February 2010

West greets Iran nuclear claim with scepticism

BBC
February 6, 2010

Western powers have responded with scepticism to a claim by Iran that a deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel could now be close.
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February 2010

G7 warms to idea of bank levy

The Financial Times
February 6, 2010

Finance ministers from the world’s most advanced nations have begun to coalesce around the idea of imposing levies on banks to help insure the global economy against future financial crises, officials said on Saturday at the end of a Group of Seven meeting in northern Canada.
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February 2010

Spain seeks to calm fears it is ‘next Greece’ as European markets plunge

The Guardian
February 5, 2010

Spain’s government will seek to reassure investors over the country’s rising debts today, in a bid to calm the turmoil in financial markets that has seen a heavy sell-off in Spanish shares continue for a second day.
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February 2010

Paris Troop Pledge Falls Short of Goal

The Wall Street Journal
February 5, 2010

Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a plea to North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies in Istanbul Friday for thousands of new troops to train Afghan forces—but France said separately it would contribute only 80, far below U.S. expectations.
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February 2010

Russia Cool to U.S. Plan for Missiles in Romania

The New York Times
February 5, 2010

MOSCOW — Russian officials reacted coolly on Friday to the news that Romania had agreed to host American missile interceptors starting in 2015, with a top envoy saying that the announcement could directly affect Moscow’s position as negotiations to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start, reach their conclusion.
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February 2010

Euro Debt Crisis Is Political Test for Bloc

The New York Times
February 5, 2010

PARIS — What began with worries about the solvency of Greece in the face of high deficits, fake budget figures and low growth has quickly become the most severe test of the 16-nation euro zone in its 11-year history.
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February 2010

Brussels Intervenes to Slow Greece’s Plunge

Spiegel
February 4, 2010

Europe is losing its patience with Greece and has ordered a strict fiscal austerity program for the euro zone member. Monetary Affairs Commissioner Almunia is also demanding frequent reporting from Athens. But the response isn’t enough — Greece is in deep trouble and the threat to the euro is too great not to act.
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February 2010

EU-US data deal in peril

EuropeanVoice.com
February 4, 2010

The European Parliament’s civil-liberties committee today voted to recommend that the Parliament reject a new interim EU-US bank data-sharing pact that the US believes is vital to transatlantic efforts to thwart terrorists.
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February 2010

NATO Falls Far Short of Helping Afghans

The New York Times
February 4, 2010

BERLIN — Ahead of a major security and defense conference in Munich this weekend, NATO acknowledged Thursday that it lacked almost half the trainers it had promised to help build up the army and police in Afghanistan.
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February 2010

Reports of a transatlantic rift have been greatly exaggerated

Foreign Policy
February 3, 2010

European officials are reportedly “miffed” that President Obama isn’t going to attend an EU summit in Spain this May. The Times says that the summit may be postponed, and England’s Guardian refers to a “diplomatic row,” says the summit might be canceled entirely, and quotes one unnamed envoy saying “if there is no Obama, there is no summit.” By contrast, the Financial Times takes a more measured view. Instead of a headline emphasizing a riff, spat or snub, the FT headline says “EU Leaders Play Down Obama Decision on Summit,” and the story quotes EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton describing U.S.-EU relations as “warm” and “good” and refusing to turn this into a big diplomatic incident.
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