Europe Intelligence Wire articles from October 2011

Europe Intelligence Wire archives from October 2011

Radicova will not run for election in March.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) SLOVAKIA'S first woman prime minister, whose government collapsed after losing a confidence vote over Slovakia's approval of changes to the eurozone bailout scheme, will not seek re-election in the next general...

Arbitration court closes dividend case.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) SLOVAKIA can now spend the E1 billion that it might have had to pay to a shareholder in two of Slovakia's private health insurers after the European Court of Arbitration in Strasbourg issued a final ruling about...

MPs amend constitution to plug gap.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE CRISIS that erupted after parliament failed to express its confidence in the government of Iveta Radicova in a vote on October 11 not only revealed deep disagreement within the governing coalition over core...

PM negotiates on Greek debt.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) "SUCCESSFUL" is the word Slovakia's Finance Minister Ivan Miklos used to assess the initial outcomes of a summit by eurozone leaders to find an effective band aid for Greece's bleeding debt as well as the right...

Slovak fighters intercept airliner.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) DEFENCE Minister Alubomir Galko rejected claims that two Slovak Armed Forces MiG-29 jet fighters which approached a Qatar Airways Boeing 747 on Saturday, October 22, came too close or endangered the lives of those...

Novotny released from custody.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) ANOTHER person accused of corruption in relation to the construction of a biathlon stadium in Osrblie, Banska Bystrica Region, has been released from custody. Martin Novotny was freed after the Supreme Court...

Former Smer MP charged by police.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) A FORMER MP for the Smer party, Jan Kvorka, and two other people have been charged with attempted assault and limiting personal freedom, the SITA newswire reported. Kvorka could face up to three years in prison if...

Labas questioned over Malinova report.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE CASE of Hedviga Malinova, which has become one of the lengthiest handled by the General Prosecutor's Office, recently witnessed limited progress: the prosecutor and lawyers finally got to hear from the author...

CRISIS: President gets extra powers.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) Continued from pg 1 In line with the agreement, MPs of all the former coalition parties and the opposition party Smer voted in favour of the amendment. President Gasparovic and Speaker of Parliament Pavol...

RTVS concession fees to be scrapped in 2013.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE MONTHLY fee of just under E5 that nearly every Slovak household and business pays to support Slovakia's public-service TV and radio stations is set to be abolished in one year's time. At the same time, other...

Health minister will tour hospitals.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) HOSPITALS might be forced to postpone planned surgeries, merge wards and even layoff nurses if the doctors who are protesting against the Health Ministry's plan to transform their hospitals into joint-stock...

Constitutional Court rules on Tipos.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) TIPOS, the state-owned lottery company, will not have to pay E66 million to a Cypriot company, Lemikon. Slovakia's Constitutional Court recently ruled that a decision handed down by the Supreme Court at the end of...

Jobless rate reaches six-year high.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE NUMBER of unemployed Slovaks grew in September and the country's unemployment rate increased to 13.37 percent from the August rate of 13.13 percent. This unemployment rate is calculated based on unemployed...

Most Slovaks earn less than Czechs.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE AVERAGE gross monthly salary in Slovakia reached E896 in the third quarter and though that average is 12 percent higher than in Hungary it is 11 percent less than the average salary in the Czech Republic,...

EURO: Limits on bank capital transfers.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) Continued from pg 1 "Overall, we will not save; only the structure in terms of the programme for Greece and other countries will differ," Miklos stated, adding that he is pleased that the summit reached...

Svatci.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) ALL SAINTS Day is just around the corner. Slovaks increasingly wish to have "saintly peace" (svaty pokoj) and not be bothered by endless political hassles. Voters of the right stand bemused like a "saint behind the...

Institutions and organisations in construction and real estate.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development Minister: Jan FigeA www.telecom.gov.sk National Association of Real Estate Offices (NARKS) - this association represents real estate...

'Green' is more than a colour when talking about buildings.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) SUSTAINABLE architecture and 'green buildings' have become an important component of architects' and builders' thinking in many highly-developed parts of the world. While Slovakia lags somewhat behind in this...

That elusive decency factor.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) DECENCY, a rather scarce item on offer in Slovakia's politics, is not something that is acquired by training and even if some politicians have it, decency easily gets flushed away by the political streams that...

Regulated rents remain a problem.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) EVEN though 22 years have elapsed since the fall of the communist regime, some issues linger from then and are still unresolved. One of these is the issue of regulated rents in properties which were confiscated by...

Delinquent real estate auctions.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) FINANCIAL problems faced by the owners of real estate are sending more reclaimed properties to the auction block in Slovakia. The number of auctioned properties is well above the level before 2009 and the number of...

Prices keep falling.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE 2008-2009 economic crisis and current concerns about the future of the euro and the possibility of another global recession have had a significant impact on Slovakia's real estate market. Even though the...

CE.ZA.AR awards announced.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) FRESH projects by young architects -- this is what captured the attention of Czech architect Jiri Suchomel in the works submitted for the tenth year of the CE.ZA.AR architecture competition. The winning architects...

Banks remain cautious lenders.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE FINANCING of central and eastern European real estate has shown signs of improvement during the last 12 months but the situation remains uncertain. There has been a significant increase in real estate...

CERT: Sustainable buildings going up.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) Continued from pg 6 "One should realise two things -- the current situation we are in and what purpose sustainable building certificates serve," Bukerova said. She views these certificates as tools to...

COURT: Owners take cases to ECHR.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) Continued from pg 6 The ministry has estimated that as many as 923 apartments with around 2,300 tenants are involved, with 706 of these apartments in Bratislava, mostly in the Old Town district, according to the...

DONE: Partners regret PM's decision.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) Continued from pg 1 She thanked the SDKU for the opportunity she had been given and said that she had devoted all her abilities and energy to the post of prime minister. The leaders of the SDKU's coalition...

Giving voice to Slovak youth.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) TOUGH negotiations, assembly meetings, visiting delegations, committee decisions: every year the exciting world of the United Nations opens to one carefully-selected young Slovak who travels to New York to...

Film festival turns 13.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE INTERNATIONAL Film Festival Bratislava turns 13 this autumn. As it becomes a teenager it is also moving, after eight years on the right bank of the Danube, to Cinema City in the Eurovea complex on the left...

A dancer's body is their laboratory.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE 15TH YEAR of the Bratislava v pohybe (Bratislava in Movement) festival of modern dance was marked by the themes of individuality, solitude, uprooting and human communication, or the lack thereof. From the very...

Oldest philosophy faculty celebrates.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) UP TO 4,000 students attending 60 study programmes in 31 departments -- this is the current image of the Faculty of Philosophy at Comenius University, which is celebrating its 90th birthday. During its long...

The peak and the eagle.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THIS POSTCARD dates back to the beginning of the 1920s and shows a reproduction of a picture by Czech painter Jaroslav Setelik, who probably painted the scene from one of the windows of a hotel in Dolny Smokovec...

1944 battle re-enacted.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) A RE-ENACTMENT of a historic World War II battle for control of OstrA hill, above the road between Ruzomberok and Banska Bystrica, attracted more than 2,000 people on September 10. During the World War II OstrA...

Kosice's marathon draws crowds.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) THE 88TH International Peace Marathon held in Kosice on October 2 drew throngs of runners and spectators. The event is the second oldest marathon in the world and the oldest in Europe, and this year's race also...

Expedition seeks Stefanik's towers.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) SLOVAK statesman Milan Rastislav Stefanik, who helped establish the first state of Czechs and Slovaks after the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, was also an avid traveller, discoverer and astronomer. On Vava'u...

Radnicka cafe reopens.
October 31, 2011... (From The Slovak Spectator) AFTER Bratis- lava's Old Town Hall (Stara radnica) re-opened in early summer after its two-year reconstruction, one important obligation remained. Before the hall had closed it was the site of a cafe called...

Voices of finance: fundraiser at sharia-compliant venture capital firm.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) We are meeting for lunch near where she lives, as she's working from home that day. She is a tall woman, in her early 30s, born and raised in an African country, with impeccable English and a vocabulary that sent me...

MediaCity on Monday: BBC's reinvention of the office trolley and other tales.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) We start our weekly look at what's happening down at Britain's new media metropolis with the curious tale of the prototype BBC tea trolley. HowDo reports that BBC North director Peter Salmon has revealed the...

Five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) Downing is failing to deliver Plenty of criticism has been heaped on the Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, for spending GBP35m on Andy Carroll and in many respects that criticism has been justified. But it seems...

Kandahar suicide attack kills four.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) Four people have been killed in a suicide attack in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, according to authorities, in the third bloody assault in a few days against targets associated with foreign missions in the...

Microsoft says Google Android is 'standing on our shoulders'.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) One of Microsoft's most senior lawyers has accused Google's Android software of "standing on the shoulders" of companies such as his own in the smartphone wars, and that the flurry of patent lawsuits going on between...

Cyber-attacks on UK at disturbing levels, warns GCHQ chief.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) A "significant but unsuccessful" cyber-attack was made on the Foreign Office and other government departments this summer , according to GCHQ . Iain Lobban, director of the government's listening centre, said the...

Bank isn't telling us everything about Northern Rock.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) The Bank of England is still wielding a black marker pen on sensitive documents relating to the months after the run on Northern Rock in September 2007 . A document released this morning by the Treasury Select...

European debt crisis live: Markets fall as optimism fades.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) 8.24am: For some currency traders, Halloween has already been pretty ghoulish. The Japanese central bank waded into the currency markets while most UK readers were sleeping - selling yen and buying US dollars. ...

Politics Live blog: Monday 31 October.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) 8.20am: Naughtie is still asking about Europe. Q: But what do you do about the fact that coalition backbenchers do not accept what you are saying about Europe? Clegg says "of course Liberal Democrats and...

Second special contribution instalment at post offices.
October 31, 2011... (From Athens News Agency) Taxpayers will be able to pay a second instalment of a so-called special contribution and profession duty at post offices (EL.TA), it was announced last week. EL.TA clarified that taxpayers who have not received a...

Athens Newspaper Headlines.
October 31, 2011... (From Athens News Agency) The Monday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance The reserve labour measure in the wider public sector and reprecussions on pensioners and individual investors from a decision last week allowing for a 50-percent...

Armed robbery of ATM off nat'l highway.
October 31, 2011... (From Athens News Agency) A gang of armed robbers early Monday entered a fast food outlet on the Athens-Corinth national highway, near Megara, and stole an ATM, using truck to transport the cash machine. Police believe that the gang, either...

Flour injured in ambulance, taxi crash.
October 31, 2011... (From Athens News Agency) Four people were injured early Monday when taxi crashed into an ambulance in downtown Athens. The ambulance, which was transferring a 2 year-old girl to the hospital, had run a red light in its bid to speed to the...

Colombia's green party is driven by politics, not environmental concerns.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) The high profile of Colombia's green party following its impressive results in the 2010 elections might suggest it would have much to say about the environmental impact of the country's free trade agreement with the...

Boris Johnson's cycling policies: putting the motorist first.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) Boris Johnson's jolly-good-fun image is so bound up with cycling that it's easy to forget that his road management strategy as London mayor has always deferred to the London motorist. His 2008 transport manifesto led...

Listen up - let's hear it for radio...
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) The death of radio is greatly exaggerated, writes Michael Hedges in a piece adapted from his presentation to the Brave New Radio conference last week. His look at the state of the medium across Europe comes up...

Politics Live blog: Monday 31 October.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) 8.31am: Are we any clearer about Nick Clegg 's views on Europe after his Today interview? Having listened to the tape again, and transcribed the key quotes, the answer is - a bit. Clegg said that he was in favour...

Yes, yes, yes - publication of Gaddafi death pictures was justified.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) Chris Elliott, The Guardian's readers' editor, has waded into the contentious matter of whether it was right to publish pictures - especially on the front page - of Muammar Gaddafi's bloody corpse. He points out...

BBC TV licence fee may extend to iPlayer.
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) The television licence fee could be extended to cover catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer as part of an overhaul of the levy being considered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. British viewers...

Football transfer rumours: Rio Ferdinand to Spurs?
October 31, 2011... (From Guardian Unlimited) Bad news for Kolo Tour' today, readers. McDonald's have raised the price of Big Ma... Manchester City want to take away his image rights following his failed drugs test, according to the Mirror, something that could...

Athens Stock Exchange opening: Decline.
October 31, 2011... (From Athens News Agency) Equity prices were declining at the opening of trade on Monday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), with the basic share price index down 1.72 percent, standing at 797.12 points at 11:00 am, and turnover at 10.28...

Australian Government travel expenses down significantly due to Cisco/Telstra TelePresence deployment.
October 31, 2011... (From Telecom World Wire) TELECOMWORLDWIRE-October 31, 2011-Australian Government travel expenses down significantly due to Cisco/Telstra TelePresence deployment (C)1994-2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS http://www.m2.com Networking technology...

Local economies to benefit from AGBP950 million of Government investment.
October 31, 2011... (From Central Office of Information - News Distribution Service) A Government investment of AGBP950 million will help create and safeguard more than 200,000 jobs across England, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will announce today. ...

Gerro's rocked by new KO blow.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: DUNCAN WRIGHT STEVEN GERRARD is expected to miss England's games with Spain and Sweden next month with an ankle injury. Gerrard saw specialists in a Liverpool hospital yesterday amid fears he needs surgery...

Great Scott.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: PAUL BROWN SPURS. . . .3 QPR. . . . . . .1 HARRY REDKNAPP aims to build a team around Scott Parker to restore Tottenham's glory days. Spurs have yet to lose a Premier League match since Parker signed from...

RACE ROW CRUNCH.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: PAUL BROWN Terry and Ant's final chance ANTON FERDINAND and John Terry will both make their final race-row statements to the FA today. England captain Terry has been told a decision over whether he will be...

UNITED FRONT AT ARABS.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: SCOTT BURNS DUNDEE UNITED boss Peter Houston has been given the full backing of chairman Stephen Thompson after the pair held clear-the-air talks yesterday. Thompson returned from a family holiday to take...

NAISY IN FOR SCAN.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: SCOTT BURNS RANGERS star Stevie Naismith will find out today if he has suffered the second cruciate ligament injury of his career. The Scotland ace, who will undergo a scan this afternoon, was stretchered...

EDU'S AXE FEARS.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: SCOTT BURNS MAURICE Edu admits the prospect of entering administration has left Rangers' top stars fearing their contracts will be torn up. Tax issues with HMRC mean the club could yet be hit with a...

CELTS TITLE CRISIS.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: IAIN MACFARLANE Ledley: Drop more points & we're OUT! JOE LEDLEY last night admitted Celtic are 90 minutes away from crashing OUT of the title race. Celtic's Welsh midfielder reckons the stuttering...

EX-CONS WORK IN OAP HOMES.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: STEPHEN WILKIE Government plan blasted CRIMINALS have been taken on by 10 Scottish councils to work in care homes with vulnerable OAPs, it was revealed yesterday. Ex-cons who have faced court for drug...

Brit workers killed in Afghanistan.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: KEYAN MILANIAN TWO British contractors have been killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. They were among 13 people, five soldiers and eight civilians, who died when the bomber struck an armoured military...

KILLERS FLOOD TO UK BORDER.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: AARON TINNEY Checks see crooks seized A SHOCKING 10,000 foreign murderers, rapists and illegal immigrants have been seized at Britain's borders. The criminals were snared by vigilant staff using advance...

DAILY STAR says.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) THOUSANDS of foreign criminals are being collared at our borders. Advanced checks have stopped a tidal wave of rapists, murderers and thugs sneaking in. The dregs of society must be kept out. We cannot afford to...

POSH IS A LUNAR THICK.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: EMILY HALL UFO sighting turns out to be the Moon VICTORIA Beckham thought she had a brush with a UFO - but it turned out to be the Moon. The terrified former Spice Girl was convinced she had seen aliens...

3 WOMEN ON THE GO. . .AND SWEET-TALKER CL ARKSON GOT AWAY WITH IT.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: DEBORAH SHERWOOD MOTORMOUTH Jeremy Clarkson had to sweet talk his two wives after being caught with a third woman. Clarkson's fist wife Alex Hall, who says she later had a 10-year affair with the telly...

Celebs do quick step to the exit.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: PETER DYKE HALLOWEEN HORROR STRICTLY Come Dancing has been hit by a triple blow to three of its biggest stars, and it could dent its amazing ratings. Diva Nancy Dell'Olio was voted off the show, soccer star...

X FACTOR MURDERED ON THE DANCEFLOOR.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: PETER DYKE Strictly wins fright night fight, leaving its ITV rival for dead X FACTOR has been plunged into crisis after being beaten in the ratings by TV rival Strictly Come Dancing. The news is a bitter...

Frankie goes too far.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) X FACTOR wild child Frankie Cocozza was forced into a grovelling apology to viewers after he let slip a rude gaff on live TV about his sex antics. The 18-year-old singer was quizzed over the Daily Star's exclusive on...

Agent's claim on Rangers.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) A FOOTBALL agent is at the centre of a cash row with Rangers over claims he is owed GBP100,000. Graeme Rankin, who brokered Ibrox defender Kirk Broadfoot's three-year deal in 2010, says the Scottish champions were due...

CASH OF THE DAY.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: STEPHEN WILKIE Beeb pundit Hansen on GBP40k every show MINTED Alan Hansen has sparked outrage by netting GBP1.4million for just 35 Match Of The Day shows. The pundit's pay works out at GBP40,000 of...

Pic that saved tot's life.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) TODDLER Morgan Barry's life was saved because her uncle took a photograph of her. The picture showed a strange white reflection in one of her eyes, whereas the other flashed red eye. Her parents had her checked and...

CASH OF THE DAY.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: AARON TINNEY Beeb pundit Hansen on GBP40k every show MINTED Alan Hansen has sparked outrage by netting GBP1.4million for just 35 Match of the Day shows. The pundit's pay works out at an astonishing...

JO'S KILLER IN PERSPEX SUICIDE CELL.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: JERRY LAWTON Hannibal cage for monster JO Yeates's killer Vincent Tabak is being held in a Perspex suicide cell. He is being watched by warders round the clock in a Hannibal Lecter-style operation. ...

CELEB BOYS & GHOULS!
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: EMILY HALL STARS knocked up some scarily good Halloween costumes to celebrate all things spooky. The party-goers were led by Heidi Klum, 38, looking bloody good with no skin at TAO nightclub in Las Vegas....

CELEB BOYS & GHOULS!
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: EMILY HALL STARS knocked up some scarily good Halloween costumes to celebrate all things spooky. Among the party-goers was Scots crooner Paolo Nutini, 24, who dressed up as Batman's nemesis, The Joker, at...

Goal-den boy Jack.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) A SCHOOLBOY footballer has kicked off a movie career in a film about Manchester United legend Sir Matt Busby. Jack Smith, 10, who had never acted, plays a young tearaway in Theatre Of Dreams, with Hollywood star Brian...

JK put Ron on hit list.
October 31, 2011... (From The Daily Star) Byline: GAVIN WILSON JK Rowling has told how she almost killed off Harry Potter's sidekick Ron Weasley. The author, 46, said she originally planned to let all the main characters in the hit wizard series live. ...