Talks of Spain being shut out of the bond market is rising in Europe.
Comments »Germany’s Growth Offsets Eurozone Slowdown Helping to Avoid Recession
“Germany helped the euro area avoid its second recession in three years as growth in the region’s largest economy offset contractions in peripheral countries.
Gross domestic product in the 17-nation euro region stagnated in the latest quarter compared with the prior three months, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 0.2 percent contraction. The German economy expanded 0.5 percent, compared with the 0.1 percent median estimate by economists in a separate survey.”
Comments »Direct Investments in China Fell for a Sixth Consecutive Month; Exacerbating Slowdown
“Foreign direct investment in China fell for a sixth month in April, the longest stretch of declines since the global financial crisis, amid renewed turmoil in financial markets.
Inbound investment dropped 0.7 percent from a year earlier to $8.4 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said today in Beijing. That compares with a 6.1 percent drop in March.”
Comments »On a Coalition Government: Not Likely for Greece
“Greece’s biggest anti-bailout party, Syriza, said for the second time in as many days that it won’t join a unity government, pushing the country closer to new elections that have sparked concerns about a euro-area exit.
“Syriza won’t betray the Greek people,” leader Alexis Tsipras said in statements televised on state-run NET TV after a meeting brokered by President Karolos Papoulias between the party and the leaders of the New Democracy and Pasok parties. “We are being asked to agree to the destruction of Greek society.”
Comments »Greek Exit from Eurozone ‘possible’
As lawmakers grow weary of waiting on Greece to put into place reforms, the ECB is facing the distinct possibility that Greece may exit the Eurozone. The ECB would suffer massive financial losses, and the results of an exit could be disastrous.
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Comments »Greek Exit Would Convert Qver Half a Trillion of External Euro Liabilities into Drachma
Sober Look examines the damage that will likely be caused to the Eurozone should Greece exit.
Read the commentary here.
Comments »Relations Between China, Philippines Heat Up
The dispute between China and the Philippines over the countries’ maritime boundaries seems to have moved to a much more dangerous level — and could soon include the United States.
China is now warning of a potential war with its Asian neighbor.
“No matter how willing we are to discuss the issue, the current Philippine leadership is intent on pressing us into a corner where there is no other option left but the use of arms,” said an editorial in the state-controlled China Daily newspaper.
The dispute is over a small group of islands called the Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines that both nations claim as their territory.
Last month, a tense standoff took place between navies of both countries, after military vessels from the Philippines tried to stop a Chinese fishing fleet from entering the territory.
Non-military ships from both nations remain in the area to enforce their claim.
The shoal is about 140 miles from the coastline of the Philippines, which insists its claim is supported by international law.
The nearest Chinese-controlled land mass is several hundred miles away.
But China claims most of the South China Sea. Its claim spreads far to the southeast and includes waters very close to other Asian nations, such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
It is thought the South China Sea has vast quantities of oil and gas beneath it and all of these nations want to stake their claim.
It’s also a widely perceived as a potential flashpoint between the countries; it is also a major international waterway of the United States, which uses it to have its fleets pass through to the Middle East.
China announced today it was suspending all tours of the Philippines by Chinese nationals because of the risk, it says, for their safety.
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Comments »The China Wealth Fund Has Stopped Buying European Debt for Obvious Reasons
Turmoil rules the world causing China’s wealth fund to stop purchasing debt for the moment.
Comments »Egypt’s Courts Halt Elections Over Constitutionality
“Egypt’s largest daily newspaper, Ahram, is reporting that an administrative court has halted Egypt’s presidential elections.
The elections, the first since the fall of former leader Mubarak, were due to be held on the 23 and 24 of this month, but had been marred by political infighting and street violence.
The ruling appears to concern the constitutionality of the election.”
Comments »The Central Bank of Poland Raises Rates Unexpectedly to Fight Inflation
Europe Closes on the Lows
Greek Leader Tsipras Lays Out Agenda
Athens, Greece (CNN) — Greek leftist leader Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday laid out the radical agenda he hopes to pursue if he becomes prime minister, including the cancellation of severe budget-cutting measures forced on the country by international lenders.
Laws which cut pensions and salaries and those which “cancel basic workers’ rights” must be annulled, Tsipras said as he started efforts to form a governing coalition in the wake of parliamentary elections on Sunday.
He also called for state control of the banks, which “remain in the hands of the managers who bankrupted the system,” he said.
The Greek people voted clearly to reject the austerity demanded by international lenders, Syriza Party leader Tsipras said.
The two parties that made the agreement with international lenders “don’t have a majority any more to vote for the plundering of the Greek people,” Tsipras told lawmakers.
Tsipras met Greek President Karolos Papoulias earlier on Tuesday to get instructions to try to cobble together a government in the wake of elections that left the country’s political system in chaos.
Syriza will have three days to form a government.
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Comments »‘You can only stretch a sun-boiled rubber band so far before it snaps’
CHINA IS THE DEVIL: SOUTH KOREA CRACKS DOWN ON ‘STAMINA PILLS’ MADE FROM FLESH OF HUMAN BABIES–SMUGGLED IN FROM CHINA
South Korea – South Korea has seized thousands of smuggled drug capsules filled with powdered flesh from dead babies, which some people believe can cure disease, officials said Monday.
The capsules were made in northeastern China from babies whose bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder, the Korea Customs Service said.
Customs officials refused to say where the dead babies came from or who made the capsules, citing possible diplomatic friction with Beijing. Chinese officials ordered an investigation into the production of drugs made from dead fetuses or newborns last year.
The customs office has discovered 35 smuggling attempts since August of about 17,450 capsules disguised as stamina boosters, and some people believe them to be a panacea for disease, the customs service said in a statement. The capsules of human flesh, however, contained bacteria and other harmful ingredients.
Comments »Man Arrested in Bahrain for Retweeting About Wikileaks Assange
Famous Restaurant in Singapore, Kay Lee, Selling Pork Recipe for $1.8 Million
If you haven’t heard of Kong, she and her husband run a little restaurant, the 60-stool Kay Lee Roast Meat Joint. So popular is its pork that patrons, according to Bloomberg, line up to be sure of getting in-sometimes an hour in advance.
The Kongs, however, are in their 60s are looking to retire. Neither of their kids wants to take the business over. So, they have put the Meat Joint up for sale, at an asking price of $2.8 million. Its assessed value is $1 million. The difference is the recipe.
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Comments »Spain to Announce a Rescue Plan for Ailing Banks
Hollande Vows to Fight Austerity After Beating Sarkozy
Alex Jones: America is the New Nazi Germany
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