International
Spain falls back into recession, bailout looms
As first quarter financial results are published, the official verdict for Spain is: back in recession. All signs of the very modest return to growth seen at the beginning of last year are gone and the shadow of the EU bailout now extends across the Iberian peninsula, with more and more predictions that Spain will [...]
EBRD announces record Q1 investments and profits
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced record investments for the first part of this year. The bank committed EUR 1.9 billion in 73 individual transactions during the first quarter of 2012, well up from the EUR 1.1 billion in 67 transactions in the same period last year. Preparations to extend activities [...]
Argentina re-nationalizes oil industry, Repsol booted out of YPF
The Argentine state is to take control of oil company YPF, owned by Spanish firm Respol. President Cristina Kirchner officially announced a plan to expropriate the company by taking over a 51 percent share package yesterday ( April 16). Slightly more than half the shares will remain in the national government’s hands, while the remaining [...]
NY Times gets two Pulitzer prizes, Huffington Post awarded for best national news, no fiction prize awarded for first time in 35 years
The big shock at this year’s Pulitzer awards was not who got a prize, but who didn’t. For the first time in 35 years, no prize was awarded for fiction, as the judges failed to agree. The annual awards, primarily for US journalism awarded the Huffington Post as best national news. Commentators give the ‘young’ [...]
Moody’s downgrades mobile phone producer Nokia on poor sales figures
Ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded mobile phone producer Nokia in response to recently released poor sales figures. Nordic Nokia’s new rating is Baa3, down one notch from Baa2, and, with the new rating on a negative outlook, a further downgrade is possible in the future. “The one-notch rating downgrade was triggered by Nokia’s announcement on [...]
World Bank selects Dr Kim as new president, the American wins again
The World Bank’s executive directors have selected their new president, Dr Jim Yong Kim (in picture). He has a five-year mandate at arguably the most important institution tackling world poverty and is the first president selected via a new process. “The Executive Directors followed the new selection process agreed in 2011 which, for the first [...]
IKEA partners Chinese producer to incorporate electronics into furniture
Swedish furniture producer IKEA will sell incorporated consumer electronics into its furniture from this summer, after a partnership with Chinese TCL Multimedia. Consumers will be offered furniture with televisions, wireless sound systems and built-in CD/DVD/Blu-ray players, designed specifically for IKEA. “This is a large step for us. We will have an offer that is unique [...]
Bulgaria launches food bank to feed the poor
Bulgaria is to launch a national food bank to feed the needy. The scheme will use donations of near sell by date food and groceries with damaged packaging that would otherwise be thrown away. According to Sofia news agency Novinite.com, around 400,000 tonnes of food is destroyed in Bulgaria each year and the plan, put [...]
Region put on standby in expectation of North Korean rocket launch
A sense of nations holding their breath is coming from South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and other regional states in expectation of a planned North Korean rocket launch. Described as a breach of UN security council resolutions, North Korean authorities claim only peaceful intentions, with the aim to launch a satellite for monitoring weather. The [...]
Earthquake in Mexico, zero casualties reported
Another pacific rim earthquake struck yesterday ( April 11 ), this time in Western Mexico. The quake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, was much smaller than the Indonesian earthquake yesterday. Local media reports no casualties or significant damage resulting from the Mexico earthquake and there was no real disruption to life in capital Mexico [...]
Iberia’s pilots to continue strikes every Monday and Friday until July
Pilots for Spanish national carrier Iberia held the first of a planned series of one-day strikes on Monday (April 9 ), a second is planned for the Friday ( April 13 ) and the pilots are set to continue the action by striking every Monday and Friday until July. Around 800 passengers were affected by [...]
Tsunami generated after Indonesia quake, scale and effects still unknown
The earthquake off the Indonesian coast has generated a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has confirmed. “Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may already have been destructive along some coasts,” reads the latest warning center bulletin. The sea water at Simeulue Island near epicentre of Aceh earthquake was seen receding by [...]
Titanic memorial cruise turns back after medical emergency
The Titanic memorial cruise suffered another setback when the ship was forced to return to Ireland to allow a passenger, believed to have had a heart attack, to be airlifted to hospital. The cruise, which left Southampton, England on April 8 to retrace the Titanic’s route, had earlier been delayed due to stormy weather. More [...]
Large earthquake near Indonesia triggers Indian Ocean tsunami warnings
Breaking news of a large earthquake in the Indian Ocean near Indonesia has triggered tsunami warnings for the region. It is not yet known if the quake, with initial reports giving a magnitude of 8.7 – 8.9 on the Richter scale, has generated a tsunami. However, authorities in countries around the Indian ocean have been [...]
Billion dollar Instagram deal could be last of its kind for Facebook
Facebook’s billion dollar deal with interest based photo sharing service Instagram looks at first glance like a modern entrepreneurship fairytale: an infant online mirco business going from zero to a billion in two years with a handful of employees. But, before giving up the day job, remortgaging the house and throwing all the eggs into [...]
Retail trade volume slips in Romania and the region in February
Latest Eurostat figures for retail trade volume in February show Romania took a big fall. The 2.5 percent drop recorded in Romania’s retail trade volume compared to January 2012 was one of the largest falls in the EU, according to Eurostat figures. After gaining in January, retail trade volume slipped for both the eurozone and [...]
Sony to axe 10,000 employees, 6% of its workforce
Electronics company Sony will cut around 10,000 jobs globally, in a bid to reduce costs after reporting ongoing losses. The number is around 6 percent of the company’s total workforce. The news comes from the Nikkei newspaper and so far Sony has not released further details on what appears to be part of the “painful” [...]
Google extends art project – more than 30,000 artworks from inside museums and beyond
Google has expanded and enhanced the Google Art Project, which now includes more than 30,000 artworks from the galleries of the world’s museums and beyond. The collection now includes South African rock designs, Brazilian street graffiti and Australian aboriginal art, as well as painting, sculptures and photographs from 151 museums in 40 countries. When Google [...]
Project Glass: Google takes a glimpse into the future with augmented reality glasses
Search engine and Internet giant Google recently made a revolutionary move by revealing information about its augumented reality glasses, that would allow people to use all of Google’s products, like mail, social network, video call, while taking pictures, sending recorded messages and buying things online. The product, called Product Glass, imagined by many and eagerly [...]
Yahoo gives 2,000 employees the chop
Yahoo’s troubles continue with the announcement that 2,000 more staff are to be made redundant. Employees affected are yet to be notified and in an statement made yesterday ( April 4 ) the company indicated that approximately 2,000 jobs would be lost, via redundancy or what Yahoo described as “phased transition.” This will be another [...]
Auction of torture devices belonging to French state executioner stopped
The auction of a private collection of medieval torture devices in France has been stopped, due to controversy over the former owner of the rather ghoulish smorgasbord of ghastly instruments of torture dating from the Middle Ages to as late as the time of the French Revolution. The owner was one of France’s last executioners, [...]
Coty calling with USD 10 bln bid, but Avon says no
Avon has rejected a USD 10 billion buyout by another cosmetics company Coty. A statement released yesterday ( April 2 ) by Avon indicated that the unsolicited bid by Coty, worth USD 23.25 per share, undervalued the company. This is the second bid from Coty that Avon has rejected in the space of two weeks. [...]
Greeks fight austerity with… potatoes
Greeks are finding novel ways to support each other and face the economic disaster in their country with a spirit of community and solidarity. Recent news reports show grass roots community projects springing up spontaneously all over Greece, such as the Potato Movement, soup kitchens, doctors volunteering at clinics and even theatrical events where tickets [...]
General strike in Spain, unions claim 85 percent participation
A general strike is underway in Spain, in protest against the government’s tough new labor reforms. Largely peaceful, but with reports of some “minor incidents” and a few slight injuries, Cándido Méndez, the secretary general of one of the main unions involved, the UGT, said the strike had been “widely supported across all sectors.” It [...]
German unemployment drops to record low
Unemployment has continued to fall in Germany, dropping a further 0.1 percent this March to 6.7 percent. The seasonally adjusted figures are better than expected and the drop leaves a total of around 2.8 million unemployed in Germany. “The current economic downturn has left few traces on the labor market. After the onset of a [...]
Romania strikes gold, silver and bronze at European Gymnastics Championship, wins title after four years 
‘Magic mentalist’ wins ‘Romania’s got talent’ competition after flat-lining during live show 
Three trams collide, derail in Bucharest accident, at least 86 injured 
‘The Avengers’ epic movie almost covers production costs with first week-end box office revenues 
Athletic Bilbao files official complaint over Bucharest airport delays after Europa League final 
Wajiha Haris, Scheherazade Foundation president: “No” is never an option 
Romania’s Education Minister accused of having plagiarized three international research papers 
German STEAG buys wind farm from Romanian Monsson, plans EUR 200 mln investments 
Romanian actor Serban Ionescu left bed bound after catching Lyme’s disease from tick bite 
S Immo to put EUR 66 mln into The Mark – Bucharest office building with intelligent facade
