespread disruption from yesterday's snow storm is continuing.

The worst of Sydney's wild weather is over but monster waves and flash flooding remain a threat along the NSW coast as the storms that lashed southern areas make their way north.


Media/internet
'End of the world as we know it': Kaspersky warns of cyber-terror apocalypse
After his eponymously-named lab discovered Flame, "the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed," Eugene Kaspersky believes that the evolving threat of “cyber terrorism” could spell the end of life on Earth as we know it.

Russian hackers leak 6.5 mln LinkedIn passwords
A large set of LinkedIn passwords have reportedly been posted on a Russian hacker web forum, landing millions of accounts in danger of being cracked
And finally


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.