United States shares closed lower on Tuesday as global stock markets stalled on niggling worries over European debt problems. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index closed down 0.34% following a turbulent day's trading, and a nearly 4% rise on Monday.
European countries saddled with debt should focus on cutting deficits in the wake of policy makers' unprecedented efforts to contain the region's sovereign-debt crisis, said John Lipsky from the International Monetary Fund.
More immigrants from non-European Union countries are returning to their native lands this year with help from the Spanish government, a situation similar to 2009, when the number of immigrants forced to pack up and go doubled because of the economic crisis.
Spain’s economy emerged from an almost two-year recession in the first quarter, trailing the Euro area by six months. GDP expanded 0.1% in the first three months of 2010, the Madrid-based Bank of Spain estimated in its monthly report today.
Honduran president Porfirio Lobo will not attend the LAC-EU summit in Spain later this month, after South American leaders who do not recognize him as his country's legitimate leader threatened to pull out. However, he will attend the EU/Central America meeting, which will be held a day later.
A default by Greece on its debt obligations is not and has never been an option, a spokeswoman for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday. A Greek “default is not on the table, has not been on the table” insisted IMF director of external relations Caroline Atkinson.
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet faced down pressure for new moves to shore up the weakest Eurozone countries, but kept options open even as he said Spain and Portugal were “not Greece”.
Only days after several UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) representatives said they would not attend the Sixth Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit if Honduran President Porfirio Lobo was invited, the Spanish Government has decided to exclude him from the meeting, according to sources in the Brazilian Government.
The Spanish government and opposition made on Wednesday an attempt to join forces against the country's economic crisis amid international concern that Spain could be heading for a Greek-style meltdown.
Spain's fishing fleet, Europe's largest, is using massive European Union (EU) subsidies to “plunder” the oceans of the world, environmental group Greenpeace charged this week.