Berlin - With the global economy in the grip of severe slowdown, a leading German banker warned Tuesday that parts of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) could face a major shakeout in their economies and banking systems.
"The economic crisis threatens to broaden out and engulf nations such as Ukraine," Juergen Fitschen, who called on the European Union (EU) and other key international groups to step up efforts to help shield more economically fragile parts of the CEE from the financial firestorm currently sweeping the world economy.
Podgorica - The Montenegrin parliament dissolved itself late Monday, paving the way for early elections, expected to be scheduled for March 29.
Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's ruling coalition pushed the dissolution of the assembly through, saying it wanted to win a new four-year term for reforms, taking Montenegro closer to the European Union.
The opposition criticized the move, accusing the authorities of panicking amid the growing pressure of the global financial crisis.
Amsterdam - Small museums enjoy cult status in the Netherlands exhibiting items as varied as tulips, handbags, trees and dredges.
The latter in the town of Sliedrecht, near Rotterdam, is the National Museum of Dredging (Nationaal Baggermuseum).
"And here we have our Rembrandt," said curator Hans Wijn as he pointed to a glass display case with a model of the dredge Pharaon. Used for many years in the Suez Canal, it was sunk during the Suez Crisis in 1956.
London, January 25 : British youths feel most estranged as compared to their European counterparts, reveals a new study.
According to the European happiness league table, Brits between 16- to 24-year-old age bracket had least levels of belonging and trust, and lacked behind those elsewhere in Europe who comparatively had more sense of meaning and community spirit.
The survey, created for the first time by the New Economics Foundation, further found young people in the UK were also less likely to share a close bond with their neighbours.
Kiev- Siphoning of Russian gas moving to Europe by Ukraine was not taking place, a European Union official said Tuesday.
"We do not have any information that Ukraine performed unsanctioned siphoning of (Russian natural gas earmarked for Europe) after December 31," said Andris Piebalgs, the European Union's Energy Commissioner, at a Kiev press conference.
Piebalgs' remarks came on the first day of a resumption of Russian natural gas shipments to Ukraine, cut off at the end of 2008 over a series of Russo-Ukrainian disputes, among them Russian allegations that Ukraine had stolen Russian gas in the past.
Seoul - EU and South Korean negotiators began two days of talks Monday to tackle issues that are holding up a free trade agreement, including industrial tariffs and trade barriers in the automotive industry.
"We are close to a gate that leads to a new era," South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong Hoon, who is leading the talks along with EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, was quoted as saying by the South Korean news agency Yonhap ahead of the meetings in Seoul.
Berlin - With the global economy in the grip of severe slowdown, a leading German banker warned Tuesday that parts of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) could face a major shakeout in their economies and banking systems.
Podgorica - The Montenegrin parliament dissolved itself late Monday, paving the way for early elections, expected to be scheduled for March 29.
Amsterdam - Small museums enjoy cult status in the Netherlands exhibiting items as varied as tulips, handbags, trees and dredges.
London, January 25 : British youths feel most estranged as compared to their European counterparts, reveals a new study.
Kiev- Siphoning of Russian gas moving to Europe by Ukraine was not taking place, a European Union official said Tuesday.
Seoul - EU and South Korean negotiators began two days of talks Monday to tackle issues that are holding up a free trade agreement, including industrial tariffs and trade barriers in the automotive industry.
