Tuesday 26 June 2012

Today's stories


Global economy

Australian shares are expected to follow global markets lower on fears that this week's eurozone meeting will do little to relieve the ongoing debt crisis.
From euphoria to depression -- RW

Spain and Cyprus request eurozone rescues
Spain formally requested a banking rescue of up to 100 billion euros ($US125 billion) and Cyprus also asked for a bailout, as a pivotal week for the eurozone's future began.

The Cypriot government has issued a statement, confirming that they have officially made an EU bailout bid. This makes it the fifth state within the currency union to ask for help.

The Spanish government has formally requested European aid of up to €100 billion for its troubled banking sector.


Military/intelligence

At Luxembourg meeting EU ministers say embargo would go ahead as planned, pledge to review its implementation to ensure European governments retain sufficient access to crude oil.


The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the military is ready to use ''greater force'' to halt rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, after Hamas declared a ceasefire following a week of violence in the south


 
Officials say "all options on the table" to respond to downing of jet, just hours before NATO discusses the issue.


Turkey says Syria has fired on a second Turkish plane in what is now an escalating situation. The second plane was a search and rescue plane searching for the military jet downed earlier last week.

and the Syrian side of the story..
The downing of a Turkish plane by Syria was an act of self-defense against a violation of its sovereignty, the Syrian foreign ministry has said. Damascus insists it was within its right to open fire on unidentified aircraft violating its airspace

Turkey is to demand backing from its NATO allies on Tuesday at a special meeting called after Syrian troops shot down a Turkish warplane last week in an incident Damascus said was self-defense but which Ankara branded an "act of aggression".

 
Syria has warned NATO against conspiring with Turkey against Damascus in their upcoming meeting on the shooting down by Syria of a Turkish jet fighter.


 



Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Iran’s nuclear program and increased economic cooperation during his visit to Israel on Monday.


 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Mahinda Rajapaksa have stressed the need for a new world order at their meeting over the weekend.



Environmental/disasters

 
Hundreds of British Columbians are away from their homes, others are without clean drinking water and at least one person is dead as a weekend of heavy rain flooded homes and washed away roads in several areas of the province.

 

A growing number of rootworms are now able to devour genetically modified corn specifically designed by Monsanto to kill those same pests. A new study shows that while the biotech giant may triumph in Congress, it will never be able to outsmart nature.

Chinese state media say torrential rains have killed at least 16 people and affected 1 1/2 million people in southern and northern parts of the country

 
According to the report, rates of sea level rise are augmenting three-to-four times faster along the East Coast than they are globally


Lloyd’s has published a roundup of the environmental issues inherent in as the world grows warmer

For much of the year, the Petronas Towers, the world’s tallest twin buildings, are gleaming landmarks visible far from the city center here. But last weekend, the 88-story structures were shrouded in a smoky haze that prompted doctors to warn people with respiratory problems to wear masks.

Civil unrest/revolution

 
A large majority of Israelis - 69 percent - supports the renewed social-justice protests, but Israelis are about evenly split over who was responsible for the violence that characterized Saturday night's rally in Tel Aviv, according to a Haaretz-Dialog poll conducted on Monday.



Energy/resources

A SECOND major coal-fired electricity generator has been forced to seek a multi-million-dollar bailout from its offshore shareholders, rather than bankers, ahead of the introduction of the carbon tax next week.

The coal-fired power industry in the U.S. is facing the biggest plunge in asset values in a decade, risking billions of dollars in pollution-control spending by utilities such as Exelon Corp. (EXC) and American Electric Power Co. (AEP)


Europe


WIKIPEDIA founder Jimmy Wales has made a rare political call to stop the extradition of a British student to the US for alleged copyright offences.

 


A broad spectrum of NatWest/Ulster Bank customers and suppliers have raised new doubts about how and why last week’s RBS ‘glitch’ occurred. Also RBS’s current financial position doesn’t inspire confidence: and the ‘glitch’ gave the Group what might have been a vital windfall of £73bn in liquidity.

The British government should hammer a deal with London bus workers over their Olympic-time bonus or face more strikes, the leader of Britain’s largest union Unite has warned as the Games draw closer.


Egypt

He came to power promising a moderate Islamist agenda and told Egyptians he would govern for them all - now Egypt's first democratically elected civilian President must convince the West and his people he stands by his word.

Egypt's new president wants closer ties with Iran
Egypt's Islamist President-elect Mohammed Mursi says he wants to expand ties with Iran to create a strategic balance in the region.



USA

One-hundred-thirty members of Congress or their families have traded stocks collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars in companies lobbying on bills that came before their committees, a practice that is permitted under current ethics rules, a Washington Post analysis has found.


 
Experts predict average gas prices may fall below $3 this fall after dropping14 cents in two weeks. When prices hit a record high, Republicans attributed sole responsibility to President Obama, even though there is no evidence that factors like drilling impact what consumers pay



Australia/NZ 

Australian banks' appetite for US money market funding has slumped since January as the need for credit at the big four banks weakens in line with softer demand for mortgages, according to ratings agency Fitch.

Gina Rinehart hopes to be a ''white knight'' for Fairfax Media, but might sell her shareholding unless she is offered positions on the board without ''unsuitable conditions''.
 
SMH and the Age are moving away from newspaper format to paid internet; in addition they are under threat from Australia's richest woman, a mining magnate

 
In Australia, the editors-in-chief of the Fairfax-owned Melbourne paper The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers have quit.

The Mixed Ownership Model Bill paving the way for the Government to sell up to 49% of Mighty River Power, Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy and Solid Energy will have its third and final reading in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.



Media/internet

A group of high-profile Americans, including filmmaker Michael Moore and author Naomi Wolf, have signed a letter of support for Julian Assange's asylum bid.


The Russian government has suggested fining persons who post internet links on materials


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