(08.04.) Diese Woche treffen die EU-Abgeordneten in Brüssel Parlamentarier aus den Ländern der Mittelmeerunion, um Herausforderungen nach dem Arabischen Frühling zu diskutieren.

(05.04.) Parlamentarier sollten eine größere Rolle spielen beim demokratischen Übergang nach dem Arabischen Frühling. Dafür will sich der Präsident des Europaparlaments Martin Schulz am 6. und 7. April bei einem Treffen der Parlamentspräsidenten der Mittelmeerunion in Marseille einsetzen.

“Heute sagen wir basta! Bis hierhin und nicht weiter!”, hat Elena Cortés, die zuständige Ministerin Andalusiens von der linken Izquierda Unida (IU), in Sevilla keinen Zweifel an ihrer Entschlossenheit gelassen. Bereits morgen früh tritt im Süden ein Gesetz in Kraft, dass es erlaubt, Banken zu enteignen, um Zwangsräumungen zu vermeiden. Ein Meilenstein in Spanien!

„Our economy‘s strength remains sensitive to events beyond our shores and we have an immense stake in Europe‘s health and stability,“ Lew told reporters

The comments came after a spokesman for EU Tax Commissioner Algirdas Semeta called it “unacceptable” that Austria was refusing to sign up to an EU-wide push towards an automatic sharing of information on bank account holders.

The country added that the fiscal regime for U.S. citizens “will be dealt with in a bilateral agreement under negotiation between the governments of Luxembourg and the United States.”

The finance ministers from the five nations wrote to European Commissioner on Fiscality, Algirdas Šemeta saying they have agreed a pilot scheme, based on the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act,

In a joint letter to the EU commission sent on Tuesday (9 April), the finance ministers of the five largest EU countries say they have agreed on a „pilot“ project of „automatic information exchange“ aimed at fighting tax evasion.

The initiative is open to other member states and is based on a recently adopted law in the US – the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

Governor of Central Bank Giorgos Provopoulos felt the need on Wednesday to repeat for one more time the slogan we, here in Greece, have hearing since Sunday: that “deposits in Greek banks are full protected and thus regardless of the amount”.

• President Obama unveiled a budget proposal that would cut $400bn from Medicare and $230bn from Social Security over the next 10 years. The budget also claims $580bn in new revenue from closing tax loopholes and instituting the so-called Buffett Rule. An overview of the proposal is here.

Die Behörden der japanischen Großstadt Yokohama haben ihre Bürger aus Versehen per Twitter über den Start einer nordkoreanischen ballistischen Rakete informiert (…)

Erst zwanzig Minuten später wurde die Meldung wieder gelöscht – Zeit genug, um Panik zu stiften.

Der Oberste Nato-Befehlshaber für Europa, Admiral James Stavridis, besucht heute die an der türkisch-syrischen Grenze stationierten Batterien von Fla-Raketensystemen Patriot, berichten türkische Medien.

Following meeting with Kerry, Turkish premier announces he‘ll visit Gaza after trip to Washington in mid-May, Turkish media reports

US-Außenminister John Kerry, der in der vorigen Woche Istanbul besucht hatte, soll Ende April wieder in die Bosporus-Metropole reisen und dort an einem Treffen der Syrien-„Freundesgruppe“ teilnehmen, wie türkische Medien am Mittwoch berichten.

Britain is hosting a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Eight countries Wednesday and Thursday in London. Some of the ministers will meet with members of the Syrian opposition on the sidelines of the meeting

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been advocating for a new trade deal between the U.S. and EU for more than a year, and President Barack Obama endorsed the project in his 2013 State of the Union address.

“We must embark on the road to a United States of Europe,” Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding urged, speaking at an event organised by European Institute in Washington, on 5 April.

„You‘re never going to win… Bottom line is the house wins every time.“

That‘s what Maine Correctional Center Captain Shawn Welch said to a prisoner who was strapped into a restraint chair, his face coated with pepper spray and his legs shaking in pain and fear.

Paul Schlosser sitzt eine 7-jährige Haftstrafe wegen Raub ab. Vorher diente er als Sanitäter im US-Militär, leidet aber seit seiner Entlassung unter Depressionen. Vor dem besagten Tag sass er zwei Monate in Einzelhaft, worauf er sich aus Protest selbst Schnitte zufügte, was oft nach langer Isolation bei Gefangenen passiert. Weil er seine Bandagen entfernte und sich weigerte behandelt zu werden wurde er an den Stuhl gefesselt und erfuhr von Shawn Welch die folgende Sonderbehandlung.

It shouldn‘t surprise. It‘s already policy. Market analyst Graham Summers explained. Depositor theft is coming. Europe is banker occupied territory. So is America.

…

US-Finanzminister Jacob Lew trifft Wolfgang Schäuble in Berlin

Ihr damaliger Industrieminister Nicholas Ridley hatte im Jahre 1990 in einem unvorsichtigen Interview im „Spectator“ genau das ausgesprochen, was Thatcher selbst dachte – aber niemals sagte. Die geplante Währungsunion sei seine deutsche Verschwörung mit dem Ziel der Machtübernahme in Europa. Ridley musste deswegen seinen Hut nehmen. Thatcher wurde kurze Zeit später entthront.

(29.03.) “We’re going to win with our ideas and our strength because we’re a miracle,” Grillo said in an interview broadcast today on his website. “We are the French Revolution without the guillotine.”

Possiamo dire che in Italia è in corso una rivoluzione come in Egitto, forse più grande di quella?

Assolutamente sì, perché in Egitto forse rimpiangono Mubarak? Qua nessuno sta rimpiangendo Fini, Casini, nessuno rimpiangerà Bersani, nessuno rimpiangerà Berlusconi.

Spanish industrial output fell faster in February, dropping by 6.5 percent from the same month a year earlier following a decline of 4.9 percent in January, official statistics released on Wednesday showed.

They said they would and they did.

Region will also fine banks and real estate companies for leaving homes empty

(07.06.2010) German chancellor Angela Merkel says: ‘If the euro fails, Europe fails’. To save the single currency, the European Central Bank has abandoned all its prudent principles. But what is really being saved? The currency, Europe’s weaker economies – or the banks?

The left misleads us and maybe itself when it says that Thatcher‘s policies, extended by New Labour and then by the coalition, have failed. The drastic results of these policies were intentional. Their target was „the enemy within“ – working-class power and the so-called culture of entitlement.

According to the same reports the contracts for the deal are being drafted by two major law firms, one of which is based in Geneva, Switzerland and the other in Athens, Greece. The reports present the sale as done deal and both parties ready to sign.