Germans prefer old school media
Americans love to publicly debate
it, British people hardly ever pay for it online and Germans prefer to get
theirs through more traditional means, according to a survey about media
consumption released on Monday.The survey looked at the consumption habits in
Britain, the United States, Germany, Denmark and France, and found that TV and
online platforms are now the overwhelming choice for news.Although computers
remain the most popular medium on which to view news, with at least 74% doing
so in the last week across the board, at least 20% had used a mobile for the
same purpose in the same period. Around 8.5% used a tablet computer, while
e-readers and other devices remained niche products.The report pointed to a
more flexible and personalised consumption model which no longer relied on home
or office internet access.The increasing range of mobile devices was adding to
the news experience, it said, rather than replacing other forms of
access.London-based journalist Nic Newman, who wrote the study, said: "Of
those surveyed, nearly eight out of 10 people accessed online news every week,
but the transition from print to digital is much slower in other European
countries." Germans showed
the greatest allegiance to traditional forms of media for news, with only six
out of 10 using online sources over the last week, compared to an average of
eight of 10 everywhere else.Nearly seven out of 10 pick up a newspaper or tune
in to the radio.In Britain, only four percent had ever paid for digital news,
compared to 12% in Denmark, and between six and eight percent elsewhere.
However tablet users, who accounted for 13% of the sample, were just as likely
to shell out for news applications such as the Guardian's or the Daily
Telegraph's as they were to use free ones.While traditional media brands
dominated people's usage across Europe, over half of all Americans polled also
cited newer sources such as Huffington Post and Gawker. Nearly seven out of 10
people in the US used polls, comment boxes and sharing functions to engage with
the news, compared to roughly four out of 10 in most other countries.The survey
was conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Reuters Institute for the Study of
Journalism at the University of Oxford. It involved a representative sample of
more than 6 000 people during April.
Eurozone to force Spain banks to hike capital
Eurozone finance ministers have said
they will oblige Spain's battered banks to further boost the share of rock-solid core capital
on their books at a meeting on Monday, the daily El Pais said."All Spanish
entities will have to raise their high quality 'core capital' to 9%," the
daily said, citing European sources with knowledge of the negotiations.So far,
only the biggest Spanish banks have had to keep such a high ratio of core
capital as a proportion of total assets.The meeting in Brussels is to discuss
details of a eurozone rescue loan of up to €100bn euros ($125bn) to salvage
Spain's banks, laden with loans that turned bad after a 2008 property market
crash.It comes as investors show deep misgivings about Spain's finances despite
the banking rescue.A European Union summit from June 28-29 had been hailed as a
brekathrough for promising a eurozone bank union to keep the lenders in line
and making it easier for the bloc's new bailout fund to help states in
trouble.But investors' concerns have returned, in part because of doubts over
the details and timetable for implementing the banking rescue and the sweeping
EU summit agreements.Spanish 10 year government bond yields surged to 7.026% in
morning trade from 6.912% late on Friday, a worrying sign for Madrid for future
debt issues.Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has warned that his country cannot
afford to finance its operations at such high interest rates over the long
term, raising the spectre of an all-out state bailout.Link Securities said it
seemed that the EU summit agreements would be respected.That would allow EU
rescue mechanisms to pump rescue loan money directly into Spain's banks without
adding to the nation's fast-rising sovereign debt, it said.It also would ensure
that the EU rescue mechanism does not take priority over other lenders for
repayment in the case of a Spanish default, a prospect that had unnerved
potential investors, Link Securities said."Now they have to decide when
and how this plan will be implemented, and what will be asked in
exchange," it said."One of the non-negotiable conditions imposed by
the 'men in black' is the creation of a 'bad bank'," which would pool all
the toxic property-related loans, said business daily Expansion.Analysts at
Spanish brokerage Renta 4 said they did not expect any protocol to be signed at
the Brussels talks on Monday. But ministers may agree on a draft deal to be
signed at their next meeting July 20, they said.
Spanish Borrowing Costs Rise To Dangerously High Levels
Spain's borrowing costs rose to dangerously high levels Monday as
finance ministers of the 17 countries that use the euro began to gather in
Brussels to discuss terms of a rescue package for the country's stricken
banks.The interest rate, or yield, on the country's 10-year bonds hit 7 percent
Monday morning, a level that market-watchers consider is unaffordable for a country
to raise money on the bond markets in the long term and the point at which
Greece, Ireland and Portugal all sought an international bailout. Stocks on Madrid's benchmark index
fell 1.7 percent. The yield later fell back down to 6.99 percent.The yield indicates
the interest rate a government would have to pay to raise money from financial
markets when it holds bond auctions. While Spain can afford the high
rates for a few weeks at least, it would find them too expensive in the longer
term.Spanish officials had originally indicated that it would decide on Monday
how much the country's troubled banks would get from a €100 billion ($124
billion) lifeline from other members of the 17-country eurozone. Spain's bank
industry has been struggling since 2008 under the weight of toxic loans and
assets following a collapse in the country's property market.But an official
with Spain' economy ministry said last week that the meeting of eurozone
finance ministers was not expected to generate a figure for how much Spain
would tap. Ministers planned to discuss terms of the loan and may or may not
finalize some of them at the evening session, said the official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity in keeping with policy.Outside auditors are expected to
complete rigorous assessments of Spanish banks by July 31. Separate stress tests
will also be conducted on individual lenders banks to determine how much each
bank needs to strengthen its balance sheets against further economic shocks if
they can't raise capital on their own, the official said. These results are due
to be published in mid-September.The Spanish official's comments reflect those
made by a European official in Brussels last week, who said that no numbers for
the overall loan amount would be coming out until bank-by-bank stress tests had
been completed. The official added that one of the aims of Monday's meeting
would be to get a "political understanding" of the memorandum of
understanding for Spain's loan so ministers could start paving the way in their
countries to get the bailout approved. Spain's loan needs the green light from
all 17 countries using the euro.Investors fear a full-blown bailout of Spanish
public finances would be too large for the eurozone to handle. The country's
economy is the fourth largest among the 17 nations that use the common euro
currency behind Germany, France and
Italy - and it is also larger than those of Greece, Ireland and Portugal
combined.The interest rate on Spanish 10-year bonds hit a eurozone high of 7.18
percent in intraday trading on June 18 before closing at 7.12 percent that day,
according to financial data provider FactSet.
Russia's highest court backs WTO entry
Russia's highest court
ruled on Monday that a hard-won deal to join the World Trade Organisation
(WTO), that will oblige Moscow to cut import tariffs and open up key sectors in
its economy to foreign investment, was in line with the constitution.The
ruling, issued by the Constitutional Court in a unanimous decision from its
headquarters in St Petersburg, clears the way for a final parliamentary vote to
ratify entry into the 155-member global trade rules club.The vote will take
place on Tuesday with a majority of lawmakers expected to rubber-stamp
accession. The original deal was clinched last December after 18 years of
often-difficult talks. Russia, whose $1.9 trillion economy is the largest
outside the WTO, would become a full member 30 days after ratification.The
court's ruling quashed a case brought by lawmakers from the opposition
Communist and Just Russia parties who had unsuccessfully argued that the
ratification procedure and parts of the accession deal were
unconstitutional.Recently elected for a third presidential term, President
Vladimir Putin had long appeared ambivalent over WTO entry but warmed to the
process after Russia's economy was hit hard by the global recession of
2008-2009.According to a World Bank study, the growth uplift that Russia could
expect from joining the WTO could be 3.3% over the medium term and as much as
11% in the long run.Under the deal, Russia would gradually cut averageimport
tariffs to 7.8% from 10% and open up investment in sectors such as
telecommunications, while shielding its banking sector from overall foreign
control.Russia managed to protect hefty subsidies to promote its domestic auto
industry and negotiated a long transitional period for reducing state aid to
farmers.
