(FT) – The European Central Bank confounded monetary hawks by extending its economic stimulus programme until at least September next year, pushing down the euro as investors digested Mario Draghi’s refusal to call the end to emergency crisis-era measures. Although the ECB announced its stimulative bond purchases will be halved to €30bn a month, the…
MADRID (Reuters) – The upper house of Spain’s parliament on Friday authorized the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to rule Catalonia directly from Madrid, minutes after the restive region declared independence from Spain. Rajoy is now expected to convene his cabinet to adopt the first measures to govern Catalonia. This could include firing the…
BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) – Catalonia’s parliament declared independence from Spain on Friday in defiance of the Madrid government, which at the same time was preparing to impose direct rule over the region. Although the declaration was in effect a symbolic gesture as it will not be accepted by Spain or the international community, the moves by…
ATHENS (Reuters) – A potential deal with the United States to upgrade dozens of Greece’s F-16 fighter jets is not expected to harm its fiscal progress and should not worry its EU lenders, a Greek government spokesman said on Thursday. Defense spending has been reduced during Greece’s seven-year debt crisis, which shrank the size…
(Reuters) – The Spanish government has urged Catalans to accept Madrid’s decision to dismiss their secessionist leadership and to take control of the restive region, as the nation’s biggest political crisis in decades enters a decisive week Spain’s foreign minister made the comment on Sunday, a day after Madrid vowed to take the unprecedented step…
Reuters – Catalonia’s leaders said on Saturday they would not accept direct rule imposed on the region by the Spanish government, as a political crisis that has rattled the economy and raised fears of prolonged unrest showed no signs of easing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced earlier on Saturday he would invoke special…
Reuters – North Korea has sent a letter to Australia’s parliament, warning it is a nuclear power and will not be cowed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy it, according to a copy of the letter published in an Australian newspaper on Friday. “If Trump thinks that he would bring the DPRK,…
MADRID (Reuters – Spanish cabinet was meeting on Saturday to prepare to impose direct rule on Catalonia to stop the region seperating from Spain. It will be the first time in Spain’s four decades of democracy that Madrid has invoked the constitutional right to take control of a region and rule it directly from Madrid.…
SYDNEY ( Sitnok Global) – Bitcoin reached a record high of more than $6,000 on Friday, pushing its market capitalization to $100 billion, as investors bet on an asset that has a limited supply. This may be the result of increase of crypto-currencies coming to market. The original virtual currency has gained over 500…
Bloomberg reprint: Greek Banks Face ‘Gangs’ in Bad-Loans Battle With Defaulters BySotiris Nikas , Christos Ziotis , and Stefania Spezzati October 19, 2017, 2:05 PM GMT+11 October 19, 2017, 10:44 PM GMT+11 Lenders said to boost sales of NPEs standing at half of total Investors fear Greek banks will need to raise more capital When Eurobank…
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s central government threatened on Thursday to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy after the region’s leader said it could go ahead with a formal declaration of independence if Madrid continued its “repression” Catalan President Carles Puigdemont arrives to attend the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) extraordinary national council meeting in Barcelona, Spain October 18,…
U.S. flies bombers over Korea as Trump discusses options SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military flew two strategic bombers over the Korean peninsula in a show of force late on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump met top defense officials to discuss how to respond to any threat from North Korea. Tensions have soared between the…
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally proposed on Tuesday to scrap the agency’s Obama-era plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, as the Trump administration seeks to slash fossil fuel regulation. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a notice that the agency intended to repeal and replace…
Reuters: reprint MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia accused the United States on Tuesday of pretending to fight Islamic State and of deliberately reducing its air strikes in Iraq to allow the group’s militants to stream into Syria to slow the Russian-backed advance of the Syrian army. The Pentagon strongly denied the accusations, saying that the…
Reuters reprint: ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey urged the United States on Monday to review its suspension of visa services after the arrest of a U.S. consulate employee sharply escalated tension between the two NATO allies and drove Turkey’s currency and stocks lower. Relations between Ankara and Washington have been plagued by disputes over U.S. support…
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