Campaign finance rules in a mess
More than 30 years ago, following the Watergate scandal, the US provided for the partial public funding of presidential elections. Candidates would get public money to supplement cash they raised in return for accepting curbs on their spending. It worked, after a fashion: since 1976, every presidential candidate has taken public money for his general election campaign.
EU businesses fear interest rate rise
European companies are increasingly worried about the prospect of higher interest rates in the eurozone and believe an increase could choke off growth and strengthen the euro further against the dollar.
Why must our holiday euros cost so much?
My bank has charged me L50 for a service that should have been free. My daughter lives in France with her three children. I made them a gift of L2,000, which had to be converted into euros. The bank quoted an exchange rate of €1.216 to the pound, which made €2,432. The market rate quoted on the front page of the Financial Times was €1.246, which would have made my L2,000 into €2,492. So €60 (about L50) went missing somewhere in the system. About 21 per cent had been deducted from my L2,000.
Job fears mount as Goldman sheds Staff
Bankers fear the pace of job losses in the investment banking industry is set to accelerate over the summer after it emerged that Goldman Sachs, the sector’s star performer, cut staff at its investment banking division last week.
Saudi oil boost fails to alleviate concerns
Saudi Arabia’s decision to pump more oil than it has in nearly 30 years risks being completely negated by the sharp drop in output caused by attacks on production facilities in Nigeria.
Hot air clouds the energy debate
Week in and week out, Washington gives master classes in making simple questions complicated. It is a bipartisan effort of mutually assured irrelevance. Perfected over years, a combination of tribal ideology, empty posturing and feverish displacement activity generally does the trick. You see it everywhere, but nowhere more than in energy policy.
Zimbabwe opposition pulls out of election
Morgan Tsvangirai, the challenger to Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, on Sunday pulled out of a presidential run-off and pleaded for international action to prevent “genocide” in his country.
Ireland is wrong to put its miracle at risk
After a week of what European leaders call reflection, another Irish referendum beckons, to be held early next year. Without it, there might well be an attempt to oust the Irish from the European Union.
How the food crisis could solve the Doha round
With the Doha trade round in danger of slipping from our grasp, the temptation is to grab hold of any opportunities for optimism. It has therefore become commonplace to assert that the food crisis, while a tragedy, is a shot in the arm for Doha. But of the three arguments that can be offered in support of such a pleasing proposition, only one passes muster; and even in this case, the argument is not a slam-dunk.
Aid demand threatens Polish shipyards
Poland’s three biggest shipyards face closure if the European Commission goes ahead with a threat to demand the return of the state aid that is keeping them afloat.
Spectre of inflation over global economy
The spectre of inflation returned to haunt the global economy on Tuesday as companies ranging from Dow Chemical of the US to South Korea’s Posco unveiled sharp price rises to combat the soaring cost of energy and raw materials.
Russian hits at EU fear of Gazprom
One of Russia’s leading liberal reformers has accused the European Union of trying to limit access to its natural gas market for Gazprom for political reasons, motivated by misguided fears about the Russian gas giant.
Putting a face to the EU
The failure of Irish voters to ratify the Lisbon Treaty points to a problem for Europe that goes far beyond that specific referendum. The vote in Ireland, coupled with the rejection by voters in France and the Netherlands in 2005 of the now failed European Constitution, provides indisputable proof that many European citizens are strongly suspicious of the European Union and that European leaders must take strong action to remedy the misperceptions of those citizens.
How to see world economy through two crises
Two storms are buffeting the world economy: an inflationary commodity-price storm and a deflationary financial one. Last week I argued that exchange-rate regimes were a link between these distinct events. This week, let us look at how to sail on these storm-tossed seas.
America looks to a nuclear-free world
When candidates agree, it is not always front-page news. Election coverage hinges on conflict. Effective governance works differently. The next president must work to build consensus to get things done. Nuclear security is an excellent place to start; in fact, a remarkable bipartisan consensus is emerging that can help the 44th president revolutionise America’s policy towards nuclear weapons.
Mortgage approvals fall to record low
Fears that the UK housing downturn is gaining momentum will deepen after data showing that mortgage approvals by banks slid to a new record low last month.
World’s rich scale back exposure to property
Rapid growth in emerging markets enabled the world’s richest people to shrug off the credit crisis last year and expand their assets by more than 9 per cent to $40,700bn, an authoritative study of global wealth has found.
Surveys reinforce US economic gloom
Home prices in 20 of the largest US cities recorded a record 15.3 per cent decline in April, it emerged on Tuesday, offering few hopes that the mortgage crisis may be on the road to recovery, meanwhile consumer confidence tumbled to a 16-year low.
How America’s right will be roused into action
The case for Republican pessimism is well understood. Too much President George W. Bush for too long. Gasoline at $4 a gallon. Most Americans believe we are heading in the wrong direction. Iraq drags on. Republicans are listless. Time for something new.
Four airlines fined for cargo price-fixing
Four airlines, including Air France-KLM and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, are to pay fines in the US totalling $504m for their roles in a criminal conspiracy to fix surcharges on air cargo shipments.
Shares hit as fears grow over financial turmoil
Investors’ fears of prolonged financial turmoil deepened on Thursday as blue-chip downgrades sent European and US shares into a tailspin and oil prices jumped above $140 a barrel for the first time.
Is France what Europe needs right now?
No member state would relish taking over the presidency of the European Union at this fraught point in its history. The Irish No has shaken the Union to its foundations, posing the question as to what now to do with the Lisbon treaty.
Gazprom chief sets out world vision
Gazprom set out a vaulting vision of its future status as the world’s most powerful energy company on Thursday as it belittled Opec, saying the oil producers’ cartel had in effect lost control of the market.
Bush’s China policy likely outlive presidency
The Bushes are heading for Beijing. By the busload. Visiting the Chinese capital last week, I was told that President Hu Jintao hopes to greet three generations of America’s first family at the opening ceremony for the Olympics. That must be some kind of record – and a nightmare for the secret service.
UniCredit chief plans his European campaign
Alessandro Profumo, the UniCredit chief executive, on Thursday unveiled the Italian bank’s new three-year business strategy in Vienna – and what better place to do so than a grand Hapsburg palace. After all, the main thrust of his plan is further aggressive expansion in central and eastern Europe where UniCredit envisages opening 1,300 new branches and adding 11,500 employees to its workforce.
Fears of prolonged financial turmoil deepen
Investors’ fears of a prolonged period of financial turmoil deepened on Thursday as a raft of downgrades for blue-chips such as Citigroup and General Motors sent US and European shares into a tailspin.
Angry diehards snub Clinton call for unity
In her concession speech less than three weeks ago, Hillary Clinton urged supporters to transfer their loyalties to her rival: “Today I am standing with Barack Obama to say ‘Yes we can’,” she said. “We will make history together as we write the next chapter in America’s story.”
Antony Gormley is to blame for all this
Bloinggg! Workers assembling the 60m “Aspire” sculpture in Nottingham were following the traditional engineering practice of whacking recalcitrant bolts with a dirty great hammer. Bloinggg! Watching the monument rear upwards earlier this week, spectators were supposed to feel inspired. Bloinggg! I felt only dread.
Fed cannot ignore global inflation
If there were a Central Bank of the World its monetary policy committee would glance at today’s inflation rates and expectations of future inflation and then raise interest rates.
A child will make a new man of you
The life of a self-made man is not always pleasant. Driving hard bargains, dealing with litigation, juggling creditors, making staff redundant, fighting for customers – these are all part of the craft of running your own show.
There is no global mercy for Brown
With so many lows to choose from, it is hard to pick the lowest point of Gordon Brown’s first 12 months since becoming UK prime minister a year ago tomorrow.
Oh no, not again
Silvio Berlusconi has been in power in Italy for almost 50 days. Watching his new government in action is a bit like sitting down to view a bad old movie again.
Volvo to cut 8 per cent of global staff
Volvo Cars said on Wednesday it was cutting about 8 per cent of its global staff in response to soaring raw material costs and weaker sales on the US and European markets.
Fed indicates growing concern on inflation
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday indicated growing concern about inflation relative to growth, but stopped short of saying that it now sees inflation as the dominant risk.
Trichet rejects oil price link to trading
Jean-Claude Trichet, the European Central Bank president, on Wednesday rejected the argument of some European politicians that speculators are behind recent sharp rises in world commodity prices.
Spanish PM called on to explain slowdown
Spain’s economic decline is quickly turning into a political crisis for prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who has been called before the national Congress next week to explain what he plans to do about it.
A year two agenda for Gordon Brown
In one respect at least, Gordon Brown’s premiership has proved a resounding success. As British political theatre it has been the most gripping narrative of recent times. The “how did it all go wrong?” retrospectives – now including a dismal fifth place in this week’s Henley by-election – have illuminated Mr Brown’s first year as prime minister in pitiless detail. The harder question is “can it be put right?”.
My kids are my biggest critics’
Architect Daniel Libeskind, 62, won the 2003 competition to design new buildings for the World Trade Center site in New York City. His notable works include the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, UK, and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany – his first commission, which opened in 1998 and was originally conceived on a piece of kitchen towel. He lives in Tribeca, New York, with his wife, Nina.
Still caring about who wins? That's so 20th-century
Early on the last Sunday of the last World Cup, a strange legion began appearing on the Unter den Linden avenue in Berlin. Hundreds of thousands of young people carrying German flags waited hours in the heat to greet their national football team. Practically in the shadow of the Siegessäule, the victory column that is the classic monument to 19th-century militarism, this was possibly the largest losers' parade in history. Germany had finished only third at the World Cup. Germans didn't care. They have become the world's first football fans to move beyond winning.
The ideology of teen pregnancy
Every year at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts, three or four girls get pregnant. But not this year. This year 17 did. When Time magazine alleged that some of the girls had a “pregnancy pact”, reporters and cameramen from around the world descended on the fishing port.
Bezsilność Europy, zwycięstwo Rosji
Prasa po szczycie UE
Mowa obrończa generała
Kolejna rozprawa w procesie autorów stanu wojennego, w tym Wojciecha Jaruzelskiego, Czesława Kiszczaka i Stanisława Kani.
Wstyd bez końca
Kajakarz Adam Seroczyński jest pierwszym od 20 lat polskim sportowcem podejrzanym o doping na igrzyskach. Dziś będzie znany wynik badania próbki B
Muzułmanie z Indonezji i Filipin protestują przeciwko bombardowaniom
Ponad 10 tys. muzułmanów przeszło ulicami stolicy Indonezji Dżakarty, aby zaprotestować przeciwko izraelskim bombardowaniom Strefy Gazy. Mniej liczne protesty odbyły się na Filipinach.
W Belgii sześć osób oskarżono o związki z Al-Kaidą
Sześć z 14 zatrzymanych i przesłuchanych w czwartek przez belgijską policję osób zostało oskarżonych o przynależność do Al-Kaidy - poinformowała rzeczniczka prokuratury federalnej.
Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz: Idiotyzm urzędniczej władzy
Likwidacja pozwoleń budowlanych zajęła pierwsze miejsce na liście sukcesów, którymi po roku rządzenia chwalił się Donald Tusk. Zastąpienie zezwolenia "uproszczoną procedurą wpisu do rejestru robót budowlanych" (to cytat z owej listy premiera) miało zaowocować zwiększeniem liczby mieszkań i większą dostępnością tego wciąż u nas luksusowego dobra dla młodych.
Rada Europy niezadowolona z przygotowań przedwyborczych w Azerbejdżanie
Parlamentarzyści Rady Europy wyrazili głębokie zaniepokojenie stanem przygotowań do wyborów prezydenckich w Azerbejdżanie rozpisanych na 15 października - drugich od przystąpienia kraju do RE w 2001 roku.
Rozpad koalicji rządzącej w Austrii
Wicekanclerz Austrii Wilhelm Molterer zażądał przedterminowych wyborów, uznając, że współpraca jego Austriackiej Partii Ludowej (OeVP) z Socjaldemokratyczną Partią Austrii (SPOe) kanclerza Alfreda Gusenbauera w rządzie nie jest już możliwa.
Kto będzie odnawiał kamienicę, może liczyć na bezzwrotną pożyczkę
Budowa największego muzeum podziemnego w Europie, centrum kongresowego oraz bogaty program imprez kulturalnych ? prezydent Jacek Majchrowski opowiada, jak władze miasta zamierzają zatrzymać turystów w Krakowie
Zbigniew Nęcki: Stajemy się co raz bardziej mentalnie europejscy
Rozmowa z prof. Zbigniewem Nęckim z Wydziału, Zarządzania i Komunikacji Społecznej UJ
Portal Plusa za darmo dla jego klientów
Plus przedłuża promocję, w ramach której abonenci tej sieci mogą bezpłatnie przeglądać strony portalu mobilnego wap.plus.pl.
Dzieci-żołnierze wciąż walczą w Darfurze
Nawet 6 tys. dzieci-żołnierzy, z których niektóre mają 11 lat, zostało zwerbowanych przez rebeliantów i siły prorządowe w Darfurze, w zachodnim Sudanie - podała ONZ.
Czy jesteś vintage? Konkurs WP
Trexy, jazzy, vintage. Kto z nas nie zastanawiał się co znaczą takie słowa w praktyce? Od wczoraj, każda z pań może przekonać się, czy jest vintage, w konkursie Wirtualnej Polski.
35 osób zginęło w zasadzce koło Bakuby
35 osób - w tym policjanci iraccy i członkowie sunnickich patroli Sahwa, zginęło w zasadzce niedaleko Bakuby w irackiej prowincji Dijala - podały źródła bezpieczeństwa i lekarze.
Kraków: wyrok dla byłego prezesa spółdzielni mieszkaniowej
Na dwa lata pozbawienia wolności w zawieszeniu na pięć lat skazał krakowski sąd byłego prezesa spółdzielni mieszkaniowej Ziemi Krakowskiej Rafała R. za spowodowanie strat w jej majątku.
Czesi pamiętają o Siwcu
Koncert w Czeskiej Filharmonii Narodowej ku czci Polaka, który aktem samospalenia protestował przeciw inwazji na Czechosłowację w 1968 roku
Atak na bazę Kurdów
Co najmniej 10 tureckich odrzutowców zbombardowało pozycje separatystów kurdyjskich w północnym Iraku - poinformowały tureckie siły bezpieczeństwa.
CES: Pierwsze urządzenie USB 3.0 już za kilka dni
Już za kilka dni na targach Consumer Electronics Show poznamy pierwsze rządzenia magazynujące, obsługujące USB 3.0. Będzie to pierwsze praktyczne wykorzystanie nowego standardu.
Legenda niemieckiej piłki żegna się z reprezentacją
39-letni Oliver Kahn (Bayern Monachium) pożegnał się z piłkarską reprezentacją Niemiec. Wczoraj zagrał ostatni raz w kadrze. Na stadionie w Monachium zespół narodowy zremisował z Bayernem 1:1.
Prezydent żegna się z Bagdadem
Niezapowiedziana wizyta Busha. Amerykańska misja dobiega końca ? oświadczył sekretarz obrony USA Robert Gates w Iraku. Tuż po nim do Bagdadu przybył prezydent USA