Europe
Spanish Prime Minister rejects bailout conditions
Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, speaking in his first television interview since taking office, has said he will not accept outside conditions over a possible bailout. He also said no decision to request a bailout had been taken. “I am absolutely convinced that everyone will be reasonable but I insist that we haven’t taken a decision,” Mr Rajoy told Spanish state television. “I will look at the conditions. I would not like, and I could not accept, being told which were the concrete policies where we had to cut”. The comments follow the announcement last week of a new plan by the European Central Bank (ECB) to buy bonds from indebted countries under certain conditions. The Spanish government’s implied borrowing costs fell sharply after the announcement.
German court may delay verdict on euro rescue fund
German judges are considering whether to delay their verdict on the EU’s €500bn rescue fund after a conservative MP filed a complaint. The Constitutional Court was due to rule tomorrow on whether the terms of the bailout package breached the German constitution, but MP Peter Gauweiler said the ECB’s new bond-buying plan was illegal and the bank was overstepping its authority with the scheme. The court is expected to announce today whether it will uphold Mr Gauweiler’s challenge, in which case its approval of the bailout package would be delayed. With Germany contributing 27% to the EU rescue fund, its approval is critical – the judges’ verdict on the fund has been keenly awaited since the middle of the summer.
North America
Teachers strike in Chicago schools
Teachers in Chicago have gone on strike for the first time in 25 years, prompting a showdown with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over a contract dispute. As many as 26,000 teachers were expected to refuse to work and form picket lines around the city, affecting around 350,000 students in the nation’s third-largest district. The strike was called after all-day talks collapsed on Sunday, following months of negotiations. The mayor said: “this is not a strike I wanted… it’s unnecessary, it’s avoidable and it’s wrong.” School officials said they had doubled the pay rise offered, for a total of 16% over four years. “This is about as much as we can do,” said Chicago school board chief David Vitale. “There is only so much money in the system.” Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said a pay agreement had nearly been reached, but the key divisions were on healthcare insurance, job security and teacher evaluations.
Latin America
Teenagers murdered by drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro
Brazilian police are looking for the killers of six teenagers who were murdered in Rio de Janeiro after bathing in a local waterfall. The bodies, which showed signs of torture, were found on a road that is being widened for the 2016 Olympics. The police believe the six young men were killed by drug lords from the nearby Chatuba district, with officer Sandra Ornelas speculating: “the drug gangs probably wanted to make a show of force to the authorities”. The authority of Rio’s drug gangs has been challenged in recent months, with the police and the army pushing them out of the favelas in which they traditionally operate as part of a “pacification programme” ahead of the 2014 football World Cup and the Olympics. City and state authorities claim the programme has reduced violence and restored the dignity of thousands of people who live in these slum districts, but in many cases the displacement of the drug lords has intensified violence in the outskirts.
Africa and Middle East
Three dead in attack on Bagram airbase
Three Afghans have been killed in an attack on the Bagram airbase, one of the largest US military bases in Afghanistan, officials have confirmed. A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed that five missiles were fired into the US base last night, causing a fire which destroyed a Chinook helicopter and wounding a number of ISAF personnel. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes a day after the US military handed the nearby Bagram prison to the Afghan authorities. The prison houses more than 3,000 Taliban fighters and terrorist suspects and has been accused of a number of prisoner abuse incidents.
Asia and Russia
China dispatches patrol ships to disputed East China Sea islands
Chinese state media reports that two patrol ships are approaching islands in the East China Sea “to assert the country’s sovereignty” in an ongoing ownership dispute with Japan, which has just sealed a deal to purchase them. Japan confirmed last week that it had signed a contract to purchase three of the islands – known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – from their private owner. Japan presently controls the uninhabited but resource-rich islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimara has said of the transaction: “this should cause no problem for Japan’s ties with other countries… we have absolutely no desire for any repercussions as far as Japan-China relations are concerned.” However, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated China’s position yesterday: “the Diaoyu islands are an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Chinese government and its people will absolutely make no concession on issues concerning its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
About the Author
