Unemployment in the eurozone hit a record high at the end of last year, the Eurostat agency has said. The jobless rate in the 17 countries that use the single currency was 10.4% in December, unchanged from November’s figure which was revised up from 10.3%. Some 16.5 million people were out of work in [...]
He has been described as everything from Messianic visionary to terrorist, courageous battler for government accountability to sexual abuser. So why not chatshow host? That is the latest surprise incarnation announced by Julian Assange, who last week revealed his next step, after 13 months on bail fighting extradition to Sweden over sex assault accusations, would [...]
European Union leaders agreed Monday to strengthen a financial firewall and most members of the 27-nation group will sign a new fiscal compact. But the first summit of the year ended without new solutions for the debt crisis in Greece. The leaders of all but two members the 27-nation EU agreed to sign a [...]
A dose of ultrasound to the testicles can stop the production of sperm, according to researchers investigating a new form of contraception. A study on rats published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology showed that sound waves could be used to reduce sperm counts to levels that would cause infertility in humans. Researchers described ultrasound as [...]
Bangladesh will not impose any transit fees on India and will rather collect all charges permitted under GATT, a prime minister’s advisor said on Monday. “There is no such term (as) transit fee in ‘books’, and the government should strictly follow the principles laid down in GATT and transport economics,” Mashiur Rahman, who advises prime [...]
The Malaysian government on Tuesday offered to construct the much-awaited Padma Bridge including its full financing. The offer came as the Malaysian prime minister’s special envoy (India and South Asia) on infrastructure, Dato’ Seri S Samy Vellu, called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office here this morning. PM’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam [...]
Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Dr AK Abdul Momen, will lead the UN Peacebuilding Commission for the next one year. The prestigious election, which is first for the country, came on Monday. Upon his election, the new chairman pledged that he would pursue “the path of inclusion” throughout 2012 to enhance the six-year-old [...]
The eurozone crisis will dominate an EU summit on Monday, with an emphasis on growth and “smart” budget discipline. The EU has more than 23 million unemployed people and there are fears that wide-ranging budget cuts will harm enterprise and training. Cuts need to be “smart” – well-targeted – to allow room for future growth, [...]
Dozens of Occupy London protesters have been evicted from a disused office block in the City of London, criticising police and bailiffs for what they called heavy-handed and “utterly irresponsible” tactics. Around 50 protesters were evicted peacefully from the UBS-owned building they had turned into an educational hub called the Bank of Ideas, shortly after [...]
Iran sent conflicting signals in a dispute with the West over its nuclear ambitions, vowing to stop oil exports soon to “some” countries but postponing a parliamentary debate on a proposed halt to crude sales to the European Union. The Islamic Republic declared itself optimistic about a visit by U.N. nuclear experts that began Sunday [...]