Hollande Puts Delivery Of The Mistral Warship To Russia On Hold | ||
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Russian state-owned news service Sputnik News is reporting that French President François Hollande has postponed the sale of Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Moscow. Here's the tweet: This story is being updated. Click here to refresh. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Bomb rocks busy market in Nigeria's Maiduguri: police, witnesses | ||
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Maiduguri (Nigeria) (AFP) - A bomb concealed in a rickshaw rocked a crowded market on Tuesday in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, which is a stronghold of Islamist group Boko Haram, witnesses and a police officer said. "A powerful bomb exploded at One Way road, adjacent (to) the Monday Market (area) around 11 am (1000 GMT) today," said a senior police officer, who requested anonymity. Market trader Usman Babaji told AFP the attacker concealed the bomb in a motorised rickshaw, which are popular throughout the country. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Stagnant eurozone poses 'major risk' to world growth: OECD | ||
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Paris (AFP) - The weak eurozone economy poses a key threat to global growth, the OECD warned Tuesday, urging more flexibility in fiscal rules for struggling EU members like France and Italy to prevent another recession. Forcing the two major European economies to meet the EU's tough deficit criteria "would likely depress activity further and even risk tipping the euro area into another recession," it said. France and Italy's "slower pace of structural fiscal adjustment... proposed in their 2015 budget plans seems appropriate," said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which provides economic analysis and advice to its 34 industrialised members. Its assessment came as the European Commission is due to deliver its verdict of member states' budgets this week, with France and Italy under fire after having submitted figures that fall short of the EU's criteria. Tensions have been running particularly high between Berlin, which has preached fiscal discipline, and Paris, which is running not only running a budget deficit but also urging more stimulus spending. France is set for a deficit of 4.3 percent of GDP in 2015, way above the EU ceiling of three percent, while Italy's slow pace of structural reforms to reduce its massive debt of 133.4 percent -- more than double the EU ceiling -- was under scrutiny. But the OECD appeared to side with Paris and Rome, urging the eurozone to "slow down structural budget consolidation relative to previous plans to reduce the drag on growth". It also called for further stimulus in the European single currency zone to prop up growth, although in Britain and the United States, policymakers can afford to pull back on such programmes next year.
- 'Grinding to a standstill' -
"The euro area is grinding to a standstill and poses a major risk to world growth, as unemployment remains high and inflation persistently far from target," said the OECD's chief economist Catherine Mann. In the semi-annual report the OECD lowered its forecast for global growth this year by a tenth of a percentage point to 3.3 percent. For 2015 it cut the forecast by two tenths of a point to 3.7 percent growth. The OECD left in place its forecast for the 18-nation eurozone to expand by 0.8 percent this year and by 1.1 percent in 2015. "Growth is set to be stronger in the United States and the United Kingdom than in the euro area and Japan," the report said, adding that unemployment "will remain particularly high in the euro area". Among the emerging economies, "growth will edge down in China, remain weak in Russia and Brazil, but will recover steadily in India, Indonesia and South Africa," it said. "This macroeconomic prognosis leaves us with a keen need for both continued supportive macroeconomic policy, as well as tailored structural reforms to raise both demand and supply throughout the global economy," it said. Global concerns have mounted about the health of the eurozone just two years after the European Union said that the debt crisis which started in 2009 was over. The euro area is "strongly exposed" to the risks posed by "potential financial volatility, lack of confidence about future growth prospects, and impaired and stretched balance sheets of banks and households," the OECD said. The eurozone is also unduly dependent on a pickup in demand, it said, warning that the single currency area "could get stuck in persistent stagnation". Policymakers must carry out "ambitious structural reforms... particularly in Japan and the core countries in the euro area, in order to boost employment and strengthen long-term potential growth," it said.
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10 Things You Need To Know Today In Markets | ||
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Good morning! Here are 10 major stories you need to know about before markets open in London and Paris. Samsung Just Won A $3 Billion License In Vietnam. South Korea's Samsung has secured a license to invest $3 billion (£1.91 billion) to expand its production in northern Vietnam, the Vietnamese government said. Hong Kong Police Have Started Clearing Protest Sites. Hong Kong authorities encountered little resistance as they began clearing part of a pro-democracy protest camp in the bustling district of Mong Kok on Tuesday following a court order to reopen a road. Saudi Arabia May Resist Calls To Cut Oil Output At This Week's OPEC Meeting. OPEC's biggest crude producer Saudi Arabia will have its sights set on the upstart US shale oil business at a crucial cartel meeting to debate possible output cuts on Thursday. Iran Negotiations Have Until July. Iran and world powers have given themselves seven more months to clinch a landmark nuclear agreement, and defuse a 12-year standoff, after missing a Monday midnight deadline for a deal. United Technologies' CEO Quit. Investors were not expecting the exit of Louis Chenevert, CEO of the US manufacturer that makes Sikorsky helicopters, according to the Financial Times. US Prosecutors Are Taking Their FX Probe To The UK. US prosecutors will travel to London in the coming weeks to interview traders about currency market manipulation, the latest sign that authorities are closer to filing criminal charges stemming from the long-running probe, sources told Reuters. General Motors Is Expecting Sluggish Demand Everywhere But The US. General Motors President Dan Ammann on Monday said he expects "more of the same" next year from a US auto market that has been growing slowly, while he is bracing for continued soft demand in other parts of the globe. Asian Markets Are Mixed. The Nikkei closed up another 0.29% in Japan, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently trading down 0.16%. US GDP Is Coming. The second estimate of US Q3 growth will be out at 1.30 a.m. GMT, with economists expecting a 3.3% annualised expansion. Italian retail sales for September are also out at 9 a.m. GMT, giving an insight into Europe's third-largest economy. Jean Claude Juncker Is Planning A Big EU Spending Programme. According to the Financial Times, EU Commission President Juncker will soon announce a €315 billion ($391.4 billion) plan named the European Fund for Strategic Investment. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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