Greece economy: Merkel rules out more debt relief

Angela Merkel insists she still wants Greece to stay in the eurozone

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Greece election

• Five things Syriza wants
• Challenges for Tsipras
• Germans count cost
• Greeks wary of future

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out cancelling any of Greece's debt, saying banks and creditors have already made substantial cuts.

But Mrs Merkel told the Die Welt newspaper she still wanted Greece to stay in the eurozone.

Greece's left-wing Syriza party won last weekend's election with a pledge to have half the debt written off.

Its new finance minister has refused to work with the "troika" of global institutions overseeing Greek debt.

The troika - the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - had agreed a €240bn (£179bn; $270bn) bailout with the previous Greek government.

But Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has already begun to roll back the austerity measures the creditors had demanded as part of the deal.

Meanwhile, EU economic and financial affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici told the BBC's Hardtalk that Greece had to honour its previous commitments, although he said he wanted Greece to remain in the eurozone.

'Blackmail'

Mrs Merkel told the Hamburger Abendblatt: "I do not envisage fresh debt cancellation."

She said: "There has already been voluntary debt forgiveness by private creditors, banks have already slashed billions from Greece's debt."

Greece still has a debt of €315bn - about 175% of gross domestic product - despite some creditors writing down debts in a renegotiation in 2012.

Greek economy in numbers

• Average wage is €600 (£450: $690) a month
• Unemployment is at 25%, with youth unemployment almost 50%
• Economy has shrunk by 25% since the start of the eurozone crisis
• Country's debt is 175% of GDP
• Borrowed €240bn (£188bn) from the EU, the ECB and the IMF

Mrs Merkel insisted she did not want Greece to leave the eurozone.

She said: "The aim of our policy was and is that Greece remains permanently part of the euro community. Europe will continue to show its solidarity with Greece, as with other countries hard hit by the crisis, if these countries carry out reforms and cost-saving measures."

On Friday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Greece about its negotiation tactics on writing off debt.

"There's no arguing with us about this, and what's more we are difficult to blackmail," he said.

Finance Minister Varoufakis on Friday refused to work with the troika, saying he would instead talk to individual organisations and EU member states.

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Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis: "We are not prepared to carry on pretending and trying to enforce an unenforceable programme"

He has brought forward to Saturday his planned trip to Paris, where he will meet French counterpart Michel Sapin.

"We are not prepared to carry on pretending and extending, trying to enforce an unenforceable programme which for five years now has steadfastly refused to produce any tangible benefits," Mr Varoufakis told the BBC's Newsnight.

"The disease that we're facing in Greece at the moment is that a problem of insolvency for five years has been dealt with as a problem of liquidity."

Greece's current programme of loans ends on 28 February. A final bailout tranche of €7.2bn still has to be negotiated.

New Greek PM Alexis Tsipras will visit Cyprus, Italy and France next week but has no plans to visit Germany as yet.

Mr Moscovici meanwhile told the BBC the Greek government had to respect previous commitments.

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Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.Pierre Moscovici: Greece's place is in the eurozone

But he added: "We believe that the place of Greece is in the eurozone, the euro needs Greece and that Greece needs and wants to be in the eurozone.

"We feel that it's very important for the stability of the eurozone and for the credibility of the euro that there is no 'Grexit'. This is why we will do everything that is needed to avoid it."

The full interview with Mr Moscovici can be seen on BBC World News on Monday 2 February at 0430, 0930, 1630 and 2130 GMT.

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Spain rally: Podemos holds Madrid mass 'March for Change'

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• Could Podemos party win in Spain?Watch
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• 'We don't want to be a German colony'WatTens of thousands of people have massed in central Madrid for a rally organised by radical Spanish leftists Podemos.The "March for Change" is one of the party's first outdoor mass rallies, as it looks to build on the recent victory of its close allies Syriza in GreecePodemos leader Pablo Iglesias told the crowd a "wind of change" was starting to blow through Europe.

Podemos has surged ahead in opinion polls, and has vowed to write off part of Spain's debt if it comes to power.

The BBC's Tom Burridge in Madrid says that there has been an impressive turnout and a carnival atmosphere at the rally.

Several of Madrid's main avenues became a sea of people and purple, the party's colour, he says, after its supporters travelled from all over Spain.

'We dream'

Marching from Madrid city hall to the central Puerta del Sol square, protesters shouted "Si, Podemos!", meaning "Yes, we can".

Broadcaster TVE reported that hundreds of thousands were at the demonstration, but there was no official tally.

"The wind of change is starting to blow in Europe," Mr Iglesias said, addressing supporters in Greek and Spanish at the start of the rally.

Pablo Iglesias (C) said people with serious dreams could change things

The Podemos march takes place amid public anger over spending cuts and allegations of political corruption

The party is hoping to build on Syriza's recent successes in Greece

"We dream but we take our dream seriously. More has been done in Greece in six days than many governments did in years."

Protesters are parading in the same streets that over the past six years have seen many other gatherings against financial crisis cutbacks imposed by successive governments.

One marcher, Jose Maria Jacobo, told Reuters news agency that people had to fight back against the political class.

"It is the only way..., to kick out all of those politicians who are taking everything from us. They even try to take our dignity away from us. But that they won't take that from us," he said.

But speaking in Barcelona, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Podemos had no chance of winning elections.

"I don't accept the gloomy Spain which some want to portray because they think that by doing so they will replace those who are governing and have had to face the most difficult crisis in decades. They will not succeed," he said.

Uncompromising message

Many Spaniards are enraged over reports of political corruption and public spending cuts implemented by Mr Rajoy's People's Party and before that by the Socialists.

The two big traditional parties have described the party - less than a year old and whose names translates as "we can" - as populist.

Our correspondent says that since Podemos stormed onto the political scene in last May's European elections, it has moved from strength to strength with its uncompromising message against austerity and corruption.

But both left-wing and right-wing media have criticised Podemos, accusing it of having ties with Venezuela's left-wing leaders and alleging financial misconduct by some of its senior members.

The party's leaders have in response promised to publish their tax returns, with Mr Iglesias remaining defiant.

"In the face of their hatred, we smile," is one of his regular pronouncements, according to the AFP news agency. After the Syriza triumph in the Greek elections he said that "hope had been born".

Spain has now officially come out of recession but nearly one in four workers remains unemployed.

Last year was the first time there has been full-year economic growth in the country since 2008, when a property bubble burst, putting millions of people out of work and pushing the country to the brink of a bail-out.

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The Internet Loophole That Made One Man a Millionaire!

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How can a regular person with no online experience make money online doing absolutely nothing at all? That’s a question millions of people have been asking themselves. It’s also already been answered. George Brown figured out how to do exactly that when he created a program that makes it possible to earn a full-time income from home just by taking advantage of one big internet loophole.

There’s no secret to how George Brown made his fortune on the internet. You won’t be left wondering why you can’t do the same thing he did. You’ve basically been invited to join the company. What made George Brown so successful is Google Sniper, a savvy internet marketing affiliation program that can turn websites into pure money.

Google Sniper monitors and exploits loopholes of one of the largest internet companies in the world—Google’s Adsense program. 12.7 billion dollars is just an astounding amount of money. That’s how much Google makes from Adsense every year. A fraction, the tiniest little slice of that pie can amount to hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for you.

How do you do this? There’s no technology to be afraid of. George Brown didn’t need to know everything about computers when he set up Google Sniper. There’s no confusing uploading involved and definitely no coding. All you need to do is copy all of the steps that George Brown sets up for you and set them up for yourself. It’s cut and paste. It’s that easy.

After you set up your personal network of affiliate sites, you don’t ever have to do any maintenance to them. It’s like clocking into work for one day and getting paid regularly for the rest of your life. You basically only have that one task to complete, and after that you can just wait for the money to start showing up. Because your sites are passively doing the work for you, your life is essentially free to live. You keep earning money months or even years after your sites go live.

Now, it should be pointed out that some people will be more successful using Google Sniper than others. There have been a lot of people who have managed to turn the internet into a cash machine. They don’t all pull in the million dollars a year George Brown does, but they definitely walk away with money they don’t have to do much to earn.

If you’re looking for a way to get set up working from home, this could be your best opportunity.Google Sniper sets you up in the affiliate marketing industry and gives you all the tools you need to succeed. Making your first paycheck from home is as simple as clicking right here.

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Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappearance declared an accident and all on board presumed dead: officials

Thu 29 Jan 2015, 12:15pm

PHOTO: The search for Malaysia Airline flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean will continue despite authorities declaring the disappearance an accident. (AAP: Richard Wainwright)

RELATED STORY: MH370 families frustrated by lack of progress in search

Malaysia has announced all 239 passengers and crew on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are presumed dead.

The head of the nation's civil aviation authority made the statement at a press conference on Thursday.

He also declared the disappearance an accident and said the plane was located on the sea floor of the Indian Ocean.

An interim report into MH370's disappearance will be made public on March 7, a day before the one-year anniversary of the plane going missing.

The Boeing 777 aircraft disappeared shortly after taking off from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing.

Months of searches have failed to turn up any trace of the plane.

"We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident... and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives," Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said in a statement.

The announcement was in accordance with standards of annexes 12 and 13 in the International Civil Aviation, Mr Azharuddin said.

"The Government of Malaysia acknowledges that this declaration of MH370 accident will be very difficult for the families and loved ones of the 227 passengers and 12 crew on board to consider, much less accept. Thirteen nations have also lost sons and daughters to this tragedy. It is nonetheless important that families try to resume normal life or as normal a life as may be possible after this sudden loss," Mr Azharuddin said.

"Without in any way intending to diminish the feelings of the families, it is hoped that this declaration will enable the families to obtain the assistance they need, in particular through the compensation process," he said, adding Malaysia Airlines was ready to proceed immediately with the compensation process to the next-of-kin of the passengers on the flight.

Six Australians were on board. The majority of passengers were from China.

"We call on the Malaysian side to honour the promise made when they declared the flight to have been lost and earnestly fulfil their compensation responsibilities," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

International investigators are looking into why the Boeing jet veered thousands of kilometres off course from its scheduled route before eventually plunging into the Indian Ocean.

The search in the Indian Ocean continues and Malaysia is also conducting a criminal investigation, Mr Azharuddin said.

"Both investigations are limited by the lack of physical evidence at this time, particularly the flight recorders," he said.

"Therefore, at this juncture, there is no evidence to substantiate any speculations as to the cause of the accident."

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Mountain-sized asteroid shaves by Earth in event not to be seen for another decade

Tue 27 Jan 2015, 6:18am

An asteroid the size of a mountain with its own moon has shaved by Earth in a rare type of flyby that will not be seen for another decade, astronomers say.

The asteroid, known as 2004 BL86, ran no risk of a colliding with Earth and was be about three times farther than the Moon when it passed.

At the time of its closest approach, the asteroid was about 1.2 million kilometres from Earth.
Unlike other asteroids, 2004 BL86 measured half a kilometre across, whereas the majority of near-Earth objects are 15 to 30 metres in diameter.

"It's the largest known space rock predicted to come this close to us until 2027," Sky and Telescope magazine reported.

The next large asteroid that is known to be making a close approach to Earth will be asteroid 1999 AN10, flying past in 2027.

"At present, we know almost nothing about the asteroid, so there are bound to be surprises," said radar astronomer Lance Benner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Astronomers were excited for the opportunity to catch a glimpse of 2004 BL86, a mysterious asteroid that will not pass by again for about 200 years.

"When we get our radar data back the day after the flyby, we will have the first detailed images."

NASA said the asteroid would not be visible to the naked eye, but could be seen with the help of small telescopes and strong binoculars.

The asteroid was visible last night, and this morning was near Jupiter, one of the brightest objects in the night sky.

It was closest to Earth at 3:00am AEDT, and will be at its brightest at 3:00pm AEDT today.

The asteroid orbits the Sun every 1.84 years, and was discovered 11 years ago by the LINEAR telescope in New Mexico.

By using observations via telescope and radar mapping by NASA scientists at facilities in California and Puerto Rico, astronomers discovered the asteroid has its own small moon about 70 metres across.

"Asteroids are something special," said Don Yeomans, retired manager of NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

"Not only did asteroids provide Earth with the building blocks of life and much of its water, but in the future, they will become valuable resources for mineral ores and other vital natural resources.

"They will also become the fuelling stops for humanity as we continue to explore our solar system. There is something about asteroids that makes me want to look up."

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New York snow: Mayor De Blasio defends snow warnings

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New York City's mayor has responded to claims officials overreacted to the threat posed by a major winter storm, saying: "We dodged a bullet."

As New York awoke to a blanket of snow less deep than feared, forecasts were downgraded and a transport ban was lifted in the city.

But there has been heavy snow across the northeast US, with more than 2ft (60cm) in Massachusetts alone.

Blizzard warnings remain along the coast from Long Island to Maine.

Speaking to CNN, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said: "This is a better-safe-than-sorry scenario."

He added: "We did what was necessary to keep everyone safe."

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Blizzard warnings for New York City and New Jersey have been lifted, with some public transport resuming in New York.

A teenage boy was killed in a sledging accident on Long lsland, one of the worst-affected parts of New York state.

On Monday an emergency was declared in a swathe of north-eastern states, and meteorologists predicted up to 90cm (36in) of snow. Officials later revised the snow forecasts but the emergencies remain in place.

Boston also imposed a travel ban, and subway systems in New York and Boston were suspended.

The heaviest snowfall has been reported in Connecticut and Massachusetts, which saw 52cm (20.5in) and 67cm (26.2in) respectively, compared to the 13cm (5.5in) seen in New York's Central Park.

Thousands of people are without power in Massachusetts, local media reported.

The National Weather Service (NWS) is still warning of potentially life-threatening conditions along the New England coast, as the storm heads north into Canada.

"The wind here is tremendous, it's difficult to see very far out the window," said Christie Craigheard in New Hampshire, another of the affected areas.

In other developments:

• 7,500 flights in and out of airports along the East Coast have been cancelled
• Schools across the region remain closed
• Public transport is expected to be back to normal in New York by Wednesday

'Matter of life and death'

The NWS had previously warned that a "potentially historic blizzard" was approaching the north-east.

But the blizzard appeared less severe than expected on Tuesday morning, with snowfall levels ranging from 2.5cm (1in) in Washington DC to 38cm (15in) at New York State's Islip airport at 03:00 local time (08:00 GMT).

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