Labour makes no sense on Europe - PM

12 March 2014
Last updated at 17:44

David Cameron: “Under Labour there won’t be a referendum”

David Cameron has accused Labour of making “no sense whatsoever” on Europe, after leader Ed Miliband said it was “unlikely” his party would hold a referendum on staying in the EU.

Mr Cameron said only the Conservatives, who have promised an in/out referendum by the end of 2017, were being “clear”.

But Mr Miliband accused the Tories of having an “obsession” with Europe.

The argument between the two leaders comes as they prepare for the European Parliament elections in May.

The recent rise in the opinion polls of the UK Independence Party – which wants the UK to withdraw from the EU – has increased the focus on the issue.

Mr Cameron, some of whose backbench MPs also want to quit the 28-nation group, has promised the in/out referendum if his party wins a majority at the 2015 general election.

‘Policy by committee’

This should take place after a full renegotiation of powers with Brussels, he argues.

Earlier Mr Miliband said there was an “overwhelming economic case” for EU membership.

Ed Miliband: “The Conservative government offers… an all-consuming and damaging obsession with whether we should leave the EU”

He promised to introduce a “lock”, so if the UK was asked to transfer powers to the EU, there would be an in/out referendum.

But he added: “I believe it is unlikely this lock will be used in the next parliament.”

He also criticised the prime minister for creating an “arbitrary timetable”, ensuring a “Conservative government would be dominated by an all-consuming and damaging obsession within his party about whether Britain should leave the EU”.

But Mr Cameron, who is visiting Israel, attacked his rival’s position.

“It is not a proposal for an in/out referendum,” the prime minister said.

“It is a policy clearly designed by a committee who obviously couldn’t agree what to do and have come up with a policy that makes no sense whatsoever.”

‘Westminster elite’

He added: “The British people now have a very, very clear choice. At the next election they can elect a Conservative government that will renegotiate Britain’s position in Europe and give people a guaranteed in-out referendum by the end of 2017.

“If they get a Labour government, they will get no referendum, no choice, no reform, nothing. It couldn’t be clearer.”

The coalition has already enshrined in law a “referendum lock”, promising a vote on whether to transfer further powers to Brussels if the situation arises – but not on whether to leave the EU.

Conservative attempts to legislate for an in/out referendum in 2017 have been thwarted by the Liberal Democrats.

Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed Davey said the Tories had “changed position under pressure from their backbenchers and UKIP”.

Meanwhile UKIP leader Nigel Farage said Mr Miliband had put “himself squarely on the side of the Westminster elite and against the British public”.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | RFID | Amazon Affiliate
BBC News – Home

Labour makes no sense on Europe - PM

Reid: Get Europe on board before punishing Russia

He says the U.S. must not ‘go off without the European community.’ | Getty

The United States should hold off on punishing Russia until the European community is on board with a specific response to the growing crisis in Ukraine, the Senate’s top Democrat said Monday.

In an interview, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Congress should let the situation play out for “a while” before trying to impose any new sanctions on Russia, which is dispatching military forces into Crimea — forcing the West to scramble for a response.

Continue Reading

“The most important thing is for us – the United States – to make sure that we don’t go off without the European community,” Reid said Monday in the Capitol. “We have to work with them. Their interests are really paramount if we are going to do sanctions of some kind. We have to have them on board with us.”

(Also on POLITICO: Why Russia no longer fears the West)

The comments are Reid’s first since the crisis in Ukraine deepened over the weekend. Congressional leaders from both parties have condemned Russia’s actions in recent days but have said little about how they might proceed.

Reid said he’s spoken to White House chief of staff Denis McDonough “a couple times” about the situation and was scheduled to get a classified briefing from CIA Director John Brennan on Monday. McDonough also has spoken with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

If the U.S. ultimately takes action, Reid suggested the government could move to clamp down on the banking sector to hurt Russia, which he accidentally referred to as the Soviet Union.

(PHOTOS: Ukraine turmoil)

“We can pretty much control banking, which is so important to the Soviet Un – to the Russians,” Reid said with a grin. “How soon we forget, huh?”

“The main thing is the European community,” Reid said. “They need to be part of what we do.”

One reason to wait before pushing penalties on Russia: Gridlock that has brought most legislative activity to a halt in Congress.

“We couldn’t do congressional action if we wanted, we can’t get in the damn building,” Reid said. “I think we should just play this out for a while.”

(Also on POLITICO: Obama’s options on Ukraine)

The Nevada Democrat’s assessment comes as urgent talks take place in New York, where the United Nations Security Council plans to meet Monday, and in Brussels, where European Union leaders were engaged in emergency meetings over the escalating situation in Eastern Ukraine. The leaders of the 28-member European bloc plan to meet Thursday in Ukraine, just as Secretary of John Kerry travels to Kiev on Tuesday and as Vladimir Putin says he’s moving to protect Russians in the unstable country.

Making the rounds on the Sunday talk shows, Kerry raised the specter of potential punitive actions against Russia, insisting that the United States was united in its response.

“There could even be ultimately asset freezes, visa bans,” Kerry said Sunday on NBC. “There could be certainly a disruption of any of the normal trade routine, and there could be business drawback on investment in the country. The ruble is already going down and feeling the impact of this.”

(Also on POLITICO: Kerry to travel to Ukraine)

But there’s concern that imposing sanctions on Russia will have negative consequences on U.S. allies. Russia supplies massive amounts of natural gas to European countries and might decide to cut those ties in response to sanctions.

It remains to be seen whether Congress will do anything.

Reid’s No. 2, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said on CNN that the Senate should pass a resolution “condemning what Putin has done.” He added that the United States should clearly should state that if Ukraine will “stand up for real reform, then we’re going to back them through” the International Monetary Fund.

(Also on POLITICO: Odds slim for U.S. military action in Ukraine)

Still, a non-binding resolution is more symbolic than anything else, and there’s already pressure from Republicans for Congress to take more substantive action.

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said over the weekend that Congress should “consider targeted sanctions against Russian persons and entities that undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

Added Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “I would fly the NATO flag as strongly as I could around Putin. I would suspend his membership in the G-8, be the G-7. The G-20 would become the G-19 at least for a year. And every day he stays in the Ukraine, I would add to it.”

POLITICO – TOP Stories

Reid: Get Europe on board before punishing Russia

Europe embraces healthy raw dairy by unveiling fresh milk vending machines

At Not Just The News, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Not Just The News and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Not Just The News makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Not Just The News does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Not Just The News.


• Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Not Just The News and other sites on the Internet.


• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Not Just The News send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Not Just The News has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Not Just The News"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

Europe embraces healthy raw dairy by unveiling fresh milk vending machines

Council of Europe Journal (12 - season 2)

Europe bank payouts capped as capital bar keeps rising

Europe bank payouts capped as capital bar keeps rising
http://currenteconomictrendsandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/0e5a8__?m=02&d=20131121&t=2&i=813916563&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE9AK1EZ600.jpg

By Steve Slater

LONDON Thu Nov 21, 2013 1:21pm EST

Christmas decoration is placed around the logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse beside the entrance to its headquarters in Zurich November 21, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann

LONDON (Reuters) – Shareholders’ expectations for bank dividends have declined after lenders ramped up capital levels in the third quarter, spooked by a mega fine against JP Morgan (JPM.N) and spiraling regulatory demands.

Major banks including Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), UBS (UBSN.VX) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) either specifically set aside more for litigation costs or rebuilt capital at one of the fastest rates since the financial crisis in the last quarter, cutting the payout pool for yield-hungry investors.

Banks are keen to lift their dividends after cuts following the financial crisis, but a big jump in payouts may now be delayed until 2015 from a previously-hoped-for 2014.

“Banks have to maintain or strengthen their capital ratios. They want to pay dividends to shareholders and if they have to pay fines, something has to give,” Alain Stangroome, head of group capital planning at HSBC, said at the Thomson Reuters IFR conference on bank capital on Thursday.

The prospect of a record $ 13 billion deal between JP Morgan and U.S. authorities to settle investigations into the sale of mortgage debt encouraged European rivals to set aside more cash to cover misconduct risk. The settlement, the largest levied on a single firm, was confirmed this week.

“The (conduct and litigation cost) numbers have lost the capacity to shock and we’ve seen an arms race in terms of the numbers involved,” said John-Paul Crutchley, analyst at UBS.

As well as larger fines for misconduct, regulators in Switzerland, Britain, Sweden and elsewhere are ratcheting up capital requirements to avert a replay of the financial crisis.

The regulatory squeeze saw banks get their balance sheets into better shape in the July-September period and that trend is expected to continue in the fourth quarter.

Europe’s banks raised their core Tier 1 capital ratios, the central measure of a bank’s financial strength, by 36 basis points (bps) on average in the third quarter, lifting their increase in the past year to 105 bps, said analysts at Barclays.

Credit Suisse’s core capital jumped by 100 basis bps in the latest quarter, while rival UBS increased its ratio by 70 bps and there were increases of 60 bps at HSBC (HSBA.L) and 46 bps at Spain’s Santander (SAN.MC).

Nordic banks, already better capitalized than most European rivals, extended that gap as core capital ratios at SEB (SEBa.ST) and Handelsbanken (SHBa.ST) rose by 100 bps or more.

The way banks report can vary but capital levels have broadly doubled since the 2007/08 crisis, helped by emergency cashcalls and cuts to dividends.

“NEW GOLD STANDARD”

Some regulators have signaled they may move further to “gold-plate” national capital standards, meaning that investors will generally expect banks to hold common equity of 12 percent of their risk-weighted assets, compared to 7 percent under incoming global rules, and a total capital ratio of 20 percent.

“Twelve and 20 … that seems to be becoming the new gold standard,” said Simon McGeary, MD of new products at Citi.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) bumped up its target for core capital to 12 percent from 10 percent earlier this month.

Switzerland’s finance minister said banks there could need a leverage ratio of 6-10 percent, more than double the global standard, and UBS was hit with a temporary top-up of capital it holds for potential legal and compliance costs.

Britain is finalizing plans that look set to ramp up capital demands, Stockholm is also increasing pressure on its banks and an upcoming review of the quality of assets across euro zone banks are further reasons for a conservative approach.

“The unpredictability quotient on regulation has risen… which makes it difficult for banks to have as much confidence as they’d like that they won’t fall foul of regulatory change at a later date,” said Mike Harrison, analyst at Barclays.

Many banks are still expected to raise their dividends – including HSBC, BNP Paribas, UBS and Nordea (NDA.ST) – but investors may need to wait until 2015 for big increases.

Analysts at Credit Suisse have forecast UBS’s dividend yield will rise to 3.8 percent in 2015 from 1.2 percent in 2013.

Yields at Nordea should nudge to 7.7 percent in 2015 from 6.1 percent this year, HSBC’s should rise to 6.8 percent from 5.5 percent and SocGen to 5.9 percent from 2.1 percent over the same period, according to the Credit Suisse forecast.

U.S. rivals have also been keen on raising dividends and buying back more stock, but their distribution plans have been under strict scrutiny from the Federal Reserve. The regulator can approve or reject plans and a handful – including Citi (C.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) – have had plans rejected.

For Spain’s banks, the balance sheet scrutiny and the prospect of stricter definitions of capital adds to the need for them to cut payouts, analysts said.

Payouts to Spanish retail shareholders, who are also typically customers, is important to many banks, but Santander – which paid out more than 200 percent of its profits in dividend last year – is expected to follow BBVA, which has cut this year’s dividend and capped next year’s payouts.

(Additional reporting by Sarah White in Madrid and Lauren Tara LaCapra. Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Gareth Jones)

• Link this


• Share this


• Digg this


• Email


• Print


• Reprints

Reuters: Business News

Read more about Europe bank payouts capped as capital bar keeps rising and other interesting subjects concerning Business at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Deutsche Telekom buys GTS Central Europe for 546 million euros

Deutsche Telekom buys GTS Central Europe for 546 million euros
http://currenteconomictrendsandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/4cfee__p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

The logo of Deutsche Telekom is pictured on the 266 metre high ”Colonia” TV tower in the western German city of Cologne March 25, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay

Reuters: Business News

Read more about Deutsche Telekom buys GTS Central Europe for 546 million euros and other interesting subjects concerning Business at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Syria"s Polio Threatens Europe, Warn Doctors

(Newser) – Polio might just be looking at a comeback tour, thanks to the Syrian civil war. There’s a significant risk that the now-rare disease could spread from Syria to Europe, as refugees seek asylum there, a group of German scientists warned in The Lancet today. The danger is that many people may not know they’re carrying the disease; only about 1 in 200 people infected develop symptoms. The vaccine commonly known in Europe exacerbates this, because it’s good at preventing symptoms but only partially effective at preventing infection.

It could take almost a year of “silent transmission” before the outbreak is detected, “although hundreds of individuals would carry the infection,” they warn. Simply vaccinating Syrian refugees is “insufficient,” they argue, pressing for a broader approach that might include testing sewage near Syrian refugee settlements, Reuters reports. But the news isn’t all disease and death in Syria; inspectors yesterday reported that they have thus far destroyed all but one of the 23 chemical weapons sites the Assad regime pointed them toward, the New York Times reports.

Green from Newser

Syria"s Polio Threatens Europe, Warn Doctors

All-Time High Unemployment: The Economic Depression In Europe Just Keeps Getting Deeper

Michael Snyder
Economic Collapse
November 1, 2013

The unemployment rate in the eurozone is higher than it has ever been before.  This week we learned that eurozone unemployment came in at an all-time high of 12.2 percent for September.  Back in January 2012, it was sitting at just 10.4 percent.  So anyone that believes that “things are getting better” in Europe is just being delusional.  In fact, the economic depression in Europe just keeps getting deeper.  The funny thing is that the mainstream media will barely call what is going on in Europe a “recession” even though the unemployment rates in both Spain and Greece are now much higher than anything that the United States ever experienced during the “Great Depression” of the 1930s.  There haven’t been as many headlines about the financial crisis in Europe lately because the ECB has been papering over the debt problems of the periphery (at least for the moment), but the economic conditions on the ground for average Europeans just continue to get even worse.  Later on in this article, you will read about a 25-year-old Spanish man with three college degrees that moved to London in a desperate search for a job who is now cleaning up poop for a living.  The economic collapse of Europe continues to march on, and there is no end in sight.

All you have to do is look at the latest unemployment numbers to realize that things are getting worse in Europe.

In Italy, the unemployment rate is up to 12.5 percent.

In January 2012, less than two years ago, it was sitting at just 8.9 percent.

In Greece, the unemployment rate is up to an astounding 27.6 percent.

In January 2012, it was sitting at just 21.4 percent.

In Spain, the unemployment rate is up to 26.6 percent.

In January 2012, it was sitting at just 22.8 percent, and all the way back in January 2008 it was just 8.6 percent.

The youth unemployment statistics in the eurozone are even more horrifying…

Unemployment among the under-25s rose by 22,000 in September to 3,548,000 – nudging up youth jobless rate to 24.1%. In France, the youth jobless rate jumped from 25.6% to 26.1%, while in Italy it increased from 40.2% to 40.4%.

But as bad as those numbers are, they are nothing compared to what is going on in Spain and Greece.  In Spain, the youth unemployment rate is up to 56.5 percent, and in Greece the youth unemployment rate is up to 57.3 percent.

And of course unemployment is not the only problem that the European economy is dealing with right now.  The following are some more facts about the European economy that show that the economic depression in Europe just keeps getting deeper…

-European car sales are on pace to hit a 23 year low in 2013.

-The percentage of “bad loans” in Spain has soared to a new all-time record high.

-The number of mortgage applications in Spain has fallen 90 percentsince the peak of the market.

-Citigroup is projecting that the unemployment rate in Greece will reach32 percent in 2015.

-Over the last several years, Italy has experienced the biggest collapse in GDP growth that it has ever seen.  Overall, the GDP of Italy has contracted by about 8 percent since 2008.

-The number of unemployed workers in Cyprus is now five times higher than it was before the financial crisis of 2008.

-It is being projected that Spain’s debt to GDP ratio will rise to nearly 100 percent by the end of next year.

-The debt to GDP ratio of Portugal is already up to 123 percent.

-The debt to GDP ratio of Italy is already up to 127 percent.

-Even though Greece has implemented a whole host of “austerity measures”, the debt to GDP ratio of Greece is now up to 156 percent.

But what these numbers cannot really communicate is the tremendous amount of pain and despair that millions upon millions of Europeans are experiencing right now.

For example, consider the story of Benjamin Serra Bosch, a 25-year-old Spanish man that moved to London in a desperate search for a job.  He has three college degrees, including a Master’s Degree from the IEBS Business School in Barcelona.  The following is a rough translation of a message that he recently posted on Facebook…

My name is Benjamín Serra, I have two bachelor degrees and a master’s degree, and I clean toilets.

No, it is not a joke. I do it to pay the rent for my room in London.

I’ve been working in a famous chain of cafes in the United Kingdom since May, and for the first time today, after 5 months working there, I see it clearly. I have been cleaning toilets. My thought was: “I received distinction in my two degrees and I clean other peoples’ poop in a country that isn’t my own.” Well, I also make coffee, clean the tables and wash cups.

And I am not ashamed to do so. Cleaning is a very decent job. What embarrasses me is having to do so because no one has given me an opportunity in Spain. Like me, there are many Spaniards, especially in London. “You are a plague,” I was told once here. And let’s not kid ourselves. We are not young people on an adventure to learn the language and have new experiences. We are immigrants.

I’ve always been very proud, I am not going to deny. Those who know me, you know. And I have to bust out a smile at customers who look over my shoulder as I am simply a “barista” (as they call it here). Some are so outrageous that it makes me want to pull out my University and master degrees and put them in their face. But it would not really do anything.  It appears that those titles now only serve to clean the poop that I clean from the toilets in the cafe. A pity.

I thought that it deserved something better after putting so much effort in my academic life. It seems that I was wrong.

As economic conditions continue to decline all over Europe, anger and frustration with the “European experiment” continue to grow.  UKIP’s Nigel Farage expressed these sentiments very eloquently during a speech on the 23rd of October when he stated that “what we are saying, large numbers of us from every single EU member state is: we don’t want that flag, we don’t want the anthem that you all stood so ram-rod straight for yesterday, we don’t want EU passports, we don’t want political union.”

Unfortunately, the elite of Europe are so obsessed with their little experiment that the only “solutions” to these economic problems that they are even willing to consider involve even more European integration.

And Americans certainly should not be looking down their noses at what is happening in Europe.

What is going on in Italy, France, Spain and Greece will be coming here soon enough.  In fact, even during the midst of this so-called “economic recovery”, poverty continues to absolutely explode in the United States.

Economic conditions in both the United States and Europe have never even gotten close to where they were prior to 2008, and now the next major wave of the economic collapse is rapidly approaching.

This is just the beginning.  Things are going to get much worse in the years ahead.

This article was posted: Friday, November 1, 2013 at 5:59 am

Tags: economics, financial, money

---

---

  Print this page.

---

---

Infowars

All-Time High Unemployment: The Economic Depression In Europe Just Keeps Getting Deeper

St Jude storm hits Russia after devastating parts of Europe

At Alternate Viewpoint, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Alternate Viewpoint and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Alternate Viewpoint makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Alternate Viewpoint does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Alternate Viewpoint.


• Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Alternate Viewpoint and other sites on the Internet.


• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Alternate Viewpoint send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Alternate Viewpoint has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Alternate Viewpoint"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

St Jude storm hits Russia after devastating parts of Europe

‘Worst in years’: St Jude storm wreaks havoc across N. Europe, at least 4 dead

Published time: October 28, 2013 15:47

Waves crash against a lighthouse during storms that battered Britain and where a 14-year-old boy was swept away to sea at Newhaven in South East England October 28, 2013. (Reuters/Luke MacGregor)

At least four have been killed as violent storms have battered the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and parts of northern France, cutting off power and felling trees and scaffolding.

The storm swept southern England, killing a 17-year-old girl when a tree smashed through the trailer home she was staying in. A 50-year-old was also killed in his car when it was crushed by a falling tree in Watford, north of London, and in Amsterdam, a woman was killed when a tree collapsed on top of her in the city.

A woman in her 50s was swept out to sea off France’s northern coast after being carried away by a wave. Emergency services are mounting a rescue operation. 

A teenage boy is also missing and believed to be drowned after being swept out to sea while playing in the surf in Newhaven on England’s south coast Sunday. A search was initially begun for the 14-year-old, but the rough sea conditions forced his potential rescuers to suspend their mission. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the operation had now become one of search and recovery.

Flood alerts have been issued nationwide, with 132 warnings in place across England and Wales.  Up to 270,000 homes across the UK were left without power in the wake of the storm, while in northwest France some 75,000 homes were left without power or electricity.

The port of Dover in southeast England was closed, two cross-channel passenger ferry services suspended mid-crossing, and the Eurostar high-speed rail service, which goes under the Channel, was out of action until 7:00 am GMT Monday. Waves as high as 25 feet lashed England’s southern coastline as the storm began.

Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest air transportation hub, was forced to cancel some 130 flights on account of hurricane-force winds, which reached speeds of up to 99 mile per hour (159 kilometers/hour) on England’s south coast.

The possibility of further falling trees and debris has thrown public transportation into chaos with people fearing dangerous driving conditions. A double decker bus keeled over in Suffolk, on England’s east coast, a crane collapsed on the roof of Downing Street’s Cabinet Office and rail services faced delays and cancelations. Meteorologists described St. Jude as the worst storm to have struck the UK in years.

UK Meteorological Office spokesman Dan Williams told Reuters that the last storm on a similar scale, considering both time of year and regions struck, was in October 2002.

“The thing that’s unusual about this one is that most of our storms develop out over the Atlantic, so that they’ve done all their strengthening and deepening by the time they reach us,” Helen Chivers, another spokesperson for the Met Office, told Reuters. “This one is developing as it crosses the UK, which is why it brings the potential for significant disruption … and that doesn’t happen very often.”

The storm has also prompted the closure of two nuclear power reactors at Dungeness, on England’s southeast coast. Its operator, EDF Energy, stated that “the shutdown was weather-related. The plant reacted as it should and shut down safely.”

It added that unit availability was expected to stand at zero for the next seven days. The reactors were shut after power to the site was cut off.

In the Netherlands, a ‘red’ alert was announced by meteorologists for the regions of South Holland, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Flevoland, Friesland and Groningen, with wind speeds of 140 kilometers reported.  The red alert only happened once last year, and not at all in 2011. All traffic to Amsterdam was shut down, and fifty flights to the city’s Schiphol airport were cancelled. Winds were expected to near the 130 kph mark in the afternoon.

The Swedish Meteorological Institute has also been forced to warn that a potential Class 3 storm could be a “great danger to the public.”  St Jude is expected to strike western and southern Sweden in the evening.

“One should preferably stay indoors,” Lisa Frost, a meteorologist with Sweden’s Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, told the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet.

RT – News

‘Worst in years’: St Jude storm wreaks havoc across N. Europe, at least 4 dead

Empire - The Debate - A German Europe? The Union disunited

Empire - The Debate - A German Europe? The Union disunited
http://thedailynewsreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/db8e0__Al_Jazeera_English__default.jpg

Read more about Empire - The Debate - A German Europe? The Union disunited and other interesting subjects concerning World News Videos at TheDailyNewsReport.com

U.S. Spying Update: Europe Fumes And Protesters Rally In D.C.

U.S. Spying Update: Europe Fumes And Protesters Rally In D.C.
http://isbigbrotherwatchingyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/35a01__eagle_wide-a3ba45b689a29754eaa7b863c4b2376a49740f8f-s6-c30.jpg

Enlarge image i

News of U.S. surveillance in Europe has met with distrust and anger; officials are heading to Washington to discuss matters next week. Here, members of an artists’ group paint a mural called ‘Surveillance of the Fittest’ on a wall in Cologne, Germany, Thursday.

Frank Augstein/AP

News of U.S. surveillance in Europe has met with distrust and anger; officials are heading to Washington to discuss matters next week. Here, members of an artists’ group paint a mural called ‘Surveillance of the Fittest’ on a wall in Cologne, Germany, Thursday.

Frank Augstein/AP

Anger, distrust and possible punishments are the defining themes of Europe’s reaction to news that a U.S. spy agency monitored the phone calls of millions of European citizens and some world leaders. The details are the latest to emerge from leaks attributed to former National Security Agency contract worker Edward Snowden.

Members of the European Parliament will be in Washington Monday to discuss recent reports by The Guardian that the NSA used U.S. officials’ Rolodexes to create lists of phone numbers to monitor. Intelligence officials will make a separate visit from Germany, whose Chancellor Angela Merkel was reportedly targeted for surveillance.

From Brussels, Teri Schultz reports for our Newscast unit:

“After months of muted EU reaction to reports the NSA was surveilling millions of private Europeans, the alleged tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s personal phone seems to have been the last straw.

“A delegation of European parliamentarians will take up the issue with the U.S. government Monday. German and French intelligence officials will be going there soon and may scale back security cooperation.

“The European Parliament has already passed a non-binding resolution to suspend a bank data-sharing agreement with the U.S. and passed a package of laws that would strengthen data and privacy protections in the EU. But many members of Parliament say that’s not enough, and are calling for talks on an EU-US free trade area to be frozen until Europe gets answers.”

In Washington, the ACLU and other rights groups are holding a rally Saturday titled Stop Watching Us — video of which is being live-streamed. In the rally that coincides with the 16th anniversary of the signing of the Patriot Act, protesters are gathering to deliver a petition to Congress that organizers say was signed by more than 580,000 people, calling for transparency and accountability in U.S. surveillance. Its supporters also include Edward Snowden.

Here’s a roundup of reactions and fallout from the news:

“We need something clear-cut that is also in line with the spirit of an alliance,” Merkel said of the need to create “a framework for further cooperation” between the U.S. and its European allies, according to The Washington Post.

“There has been damage here,” former U.S. assistant secretary of state for public affairs P.J. Crowley tells NPR’s Scott Simon on Weekend Edition. “Obviously, deep disappointment and skepticism about U.S. actions and U.S. intentions — not unlike what we experienced 10 years ago, with Iraq.”

“The magnitude of the eavesdropping is what shocked us,” former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a radio interview, according to the AP. “Let’s be honest, we eavesdrop too. Everyone is listening to everyone else. But we don’t have the same means as the United States, which makes us jealous.”

Although the U.S. collects “the same sort of intelligence as all nations, our intelligence community has more restrictions and oversight than in any other country in history,” says the Obama administration’s Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, in USA Today.

News

Read more about U.S. Spying Update: Europe Fumes And Protesters Rally In D.C. and other interesting subjects concerning NSA at TheDailyNewsReport.com

VIDEO: Report: Portugal Reopens Madeleine McCann Case

Portugal’s public broadcaster says prosecutors are reopening the police investigation into the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann, after a review of evidence found new leads in the case. Radiotelevisao Portuguesa said Thursday the public prosecutor decided to reopen the case after “new indications” emerged, though it gave no details. The case was closed in 2008 because authorities had detected no crime. Madeleine McCann vanished during a family vacation in southern Portugal’s Algarve region in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday.

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: Report: Portugal Reopens Madeleine McCann Case

VIDEO: Draghi: ECB Ready To Act If Market Rates Rise Too High

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the central bank is looking carefully at money market interest rates and is ready to act if they rise too high.

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: Draghi: ECB Ready To Act If Market Rates Rise Too High

VIDEO: James Arthur on Life After the "X Factor"

James Arthur, the winner of last year’s ‘X Factor’ UK, talks about his new single ‘You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You,’ and reveals why he still loves Simon Cowell’s talent show. (Oct.11)

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: James Arthur on Life After the "X Factor"

VIDEO: Lewis and Winstone Show Support for BFI

Damian Lewis, Ray Winstone, Julian Fellowes and Tom Hooper attend a charity gala in London, in support of the British Film Institute. (Oct. 9)

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: Lewis and Winstone Show Support for BFI

VIDEO: ShowBiz Minute: Kidman, Prince Harry, William

Cage and Kidman honored; Prince Harry in Dubai; Prince William attends a soccer match at the Palace (Oct. 8)

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: ShowBiz Minute: Kidman, Prince Harry, William

VIDEO: ShowBiz Minute: Kidman, Prince Harry, William

Cage and Kidman honored; Prince Harry in Dubai; Prince William attends a soccer match at the Palace (Oct. 8)

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: ShowBiz Minute: Kidman, Prince Harry, William

VIDEO: iPhone Launch Mania Begins, and More

What’s News: The iPhone 5C and 5S hit stores in Asia and London. Thirteen injured in a late-night shooting on Chicago’s southwest side. China tightens its grip on social media controls, and cereal makers struggle as Americans go for low-carb breakfasts. Sara Murray reports. Photo: Getty Images

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: iPhone Launch Mania Begins, and More

VIDEO: Imprisoned by the Stasi, back to tell his story

Before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, East Germany jailed thousands for crimes against the state, including distributing banned books. We introduce you to one former prisoner and how he exacted some small revenge years later.

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

VIDEO: Imprisoned by the Stasi, back to tell his story