Finns and Dutch cast doubts on Eurozone deal July 2, 2012 A EUROZONE rescue plan devised at last week’s crunch summit has been thrown into doubt, after the Finnish government said it would block the move along with the Dutch authorities. Leaders from the single currency area had announced that rescue funds could be used in a “flexible and efficient manner” to mitigate pressure on troubled [...]
ECB rejects Greece’s bailout negotiation July 2, 2012 THE GREEK government should stop wasting time and money trying to renegotiate its bailout deal, and focus on implementing reforms to get its economy back on a path to growth, a top European Central Bank (ECB) official said yesterday. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wants to ease some of the tough austerity conditions attached to the [...]
Unemployment edges higher across single currency area July 2, 2012 JOBLESSNESS in the Eurozone rose to a new record high in May, pushed up by lay-offs in France, Spain and even stable Austria, as the two-and-a-half year debt crisis continued to eat away at the currency bloc’s fragile economy. Around 17.56m people were out of work in the 17-nation euro area in May, or 11.1 [...]
Sluggish sales in the UK force companies to turn to exports July 2, 2012 WEAK domestic demand is prompting businesses to increasingly look abroad for new sales, according to figures released this morning by the British Chambers of Commerce. The service sector has reported its highest level of forward-looking export orders since the start of 2007 – prior to the credit crunch – the Chambers (BCC) said today. “While [...]
France’s audit confirms hole July 2, 2012 FRANCE will have to find between €6bn and €10bn this year and a massive €33bn in 2013 to meet its European deficit targets, or risk unnerving financial markets, the state auditor told the new Socialist government yesterday. Responding to President Francois Hollande’s request for a thorough review of state finances, the audit said a revenue [...]
House prices soar in London July 2, 2012 House prices in London rocketed by 7.7 per cent in the year to May, the Land Registry said yesterday – far outperforming the 0.4 per cent rise seen across the UK. The most expensive property sold in May went for £18.5m in central London; the cheapest recent property was sold in Oldham for just £10,000, [...]
Euro woes prompt asset juggling July 2, 2012 BNP Paribas is considering relocating some international activities to deposit-rich markets like Belgium, according to a spokeswoman for the bank, as BNP and other French banks scramble to fill funding gaps on their balance sheet. By moving assets around its international chessboard, BNP would likely be able to reduce its own intra-group lending lines to [...]
World Bank could aid euro area July 2, 2012 The new head of the World Bank said yesterday that he was open to the possibility of the development lender advising troubled developed nations like Greece, a major shift for an institution that has focused on the world’s poor. As American Jim Yong Kim took the reins of the World Bank, he said his priority [...]
Sony snaps up cloud gaming group Gaikai July 2, 2012 SONY has spent $380m (£242m) on acquiring cloud-based gaming service Gaikai, the troubled electronics giant announced yesterday. Gaikai, bought by Sony’s video game arm Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), allows users to play high-quality games over a broadband connection without the need for downloads or powerful computers, since the games are run on remote servers “in [...]
Games consoles meet a chainsaw massacre July 2, 2012 WHAT would you rather do: harvest corn, or chainsaw a zombie in the face? That’s the question asked by the Facebook app for Gaikai, the cloud gaming company just bought for $380m (£242m) by Sony, which clearly believes the chainsaw is mightier than the scythe. It’s probably right, too. Just a few minutes of experimenting [...]
