NEWS,02.02.2013

U.S. Gun Deaths Since Sandy Hook Top 1,280 

 

It was Christmas night when Sincere Smith, 2, found his father’s loaded gun on the living room table of their Conway, S.C., mobile home. It took just a second for Smith’s tiny hands to find the trigger and pull. A single bullet ripped into his upper right chest and out his back. His father, Rondell Smith, said he had turned away to call Sincere’s mother, who had left to visit a friend. His back was turned to the toddler, he said, for just that moment.Sincere was still conscious when his father scooped him up and rushed him to the hospital, just a few minutes away.Eleven hours earlier, Sincere Smith had woken up to Christmas  the first that he was old enough to appreciate. His father remembered their last morning well his son ripping through wrapping paper, squealing with delight with each new gift his first bike, a bright toy barn.It was quite a sight seeing Sincere so happy around a cloud of crinkled wrapping paper. “We bought him a little barn thing,” Smith said. “He knew what a barn is. He just seen it ‘Oh Mommy, Daddy! Barn!’ He went crazy over it. … He lit up like a Christmas tree.”Smith, 30, lit up too. “I just wanted to see him open them up,” he said. His own parents were teenagers when they had him. He had vowed to be there for his five children, giving up college and a possible basketball career to take care of them. With Sincere, he promised his wife he’d be a hands-on parent. He said he considered Sincere his best friend.The two kept close that day visiting relatives for more presents and a Christmas dinner of chicken and macaroni and cheese. “Everything was normal,” Smith said. “He was happy. Everything was good then.”Two weeks earlier, Smith had bought a .38-caliber handgun to protect his family after bandits had tried to break into their home. He doesn’t know what to say about the national gun-control debate. He just wants that lost second back. “I would say, man, keep them out of your house,” he offered. “It’s just. Boy. All it takes is a second. Just a second to turn your head. I don’t know, sir.”Sincere died on an ambulance gurney as he was transferred to a second hospital in Charleston.He never got to ride his new blue Spiderman bike outside. It sits in the trunk of his grandmother Sheila Gaskin's car. "He didn't get to ride his bike," she explained. "It was cold [on Christmas]. My daughter doesn't want to take it back to the store."Gaskin lives across the street from her daughter and Smith. She saw Sincere every day of his life. "He hear me coming down the road, my gospel music blasting and he hollering 'Nana!'" she recalled. Now, she said she visits his grave every day. She hasn't gotten a full night's sleep since the accident. "It's just killing me," she said.After Sincere was shot, Rondell Smith thought about taking his own life, Gaskin said. "It's just not good," she said. "It's not good at all. He just has to stay prayed up. ... That's all he can do is give it to God."Smith wasn't at Sincere's side when he died in the ambulance. He was being interrogated by the police, who eventually charged him with involuntary manslaughter. His next court date is Feb. 8.As he was rushing Sincere to the hospital, Smith said he told his son that he loved him. "He couldn't really talk," Smith said. "Last thing I heard him say was, 'Daddy.' He kept trying to say 'Daddy.' Believe me I hear it every day."There were 29 other shooting deaths across the U.S. on Christmas. A soldier was shot and killed in his barracks in Alaska. A man was murdered in the parking lot of Eddie's Bar and Grill in Orrville, Ala. A 23-year-old was shot at a party in Phoenix. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department employee was killed in a drive-by.A 20-year-old Louisville, Ky., man was shot and killed after walking his sister home. On Christmas Eve, he had posted an R.I.P. on his Facebook page for a friend and former classmate, who had been gunned down that day.A 10-year-old in Memphis, Tenn., Alfreddie Gipson, was accidentally shot to death by gun purchased by an older brother, who had gotten the weapon after being bullied at school. Gipson was jumping on a bed when the gun slipped out of a mattress. It discharged when his 12-year-old brother tried to put it back, their mother said at a vigil.There were at least 41 homicides or accidental gun deaths on New Year's Eve. On New Year's Day, at least 54 people died from bullet wounds.Through Google and Nexis searches, The Huffington Post has tracked gun-related homicides and accidents throughout the U.S. since the schoolhouse massacre in Newtown, Conn., on the morning of Dec. 14. There were more than 100 such deaths the first week after the school shooting. In the first seven weeks after Newtown, there have been more than 1,280 gunshot homicides and accidental deaths. Slate has counted 1,475 fatal shooting incidents since Newtown, including suicides and police-involved shooting deaths, which The Huffington Post did not include in its tally.A 17-year-old took his last breath in the backyard of an abandoned house in New Orleans. Prince Jones, 19, was found bleeding to death in a 1998 Buick LeSabre in Nashville, Tenn. A woman was slumped over the steering wheel in Houston, the engine still running.A 52-year-old man was shot and killed at a Checkers parking lot in Atlanta. A 26-year-old man was shot to death in a church parking lot in Jacksonville, Fla. Steven E. Lawson, 28, was shot and killed just outside a church in Flint, Mich., where he was attending a funeral for another gunshot victim.On a Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge, La., police knocked on Alean Thomas' door and told her: "You have a young man dead in your driveway." It was her 19-year-old son. Three days later, a 17-year-old in California was killed visiting family for his birthday.On a Thursday afternoon in New Orleans' Sixth Ward, Dementrius Adams was murdered on his way to buy groceries for his mother. He was 28 and had a 5-year-old daughter. "He was a hard-working man," his sister said told a reporter. "He was so proud of his job. ... He was a good brother, a good father he was a loveable man."Adams had just been promoted from a dishwashing job to cook at a New Orleans restaurant.The dead included grandmothers and a 6 month old. There were police officers and a Texas prosecutor. There was a Bodega worker in Queens, N.Y., and a gas station attendant in East Orange, N.J.A high school majorette, a college freshman at Auburn University and a man planning to get his GED in Bradenton, Fla., were killed. One victim became Chicago's 500th murder of 2012. Another was his town's 40th. One was found frozen and bloody in an alley Tacoma, Wash.'s first slaying of 2013. The victim, a mother, was planning to move with her daughters to Manhattan."I am lost, hollow," said the mother of the GED aspirant gunned down at a Chevron station on New Year's Day.In Newport News, Va., after a shooting broke out, a mother ran outside to protect her two sons, ages 5 and 7. She yelled at one of the gunman and was killed.A Davidson, N.C., husband murdered his wife, then shot himself . Their 3-year-old daughter was found watching T.V. in another room.There were murder-suicides in Florida, Kentucky, Oregon, Texas and California. Most were men killing women, husbands killing wives, boyfriends killing girlfriends, sons killing mothers.There were so many drive-bys. On Jan. 11, in Baltimore, Devon Shields, 26, was found lying in a street with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Three hours later, Delroy Davis was found lying face-up between two houses. Two-and-a-half hours later, Baltimore police rushed to a double-shooting that left one man dead with multiple gunshot wounds. The next day, Sean Rhodes was found "lying face-down in a pool of blood," according to the Baltimore City Paper. Two others survived gunshot wounds. Silly arguments became final arguments. A man was murdered over two broken cigarettes. Another after getting into a spat at a taco truck. Travis Len Massey, 23, was shot and killed by his sister's boyfriend in a family dispute over a missing gun. A 52-year-old Jacksonville man shot and killed a longtime friend over an argument, according to police. When asked what the argument was about, the gunman said he didn't remember, according to a television report.A 6-year-old accidentally killed a 4-year-old. A different 4-year-old accidentally killed a 58-year old.Alexander Xavier Shaw, 18, put a gun to his head to show how safe it was. "Witnesses told officers that Shaw, his uncle, grandparents and some friends were on the back patio talking when he showed them a .38-caliber revolver," a St. Petersburg, Fla., newspaper account said. The gun accidentally fired, killing Shaw.

Spain PM denies corruption claims

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Saturday denied allegations that he received undeclared payments from his ruling party, as he sought to douse a major corruption scandal.Rajoy vowed not to resign despite the publication of documents purportedly showing secret payments to him and other top party officials, branding the damaging reports "harassment".He promised to publish full details of his income and assets, speaking at an emergency meeting of his conservative Popular Party as angry demonstrators outside called for him to step down."I have never received nor distributed undeclared money," he said, adding that he would publish online "statements of income, patrimony and any information necessary" to refute the allegations."I commit myself personally and all of my party to maximum transparency."Rajoy, aged 57, was speaking out for the first time since being named in the scandal which struck at a tense time as the government imposes tough spending cuts on Spaniards suffering in a recession.Last year he defied speculation that the country would need a financial bailout only for the political scandal to erupt in the new year.Leading centre-left newspaper El Pais on Thursday published account ledgers purportedly showing that donations were channelled into secret payments to him and other top party officials.The newspaper said the alleged fund was made up of donations, mostly from construction companies, adding that such payments would be legal as long as they were fully declared to the taxman.Rajoy said the ledgers were false.The allegations fuelled anger among Spaniards suffering in a recession that has thrown millions out of work."We must not allow Spaniards, of whom we are demanding sacrifice to think that we do not observe the strictest ethical rigour," Rajoy said.Protesters say ordinary Spaniards are being made to pay for an economic crisis brought on by the collapse of a construction boom which many blame on corrupt politicians and unscrupulous banks.As Rajoy spoke, demonstrators yelling "Thieves!" gathered near the party headquarters, kept at some distance by police barriers.Among them, 54-year-old school teacher Maxi Sanchez Pizarro vented his anger at the politicians he blamed for economic hardship."My sister is on the verge of being evicted and I didn't get my Christmas bonus, while those ladies and gentlemen not only got their Christmas bonuses but have also been robbing our money," he said."They are shameless crooks and thieves," he added. "I hope they have the honour to resign and call an election."An online petition at change.org calling for Rajoy to resign, launched on Thursday, had gathered nearly 650 000 signatures by Saturday afternoon.On Thursday El Pais cited ledgers kept by former party treasurer Luis Barcenas, apparently showing payments including €25 200 a year to Rajoy between 1997 and 2008.Barcenas was already under investigation in connection with a separate corruption case, with reports that he had millions of euros in a Swiss bank account.Rajoy said that case had nothing to do with the party and that it had never had foreign bank accounts.

Japan PM vows to block China from islands

Japan's prime minister has vowed to defend disputed remote islands from escalating threat from China.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Japan's Self-Defence Forces on southern Japan on Saturday, saying the disputed islands in the East China Sea are under increasing threat.Abe said he will defend them "at all costs".The uninhabited islands are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China. Japan's nationalisation of the islands in September triggered violent protests across China, hurting Japanese companies there and the economy.China has sent surveillance ships regularly to waters near the islands, and aircraft from the two sides have trailed each other, raising the risk of missteps that could trigger a clash.Japan has recently launched diplomatic efforts to ease tensions, with China-friendly officials visiting Beijing for talks.Japan's coast guard has detained a Chinese fishing boat for "alleged unauthorised coral fishing" near Okinawa, China's official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday, quoting the Chinese Consulate General in the city of Fukuoka.The vessel was detained off Miyako, some 150km from islands in the East China Sea at the centre of a simmering dispute between the two countries.

South Korea, US in naval drill

South Korea and the US will hold a joint naval exercise next week, a report said on Saturday, a move seen as a warning to North Korea ahead of its widely expected nuclear test.The three-day exercise involving a US nuclear submarine and other warships will begin on Monday in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) off the South Korean port city of Pohang, Yonhap news agency reported."It will include anti-submarine and anti-air trainings and maritime manoeuvrings," a military official was quoted as saying in the report.The exercise comes as tensions run high on the Korean peninsula, with Pyongyang threatening to carry out its third nuclear test in response to UN sanctions imposed for a long-range rocket launch it carried out in December.The North said the launch was a scientific mission aimed at placing a satellite in orbit, but most of the world saw it as a disguised ballistic missile test.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff Jung Seung-Jo said on Friday the drill aims to test combat readiness between Seoul and Washington while guarding against possible North Korean provocations involving submarines, according to Yonhap.A 6 900-ton US nuclear submarine USS San Francisco and a 9 800-ton Aegis destroyer USS Shiloh were being mobilised for the exercise."The presence of a US nuclear submarine here would itself serve as a message to North Korea", Jung said.North Korea has reportedly covered the entrance to a tunnel at its nuclear test site in an apparent effort to avoid satellite monitoring of its ongoing preparations for a possibly imminent detonation.A camouflage net was placed on the tunnel entrance at Punggye-ri in the north-eastern North Korea, the site of the two previous nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.But a government source in Seoul said that increased activity had been spotted at the site, which has three tunnel entrances and multiple support buildings."At a tunnel in the southern part of the test site in Punggye-ri, we've found that work presumed to be part of preparations for a nuclear test has entered its final stage," the unnamed source told Yonhap on Saturday."The North may conduct the test at either the western or southern tunnels. But the activities spotted near the southern one could be aimed at distracting us from the more likely place of the western tunnel."

NEWS,04.08.2012

Spain creeping towards full bailout

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy inched closer today to asking for an EU bailout for his country, but said he needed first to know what conditions would be attached and what form the rescue would take.His comments, at his first post-cabinet meeting news conference since taking office last December, came a day after the European Central Bank signalled it was preparing to buy Spanish and Italian bonds but only after EU bailout funds were triggered and countries had asked for help.A source said separately that Spain would not decide whether to apply for several weeks.Buying bonds and providing aid would all be designed to bring down what have been prohibitive borrowing costs in the indebted countries.Rajoy said he was ready to do what is best for Spain, going far further than he did on Thursday when, during a press appearance with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Rajoy three times declined to say whether he would seek the aid."I will do, as I always do, what I believe to be in the best interest of the Spanish people," Rajoy said yesterday."We still don't know what these measures are," he said, reference to a comment by ECB President Mario Draghi that the bank was examining non-conventional measures to defend the euro."What I want to know is what these measures are, what they mean and whether they are appropriate and, in light of the circumstances, we will make a decision, but I have still not taken any decision," he said.A source familiar with Rajoy's thinking confirmed this possibility was actively looked at and that Rajoy was ready to bear the political cost of a request.In a letter to Herman Van Rompuy on Friday, Rajoy urged the president of the European Council to work towards creating a euro zone-wide banking and fiscal union as soon as possible.He said he believed that the outline for a single supervisory system for the banking sector should be ready before the end of this year.Rajoy added he believed granting the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the permanent bailout fund, a banking licence that would allow it to tap almost unlimited funds from the European Central Bank (ECB)ECB President Mario Draghi on Thursday said the fund was barred by European law from tapping the central bank for funding."In any case, whatever mechanism is put into place should be an umbrella mechanism, one that is applied equally to all the countries that meet its requirements," Rajoy said in the letter.Spain has already asked for aid for its stricken banks."People have said the main reason why he is not seeking help is because he is too proud. But this is not true. He requested an assistance for the banks because it was the adequate instrument to solve a specific problem. There is no opposition to do it again," the source said.An aid request would entail negotiating a memorandum of understanding with other euro zone countries and would likely bear strong conditionality, something Rajoy wants to discuss in detail before moving forward.Although Spain already complies with stringent EU and International Monetary Fund demands to reform its economy and has announced a package of 65 billion euros of tax hikes and spending cuts in July, the government fears it could now be asked to reform further the pension system.The measure is the last campaign pledge Rajoy has not been forced to break so far and could undermine even more the support for the government after it already fell sharply in recent weeks as hundreds of thousands of Spaniards took the streets to protests against austerity steps.A euro zone official told Reuters last week Spain had for the first time conceded at a meeting between Economy Minister Luis de Guindos and his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble it might need a full bailout worth 300 billion euros if it's borrowing costs remain unsustainably high.Rajoy's office however denied that talks on this issue had taken place.People who discussed the question with Rajoy explain that he may still hope to avoid making the request because he thinks by just knowing that the EU rescue funds and the ECB are geared up would be enough to shield Spain from market pressures."The thinking is that the instruments need to be in place and possibly the risk premium will go down so much that there will be no need to go any further," said one senior politician.

Euro Crisis 2012: Greece Reportedly Saved From Bankruptcy By European Central Bank

 

The European Central Bank (ECB) has saved Greece from bankruptcy for the time being by securing it interim financing in the form of additional emergency loans from the Bank of Greece, German newspaper Die Welt said on Saturday.The ECB's Governing Council agreed at its meeting on Thursday to increase the upper limit for the amount of Greek short-term loans the Bank of Greece can accept in exchange for emergency loans, the newspaper said in an advance copy of the article due to appear in its Saturday edition.Until now the Bank of Greece could only accept T-Bills up to a limit of 3 billion euros ($3.70 billion) as collateral for emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) but it has applied to have this limit increased to 7 billion euros, the daily said, citing central bank sources.The ECB Governing Council gave this wish the green light, the paper said.The move should enable the Greek government to access up to an extra 4 billion euros of funds, the paper said, adding that this should ensure the country keeps its head above water until the "troika" of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund decide on the disbursement of the next tranche of money from its aid program in September.The ECB declined to comment, the paper said.

NEWS,30.06.2012

Germany agrees to concessions in eurozone pact

 

By the end of a vital two-day summit here, European diplomacy had played out like soccer, with Spain and Italy - the two nations headed to the Euro 2012 finals - emerging victorious and the Germans returning home in shock.After a marathon 14 hours of talks, the deal that came together saw Berlin offer surprise concessions that could aid both Madrid and Rome in their desperate struggle to stave off economic collapse, even as it hinted at new political dynamic in Europe.Amounting to a series of highly technical rule changes, the deal addressed the core of the questions facing Europe: Who will cover the tab for its 2 1/2-year-old debt crisis, and how?Troubled eurozone countries could now have more options for aid, including using a pool of European rescue funds to directly recapitalize ailing banks. That, in turn, could spare governments the humiliation of having to ask for aid themselves to channel to domestic banks, sidestepping the kind of intrusive financial inspections imposed on Greece, Ireland and Portugal.The change could ultimately halt a toxic cycle that, while holding countries accountable for their banks' errors, also saw the balance sheets of indebted nations sink deeper into the red as they took on ever more rescue cash to bail out their financial institutions.The new plan would kick in only once a regional supervisor is established to regulate banks in the 17-nation eurozone - itself a major step that could see regulators based at the European Central Bank override the authority of national governments, bolstering market confidence in the region's financial system. Leaders said they would agree on such a move by the end of the year.In addition, leaders agreed that countries could access bailout funds to buy up their government bonds on open markets - and thus bring down dangerously high borrowing costs - with fewer conditions attached.The compromise reached here Friday fueled new optimism about the region's ability to finally break the diplomatic impasses that have made its debt crisis as much political as economic."We have taken decisions that were unthinkable just some months ago," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.The breakthrough also signaled a reshaping of Europe's political landscape.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the frugal East German physicist, had laid down the rules for coping with the crisis through her alliance with Nicolas Sarkozy when he was France's president. But with his successor, the intellectual socialist Francois Hollande, leaning more toward the Italian and Spanish leaders' vision of crisis management, a new three-against-one dynamic took hold here.Backed by the French, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a conservative who is protective of Spanish pride, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, a sober and highly respected former EU official, resorted to brinksmanship. Both leaders vowed to block a $150 billion growth plan, seen as a centerpiece of the forum, if they did not win major concessions. Against their united front, Merkel blinked."The discussions were hard and tense," Monti said Friday. "But it was worth the effort.""This was not France and Germany arriving with a solution, like in the past," added Hollande. "It was France and Germany, along with others, reaching a solution. That's why it took so long and went so far."

 

Angela Merkel: Big Loser Of Eurozone Showdown

 

Angela Merkel was portrayed across Europe as the big loser of a euro zone showdown in Brussels after the German chancellor was forced to accept the crisis-fighting measures championed by countries struggling with their debts.Newspapers in Spain, Italy and France on Saturday toasted the triumph of their leaders - Mario Monti, Mariano Rajoy and Francois Hollande - in pushing Merkel into a U-turn that would long have been unthinkable.Even German newspapers said Merkel had been made to accept demands for the euro zone rescue fund to be able to inject aid directly into stricken banks from next year and intervene on bond markets to support troubled member states."There's no doubt about it - the chancellor was blindsided at the euro summit," wrote influential columnist Nikolaus Blome of Bild, a daily with 12 million readers.The summit ended on Friday with agreement on new steps to try to prevent a catastrophic breakup of the single currency.Popular at home for insisting on austerity measures and tough conditions for those indebted euro zone states getting help, Merkel was quick to put a positive spin on the summit, telling reporters: "We had an interest in finding solutions."There was no sign that the summit had damaged her reputation on Friday as both houses of parliament voted to back the euro zone's permanent bailout scheme. And Merkel does not face any particular political challenge at the moment.But the concessions of "Frau Nein" were far bigger than earlier compromises in the name of saving the euro."Merkel caves in - money for ailing banks," read the headline on Germany's left-leaning Sueddeutsche Zeitung.Bild wrote: "Italy and Spain got what they wanted: It'll be easier to borrow excessively again... It was the first time in more than two crisis years that euro states didn't follow Germany's orders."Footballing comparisons have been widespread after Italy knocked Germany out of the Euro 2012 tournament in a shock 2-1 victory on Thursday."This time it was worse, the defeat was about the euro," said respected Deutschlandfunk radio.'1-0 TO HOLLANDE'In France, left-leaning daily Liberation had a front page splash showing Hollande and Merkel dressed in their national football shirts with "1-0 to Hollande" over the top. It devoted its first four pages to his summit triumph.Liberation said it was the pressure from Hollande, Monti and Rajoy that made Merkel buckle and accept a growth plan and banking union mechanism. It applauded his negotiating prowess."The night the South made Merkel cave in," was the headline over a Liberation report on the Brussels summit.France's right-leaning daily Le Figaro called Spain and Italy the real winners. "Just like in football, it is thanks to Italy and Spain that the dynamics of the match have changed and that Angela Merkel has been forced back against the wall."Italy's leading daily, Corriere della Sera, captured the euphoric mood in Italy. A front-page cartoon "A super Mario in Brussels too" showed Monti in the triumphant clenched-fists pose of Italy striker Mario Balotelli after his second goal against Germany. The diminutive figures of an annoyed-looking Merkel and a meek-looking Hollande watch him."Italy is not just a great team, it's a great country and it may be good to remember it," the paper wrote, giving credit to Monti for making Italy a leading player in Europe again.Left-leaning daily La Repubblica noted that after four years during which Germany had "dictated both the music and the lyrics" at euro zone summits, three of the four main countries had refused to dance to Merkel's beat."Although the Chancellor retains her undisputed primacy at the heart of the Council, she was forced to listen to them."Spanish newspapers saw a victory too - particularly in the fact that inspectors from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank would not put Spain under the same scrutiny as countries bailed out earlier.But El Mundo noted that as Spain gets support for its troubled banks: "the Men in Black... will be atop the Pyrenees watching over everything we do."In bailed-out Portugal, Publico newspaper mocked Merkel's U-turn, saying: "Nein! Non! No! Yes!".In the northern European countries aligned with Germany in demanding tough measures for indebted countries getting help, Merkel was also identified as the loser with the softening of terms for the most indebted."The southern euro countries are taking the north hostage," wrote Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.

NEWS, 04.06.2012.

Spain puts on the pressure for financial rescue

 

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is pressing for a direct European rescue for Spain's banks with moral support from the European Commission, but Germany appeared to rule out such a "bailout lite" for the euro zone's fourth biggest member.A source with knowledge of the matter said Madrid is working along with European institutions to find a way to directly refinance banks using rescue funds without the government having to come under a full EU/IMF adjustment programme."Right now the most urgent issue is the banks, and there are negotiations to refinance the banks directly without it being an intervention. It's a mechanism for all (European) banks, not just for Spanish banks," the source said.Spain's borrowing costs have jumped in recent weeks, largely due to doubts over whether the government can raise enough funds for the rising bill to strengthen its banks, left with big holes after the 2008 crash of the housing and construction market.Under current rules Spain can get a loan from the European rescue fund, or EFSF, but it would come with tough conditions and intrusive supervision, with a high political cost for Rajoy. The new permanent European rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), due to enter into force in July, can lend to banks but the request still has to be made by the state.The source with knowledge of the matter said Spain believed the European Union's executive could take a plan for bank aid to a summit of the bloc's leaders on June 28-29.EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Brussels was considering direct bank recapitalisation by the ESM to break the link between weak sovereigns and ailing banks, but it was not possible under the treaty currently being ratified by member states."This is not part of the ESM treaty for the moment, in its present form, but we see that it is important to consider this alternative of direct bank recapitalisation as we are now moving on in the discussion on the possible ways and means to create a banking union," Rehn said.Germany, the main contributor to the bailout fund, opposes changing the ESM treaty to allow direct bank recapitalisation and has veto power. Berlin contends that only a formal programme approved by national parliaments permits proper international supervision of how aid funds are spent."It is only for a national government to decide whether it draws on the rescue mechanism and the requirements that are linked to it. That of course is also true for Spain," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference when asked about media reports that Berlin was pushing Madrid to apply.Seibert also said Spain first needed to figure out how much money it needs to recapitalise its banks.After pressing in vain for the European Central Bank to ride to Spain's rescue by buying government bonds, Rajoy took a different line on Saturday, calling in a speech for a euro zone fiscal authority with powers to manage member states' budget policies, to show markets the euro project is irreversible.Some analysts saw the call as a way of preparing Spaniards for the need for a European rescue for their country. Others saw it as a goodwill gesture towards the Germans.Gary Jenkins, director at Swordfish Research, said the fact Rajoy was pushing for greater transfers of fiscal sovereignty was a sign of how urgent the situation was in Spain."Spain is heading towards requiring significant intervention in order to avoid a disaster scenario," he wrote.Spain meets criteria for aid Spain already complies with the terms for the state to tap the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) under its "guidelines on recapitalisation of financial institutions".Those conditions are: it needs the money as a last resort to recapitalise systemic lenders, such as Bankia, and it has also started an independent audit of its banks in two stages.The ECB and key EU partners such as Berlin are keen to avoid a repeat of last year's events when they had to push Portugal to seek aid after former Prime Minister Jose Socrates resisted for months owing to the stigma attached to an "IMF bailout".The ECB stopped buying Portuguese bonds in the secondary market and Portuguese banks took the unprecedented step of warning the government that they too might stop buying its debt -- a move that probably tipped Socrates into seeking help.The head of Portugal's banking association, Antonio de Sousa, told Reuters in an interview at the time that the ECB had told the country's banks to cut exposure to government debt.German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble insisted then that aid could only be granted in the framework of a reform programme, the same stance Berlin is now taking towards Madrid.Bank audits Spain rescued its fourth biggest bank, Bankia, in May, in a bailout that will cost some 23.5 billion euros, much higher than anticipated, raising doubts over whether other Spanish banks have yet to recognise bigger losses.Independent auditors contracted by the government are due to report in mid-June on the state of the banks, and a detailed International Monetary Fund report on the financial system is due on June 11.Both studies should shed light on the scale of the final bill for plugging the holes in the banks, which have some 184 billion euros in exposure to repossessed property and sour loans to real estate developers.The government and the biggest banks hope the reports will show Bankia was an exception, that most of the banking system is solvent and that the rest has been addressed by regulations that have forced lenders to recognise more than 80 billion euros in losses.Still, after confusion over how Bankia's rescue would work damaged Madrid's market credibility, it's hard to imagine a bank rescue figure that will automatically restore confidence."What is not clear is whether it will be enough to recover the market confidence, that is not going to make things worse," said a senior Spanish banker, regarding the audits.Spain has said it will borrow money on the markets to recapitalise Bankia.Even with 10-year bond yields at 6.5 percent, the government says it does not face trouble tapping the markets because its average borrowing costs are lower, at 4.07 percent, and only 2 percent of public expenditures go to service debt.Political risk consultancy Eurasia Group said Europe would do its best to ease the pain for Rajoy, who has spread much of the blame for mismanaging the banking sector on his Socialist predecessors and the outgoing Bank of Spain governor."At this stage, EU political and policy elites are open to design a programme that would emphasize banks and would be light on conditionality to facilitate Rajoy's ability to manage internal constraints," it said in a report.But Eurasia Group said Rajoy would delay as long as possible to avoid the stigma that could affect his party in subsequent elections and because it will look as if his austerity programme and economic reforms had merely set the country up for a banking bailout instead of putting it back on track.One high-level government source argued that there is little motivation for Rajoy to take some 70 billion euros in aid for the banks if there are no guarantees it will actually bring down borrowing costs.

NEWS, 02.05.2012.

Cyber-Attacks 'Bought Us Time' On Iran: U.S. Sources

 

The United States under former President George W. Bush began building a complex cyber-weapon to try to prevent Tehran from completing suspected nuclear weapons work without resorting to risky military strikes against Iranian facilities, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the program said.Barack Obama accelerated the efforts after succeeding Bush in 2009, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the effort. The weapon, called Stuxnet, was eventually used against Iran's main uranium enrichment facilities.The effort was intended to bridge the time of uncertainty between U.S. administrations after the 2008 presidential election in which Obama was elected, and allow more time for sanctions and diplomacy to avert Iranian nuclear weapon development, according to the current and former officials.The sources gave rare insight into the U.S. development of its cyber-warfare capabilities and the intent behind it.One source familiar with the Bush administration's initial work on Stuxnet said it had stalled Iran's nuclear program by about five years."It bought us time. First, it was to get across from one administration to the next without having the issue blow up. And then it was to give Obama a little more time to come up with alternatives, through the sanctions, et cetera," said the source.Only in recent months have U.S. officials become more open about the work of the United States and Israel on Stuxnet, the sophisticated cyber-weapon directed against Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility that was first detected in 2010.The cyber-attacks provided the United States with an avenue to try to stop Iran from producing a suspected weapon without turning to military strikes against Iranian facilities - all at a time when U.S. forces already were fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the sources said.In the end, senior U.S. officials agreed the benefit of stalling Iran's nuclear program was greater than the risks of the virus being harnessed by other countries or terrorist groups to attack U.S. facilities, one source said.Two sources with direct knowledge of the U.S. program said it cost hundreds of millions of dollars to carry out.The United States for years has been developing - and using - offensive cyber-capabilities to interfere with the computers of adversaries, including during the Battle of Falluja in Iraq in 2004 and in finding Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda figures, the sources said.Last year, the United States also explicitly stated for the first time that it reserved the right to retaliate with military force against a cyber-attack.The New York Times reported on Friday that from his first months in office, Obama secretly ordered attacks of growing sophistication on the computer systems running the main Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities, greatly widening the first sustained U.S. use of cyber-weapons. The Times said the attacks were code-named Olympic Games.White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined comment on the substance of the New York Times article, but denied "in the strongest possible terms" that it was an authorized leak of classified information. Obama is seeking re-election on November 6 in part on the strength of his foreign policy achievements.Reuters reported on May 29 that the United Nations agency charged with helping member nations secure their national infrastructures plans to issue a sharp warning about the risk of the Flame computer virus that was recently discovered in Iran and other parts of the Middle East.Stuxnet is one of many weapons in the U.S. cyber-arsenal, which some experts say also includes a data-gathering tool known as Duqu that was deployed to cull information about Iran's weapons programs.Iranian officials have described the cyber-attacks as part of a "terrorist" campaign backed by Israel and the United States.Some current and former U.S. officials, who asked not to be named, criticized the Obama administration for talking too freely to the media about classified operations.Representative Peter King, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, said, "I believe that no one, including the White House, should be discussing cyber-attacks.""The U.S. will now be blamed for any sophisticated, malicious software, even if it was the Chinese or just criminals," added Jason Healey, who has worked on cyber-security for the Air Force, White House and Goldman Sachs, and is now with the Atlantic Council research group.

Spain PM insists on sticking to austerity measures

 

Spain will stick to harsh austerity measures until it emerges from financial crisis, the prime minister said Saturday, promising that the country would survive the present economic turmoil.Mariano Rajoy acknowledged that the country is experiencing turbulence, but said "we are not at the edge of a precipice, we will not sink."The government has "the will to persevere in this line for as long as is necessary," he said.Spain, where unemployment stands at a Eurozone high of 24.4 percent, has imposed spending cuts and tax hikes to escape a crisis many fear could eventually swallow other countries using the European single currency.Rajoy said Saturday that he supported the creation of a single European fiscal authority to uphold the credibility of the euro, and acknowledged that for this to happen it would be necessary for member states to "surrender more of their fiscal autonomy."He said that while it was possible Spain could have lived beyond its means, it was also true that those who are now criticizing Spain a reference to Germany had also lent it money at very cheap rates.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has long maintained that austerity is the most important step toward easing the eurozone debt crisis, however, the leaders of some of those countries hardest hit faced with anti-austerity demonstrations that have at times turned violent have also called for steps to be taken to try and boost employment.Newly elected French president Francois Hollande has also warned against too much of the belt-tightening that Merkel advocates for fear it could unleash political chaos.Demonstrations against austerity measures in Greece frequently turn violent, and Spanish police baton-charged striking coal miners marching in Madrid on Thursday after a group started throwing stones and bottles. Police said two people were arrested and nine were slightly hurt.Despite months of painful austerity reforms by Rajoy's conservative government, there is growing concern that its leaders have not done enough and Spanish banks may need to be saved from loans gone bad and foreclosures of property now worth far less than the loans paid out for it.The country's banking sector is laden with soured investments on real estate and the government recently needed (EURO)19 billion ($23.4 billion) to rescue just one bank, Bankia SA.Some estimates have put a complete Spanish banking sector bailout cost at between (EURO)50 billion and (EURO)150 billion, but Spain only has (EURO)5 billion left in the (EURO)19 billion bailout fund it established in 2009.Spain's banking sector, however, is not the sole issue. The economy is mired in its second recession in three years and is forecast to contract 1.7 percent for the year.This means the country has to raise money in bond markets and the interest rate on Spanish 10-year bonds finished trading Friday at 6.47 percent, as reported by financial data provider FactSet.A rate of 7 percent is considered unsustainable in the long run. Countries such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland that have faced such rates have had to be bailed out.Spain's current banking problems have startling similarities with Ireland. Both countries witnessed unprecedented property building and buying sprees enabled by their 1999 entry into the euro.

It was an entry that many economists say was partly responsible for both countries' present problems by entering into the single currency with more stable economies their credit-risk profiles were lowered giving their banks unprecedented access to international loans at rock-bottom rates.

NEWS, 24.05.2012

EU urges Greece to stay in euro

 

European Union leaders, advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, urged the country to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout programme.After nearly six hours of talks held during an informal dinner, leaders said they were committed to Greece remaining in the euro zone, but it had to stick to its side of the bargain too, a commitment that will mean a heavy cost for Greeks."We want Greece to stay in the euro, but we insist that Greece sticks to commitments that it has agreed to," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after a Wednesday evening summit in Brussels dragged long into the night.Three officials told Reuters the instruction to have plans in place for a Greek exit was agreed on Monday during a teleconference of the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG) - experts who work for euro zone finance ministers.The Greek finance ministry denied there was any such agreement but Belgian Finance Minister Steven Vanackere, said: "All the contingency plans (for Greece) come back to the same thing: to be responsible as a government is to foresee even what you hope to avoid."Two other senior EU officials confirmed the call and its contents, saying contingency planning was only sensible.In its monthly report, Germany's Bundesbank said the situation in Greece was "extremely worrying" and it was jeopardising any further financial aid by threatening not to implement reforms agreed as part of its two bailouts.It said a euro exit would pose "considerable but manageable" challenges for its European partners, raising pressure on Athens to stick with its painful economic reforms.Greek officials have said that without outside funds, the country will run out of money within two months and there remains the threat that if it crashes out of the euro zone, other member states could be brought down too.A document seen by Reuters detailed the potential costs to individual member states of a Greek exit and said that if it came about, an "amiable divorce" should be sought with the EU and IMF possibly giving up to 50 billion euros to ease its path.Although EU leaders' minds will have been focused by that prospect, disagreements have flared over a plan for mutual euro zone bond issuance and other measures to alleviate two years of debt turmoil, such as giving countries like Spain an extra year to make the spending cuts demanded of them."The idea is to put energy into the growth motor. All the member countries don't necessarily share my ideas. But a certain number expressed themselves in the same direction," new French President Francois Hollande told reporters.For the first time in more than two years of crisis summits, the leaders of France and Germany did not huddle beforehand to agree positions, marking a significant shift in the axis which has traditionally driven European policymaking.Instead, Hollande met Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Paris to discuss policy, before the pair travelled to Brussels by train.Despite fears Greeks could open the departure door if they vote for anti-bailout parties at a June 17 election, Spain, where the economy is in recession and the banking system in need of restructuring, is at the front line of the crisis.After meeting Hollande, Rajoy said he had no intention of seeking outside aid for Spain's banks, which are laden with bad debts from a property boom that bust and still has some way to go before it touches bottom.But his government said its rescue of problem lender Bankia would cost at least 9 billion euros and it is also seeking ways to help its highly indebted regions meet huge refinancing bills.Shifting sands Socialist Hollande's election victory has significantly changed the terms of the debate in Europe, with his call for greater emphasis on growth rather than debt-cutting now a rallying cry for other leaders.That has set up a showdown with conservative Merkel, whose primary objective is budget austerity and structural reform.At his first EU summit, Hollande chose to make a stand on euro bonds - issuing common euro zone debt - despite consistent German opposition to the idea. "I was not alone in defending euro bonds," he said.Merkel showed no sign of dropping her objections to the proposal, which she has said can only be discussed once there is much closer fiscal union in Europe. "There were differences in the exchange about euro bonds," she said bluntly.The Netherlands, Finland and some smaller euro zone member states support her.No major decisions were made at Wednesday's summit, which was intended to promote ideas on jobs and growth ahead of another meeting at the end of June.But debate was intense, not just over euro bonds but over how to rescue banks and whether to give more time to struggling euro zone countries to meet their budget deficit goals."We haven't come together to confront each other ... but we have to say what we think - what are the right instruments, the right methods, the right steps, the right initiatives to raise growth," Hollande said.The leaders discussed broad measures to stem the fallout from a winding up or restructuring of bad banks, EU officials said, with the European Central Bank pressing for the bloc to stand behind its struggling lenders but with Merkel's approval seen as far from guaranteed.At the heart of the discussion are proposals from the European Commission for a legal framework to wind up or reorganise insolvent banks so as to avoid a repeat of the multi-trillion-euro taxpayer bailouts during the financial crisis.Another suggestion is for the euro zone's rescue funds to be allowed to recapitalise banks directly, rather than having to lend to countries for on-lending to the banks. But that is another idea with which Germany is uncomfortable.Having rallied on Tuesday, European stocks dropped 2.2 percent as investors priced in a lack of dramatic policy action. The euro tumbled against the dollar to its lowest since August 2010 and Spanish and Italian borrowing costs climbed.A German two-year debt auction gave a stark illustration of how money is dashing for safe havens. Investors snapped up the 4.5 billion euros of paper on offer even though it came with a zero coupon - offering no return at all.Search for growth With the euro zone registering no growth in the first quarter and threatening to slip back into recession, policymakers touted three ideas to provide stimulus:- 'Project bonds' backed by the EU budget to finance infrastructure projects alongside private sector investment.- Doubling the paid-in capital of the European Investment Bank, the EU's co-financing arm, to a little over 20 billion euros.- Redirecting structural funds which tend to flow to poorer countries, to other areas where they might reap more immediate growth rewards.Even if all three proposals were to be activated quickly, economists say they will not provide a sufficient shot in the arm to the euro zone and the wider EU economy.

NEWS,13.5.2012

France and Greece out to change Europe

 

Two politicians have within a week thrown the spanner into the eurozone’s prevailing economic thinking. It isn’t all that bad.One is Francois Hollande, to be sworn as French president on Tuesday. He chased the diminutive but combative Nicholas Sarkozy from office with a 51.6 per cent election victory a week ago.Unlike the 58-year-old Hollande, an old timer in the French Socialist Party politics, Greek Alexis Tsipras is a newcomer to parliamentary politics. His Synaspismos party and allied Coalition of the Radical Left emasculated the leading political parties in election last Sunday, making formation of a government impossible. The helicopter-like political ascent of Mr Tsipras, 37, is impressive. He rose from the Communist Youth of Greece to head a parliamentary party at 33. He entered Parliament three years ago. His ability to manage national affairs though remains unknown.Greece isn’t an economic shaker in the eurozone or Europe. France is. However, Mr Hollande and Mr Tsipras have one thing in common: they loathe fiscal austerity. That’s tight control of government spending. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the leading proponent. Unfortunately, her sidekick, Sarkozy, is in a political freezer.Governments can’t raise all the money they need from their main source of income: taxes. Consequently, they borrow or issue bonds to meet the deficit.Debts and bonds aren’t a problem par se. The problem comes when governments fail to meet repayment schedules or the value of bonds decline to levels that make investors consider them junk. For reasons known to economists and financial wizards, trouble begins when a country’s debt hits 7 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. At $661.6 billion—lots of money in any language--Greece’s debt hit 160 percent of the GDP. Athens couldn’t meet repayment schedules.There are several ways of dealing with the problem. They include rescheduling, reducing government spending, declaring bankruptcy, and getting a consortium of nations, multilateral lenders like the International Monetary Fund and regional organizations” member states, for a bailout. Bailouts aren’t free and conditions are attached. Greece isn’t the only eurozone country facing this problem. Portugal and Spain are most hit. Italy is staring at one. France, one of Europe’s top borrowers, fears it’s headed there.The 17-member eurozone, like a ship crew, prefers all hands, including the sick, on deck. Better find a cure for the sick and fast. The cure for the sick members is bailout. Conditions include massive cuts on government spending—austerity. That means many people have lost benefits and jobs.They are angry and have voted out political parties responsible. Greek voters were especially vicious. Mr Tsipras, who has described the agreement for the Greek bailout “null and void,” is riding this wave. However, he’s yet to offer an alternative. Hollande, more mellowed by age and temperament, has offered a sweetener to austerity policies, an element of growth.

Thousands march against economic gloom in Spain, UK

 

Thousands of Spaniards fed up with economic misery and waving banners against bankers marched on yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the grassroots "Indignados" movement that has sparked similar protests around the world.Up to 600 people denouncing the Bank of England rallied in London and a Reuters witness said scuffles broke out between some demonstrators and police, with at least 12 arrests.The Indignados and the offshoot Occupy and Take the Square movements had called for a global day of action against anti-debt austerity policies and the widening gap between rich and poor, but nowhere were protests as large as in Spain.A year after tens of thousands set up a month-long camp in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, drawing international attention, indignant Spaniards have even more to be angry about.Unemployment has soared to over 24%, over half the country's youth is out of work, the economy has dipped back into recession and one of its largest banks has been nationalised.Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government has passed painful austerity measures that have hit once-sacred public health and education spending in an effort to appease international markets and avoid a Greek-style bailout."We have to stand up and say enough is enough! They pull our hair telling us we're lazy so they can dismantle social welfare and take away health and education and now they're bailing out the bankers," said Gloria Bravo, 48, a civil servant.Rescue money for banks, crippled after a 10-year building bubble burst four years ago, is a touchy subject for Spaniards, especially after the government took a stake in lender Bankia on Wednesday."They bail out banks but not people," banners read in Cantabria, northern Spain, home to Spain's biggest bank Santander.Demonstrators gathered in more than 80 cities across Spain, chanting the slogan that has become a mantra at protests over the past year: "They say it's democracy but it's not."In central Madrid, streets were blocked as activists convened in various neighbourhoods across the capital to march towards Puerta de Sol, which filled up with people waving flags and chanting to the beat of horns and drums."The situation is getting worse but the root of the problem remains the same; this is a moment of crisis for capitalism," Jesus Gonzalez, 38, an airline employee said as he made for the Puerta del Sol.Some 2,000 anti-riot police deployed to prevent protesters from setting up tent in the capital in a repeat of last year's camp-out.Protesters vowed four days of demonstrations to inject fresh life into a movement that has suffered internal divisions.The group behind the Puerta de Sol encampment last May - "Democracia real Ya!" (Dry), or Real Democracy Now - recently voted to register as a formal organisation, drawing the ire of the group's unconventional purists.In London, up to 600 people marched through the centre of the city, the number dwindling to around 200 after the demonstration reached its destination at the Bank of England.Protesters erected 11 tents nearby and flew banners that read "Bank of England, the St Paul's of money," in reference to St Paul's Cathedral, from which a long-running Occupy tent encampment was evicted in February."We're all here to show solidarity with the global movement..., groups that are forming against financial repression, political oppression," said Mark Weaver, 31, who is unemployed."We're here to make change, and making change doesn't happen overnight, you've got to do it for weeks, months, years, and you've got to be consistent."Occupy activists said they would dismantle the tents within hours and complained of police "aggression" and heavyhandedness."We're under siege," said activist Ronan McNern.Police declined comment on their tactics. They said only that four people had been arrested for public order offences.In Moscow, a few hundred people camped by the central city pond in an Occupy-style protest over the police crackdown on a May 6 anti-Kremlin rally held ahead of the inauguration of President Vladimir Putin.

NEWS,28.01.2012.

 Spain demands new 'realism' from EU over austerity

Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, 

meets German chancellor Angela Merkel.Spanish unemployment breaks through the 5 million barrier, the new government of Mariano Rajoy has begun to put pressure on the European Union to ease Spain's deficit targets, which are sending the country hurtling back into recession.Rajoy's government is demanding greater "realism" from Brussels as it struggles to rein in a deficit that ended more than two percentage points, or €20bn, above its EU-set 6% target last year.EU officials are unlikely to greet his message with enthusiasm after continued wrangling in Athens over a deal with private creditors and a torrid day on the bond markets that pushed Portugal closer to needing a Greek-style rescue. Brussels indicated that talks in Greece would take at least another 48 hours.And on Friday, ratings agency Fitch downgraded five countries – Spain, Italy, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia – with Spain pushed down by two notches. The move came two weeks after Standard & Poor's downgraded nine eurozone countries, including France, which lost its coveted AAA status.Rajoy's attempt to strike a more relaxed deal on debt echoes that of Italy's new technocrat prime minister, Mario Monti, who has been telling German policymakers that austerity alone may not be the answer to the eurozone's problems.EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Monday: the agenda will include tweaking policies to promote jobs and growth. A draft of the summit statement obtained by the Guardian says: "Growth and employment will only resume if we pursue a consistent and broad-based approach, combining fiscal consolidation, sound macroeconomic policies as well as an active employment strategy. We will stay the course and emerge from this crisis stronger.” José Manuel Barroso, the European commission's president, said: "We cannot resort to fiscal stimulus to boost growth.” Spain, which already boasted Europe's worst unemployment rate, recorded a further 350,000 job losses in the last quarter of 2011.That rate now stands at 22.8% of the population and is set to worsen as Rajoy's conservative People's party government pursues a €40bn (£33bn) budget adjustment, most of it in spending cuts, to meet the EU's deficit target of 4.4% this year.Pressure for Brussels to review Spain's deficit came as bond investors began to abandon neighbouring Portugal, with 10-year bond yields soaring to 15%. Bonds expert Gary Jenkins of Swordfish said: "They may have crossed the Rubicon in the eyes of the market". He believes the talks between the Greek government and its bondholders might "become a template for Portugal in how to deal with their debt, which would not be good news for investors." S&P already rates Portugal's bonds as "junk", along with Greece's.With a record 5.3m unemployed, Spain is facing a spiral of decline. The IMF, led by a former euro-area finance minister, Christine Lagarde (pictured below), has already predicted that the economy will shrink by 1.7% this year, with a further decline in 2013.Further evidence that public austerity programmes were damaging the wider Spanish economy came from figures on company closures. Around 35,000 companies folded in the second half of the year – a third of all those to have shut since Spain's economy ran into trouble at the end of 2008.

While Rajoy, who met Germany's chancellor, Angel Merkel, in Berlin on Thursday, publicly maintains his target of reducing the deficit to 4.4% from more than 8% last year, his ministers are now letting it be known that they want substantial adjustments to Brussels's programme.Budget minister Cristóbal Montoro was explicit about the need for the EU to adjust its predictions – and, logically, its targets. "I am sure that no one, in Europe or anywhere else, is interested in including growth estimates that are not going to be met," he said, adding he was convinced change would come. That, he said, would help the government to be "realistic" about its options.The socialist opposition, meanwhile, is already complaining that Rajoy has not persuaded Brussels to relax the pressure. "The rope is tightening around our neck," said Carme Chacón, one of two candidates to succeed former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as party leader.Rajoy's government has already announced a combination of income tax rises and spending cuts that will bring a €15bn adjustment, but that is less than half of what is needed.