Salon.com > Raf Casert

Mass anti-austerity protests hit Europe

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:58:00 +0000

BRUSSELS (AP) -- Workers across the European Union sought to present a united front against rampant unemployment and government spending cuts Wednesday with a string of strikes and demonstrations across the region.

However, while austerity-hit countries such as Spain and Portugal saw a high turnout of striking workers, wealthier countries like Germany and Denmark experienced only piecemeal action.

To combat a three-year financial crisis over too much debt, governments across Europe have had to cut spending, pensions and benefits and raise taxes. As well as hitting income and living standards, these measures have also led to a decline in economic output and rapidly rising unemployment.

The 17 countries that use the euro are expected to fall into recession when official figures are released Thursday. Meanwhile, unemployment across the eurozone has reached a record 11.6 percent with countries like Spain and Greece hitting the 25 percent mark.

With no end in sight to the economic hardship, workers were trying to take a stand on Wednesday.

`'There is a social emergency in the south," said Bernadette Segol, Secretary General of the European Trade Union Confederation. `'All recognize that the policies carried out now are unfair and not working."

Hammer thrower caught doping

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 15:16:00 +0000

LONDON (AP) — A three-time world champion hammer thrower from Belarus was kicked out of the London Olympics on Friday because an IOC retest found his doping samples from the 2004 Athens Games to be positive.

Ivan Tsikhan, who won the silver medal in Athens, had been expected to start qualifying for the hammer throw final but was instead sent home by the IAAF, the Belarus Olympic committee said Friday.

"We have received a letter from the international athletics federation that we should take out Ivan Tsikhan for doping from 2004 in Athens," said Oleg Grinko, a spokesman for the Belarus Olympic Committee.

An Olympic official with direct knowledge of the case said Tsikhan had also been caught in IAAF retests in 2005, when he won the world title in Helsinki, Finland. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the results had not been publicly announced.

The IOC decided in May to retest about 100 samples from the Athens Olympics to catch any drug cheats who escaped detection at the time.

The IOC stores doping samples from each Olympics for eight years to allow for retesting. The statute of limitations for Athens will expire Aug. 29, the date the games closed in 2004.

EU gives green light to Croatia

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:59:00 +0000

The EU Commission gave the green light on Friday for Croatia to join the union, with membership likely to start in 2013.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he would recommend that EU nations to wrap up talks and prepare to welcome Croatia as the 28th member state.

The Commission said the negotiations with the Balkan nation could be wrapped because talks on reforming the Croatian judiciary have been successful.

"Croatia is now ready to move ahead," Barroso said. He suggested that the current member states should add Croatia on July 1, 2013. The EU leaders could give their political backing at a meeting on June 24.

Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said the negotiations with the Balkan nation could be wrapped up because talks on reforming the Croatian judiciary have been successful.

"They are on track and we can give, with a very calm and good heart, a 'yes' to Croatia," Reding said.

Croatia started membership talks around six years ago, and would become the second former Yugoslav nation to join following Slovenia.

Barroso said the tough negotiations also sent a clear signal to other aspiring EU members in southeast Europe.

E.U. farm chief proposes millions in aid for E. coli

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:10:00 +0000

The EU farm chief proposed giving farmers euro150 million ($219 million) in compensation Tuesday to help those slammed by plunging demand for produce amid the world's deadliest E. coli outbreak.

Farm Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said EU agriculture ministers were considering whether farmers can recoup from EU coffers up to 30 percent of the value of vegetables that cannot be sold because of the E. coli outbreak that has killed 24 people and infected over 2,400.

EU farmers outside northern Germany, where the crisis is located, have been livid that prices for their crops have plummeted after being erroneously blamed for the contamination crisis.

"We propose euro150 million. We will obviously see what we get," Ciolos said at a meeting Tuesday in Brussels.

The figure roughly translates to the 30 percent compensation, but EU nations were expected to haggle over the details for several hours. An agreement in principle on the aid was expected later in the day.

Spain and France, traditional vegetable producers, insisted it would not be enough. "No, Spain does not see it as sufficient," Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar said.

Qatar to host World Cup in 2022

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:01:00 +0000

Qatar was selected as host of the 2022 World Cup, beating out a bid by the United States to bring soccer's showcase back to America for the first time since 1994.

FIFA's executive committee choose Qatar over the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea in a secret vote Thursday.

Minutes earlier, Russia was announced as host of the 2018 tournament. It was chosen over England and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ZURICH (AP) -- Russia will host the 2018 World Cup.

It was chosen Thursday by FIFA's executive committee over England and joint bids by Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium.

Russia won despite the absence of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Zurich. At the last minute, he declined to make a final pitch for his country.

The 2022 host was to be announced minutes later. The U.S. was competing with Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.

Parliament panel in Belgium approves banning burqa

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:30:00 +0000

A parliamentary committee unanimously voted Wednesday to ban the wearing of face-covering veils in public, a major step in the legislative process that could make Belgium the first European country to impose such a religious prohibition.

The full House of Representatives is expected to vote on the issue late April.

The Interior Affairs Committee representing all major parties was unanimous Wednesday in backing the bill. The six parliamentarians from the MR french-speaking liberal party said the principle of "recognize to know" trumped other considerations in the issue.

"We cannot allow someone to claim the right to look at others without being seen," said Daniel Bacquelaine, who proposed the bill. "It is necessary that the law forbids the wearing of clothes that totally mask and encloses an individual," he said, adding he was not targeting the classic headscarf worn by many Muslim women.

The parliamentarians are specifically targeting the body-covering burqa and face-veiling niqab, which are still very rare features in Belgian public life. "We have to act as of today to avoid (its) development," Bacquelaine said.

"Wearing the burqa in public is not compatible with an open, liberal, tolerant society," he said.