Well done Russia !
Tell the rest of the "do goodies" of the world to keep their noses out of Syria
This vendetta against Syria is merely a continuation of the North African movement.
We serious need to stop interfering in other country's politics without really understanding what is going on.
We are now clearly the rebel and it is disgusting that we continue to bully regimes and governments into changing.
These rebellions are all being led by violent rebels who are definitely NOT the answer for an alternative government.   more »

Are large government CDS just a way of "cooking" the books?
If a major default were to occur what is the probability that the CDS would be honoured?
Accountancy rules to date seem to be happy to accept lower exposure against this form of insurance but how really secure is the potential payout in the case of default?
As these are direct contracts between two parties it depends on the size and solidity of each party.
This liability factor is not built in to the accountancy.
There needs to be a change of the rules unless we want to continue to be naive about robbing Peter to pay Paul   more »

Like i said below this is what every government needs.....an external control of its decisions and cheque book   more »

"On top of the 50 percent nominal loss, or haircut, already agreed, the lower coupon would produce a total loss for bondholders of more than 70 percent." is not enough for me....we need to reach the 90% level to make this a sustainable package....Watch this space as Greece now seems to understand that it is holding all the cards.....Default is unacceptable to the financial groups so push for an even better deal; is my advice to Greece   more »

This is a great idea for all countries!
There should be a Budget Commission that oversees and has the power to refuse and cancel all costs, salaries and advantages that are bestowed or given to elected officials in each country.
There is absolutely no higher authority that can challenge elected politicians vis-a-vis their paychecks and advantages.
As this is public money "confiscated" from the taxpayers the recipients should be made accountable in full and not be able to vote for themselves,their salaries and expenses and certainly NOT without recourse.
They should also be held accountable and liable for any bad and dishonest decisions that they make.
There is too much "back scratching" in this arena and an overseeing body or commission with the power to revoke and punish would be a very good idea.   more »

Of course the Pakistan military knew what and who was in the compound.
The only question is really ...if the US is allowed to play dirty games on another country's playing fields ?
The US was not at war with Pakistan and therefore totally overstepped the mark and international law by "taking out" Bin Laden.
The US is and has been an international bully and even, for example, with its scare tactics towards Iran it is not following the international law book to which it subscribes and is supposed to uphold.
Then again; there is no rule book with terrorism & murder and hence it would be very hard to play by the Queensbury rules to fight international terrorism.
On the other hand; what example is the US and its allies setting ?   more »

NATO and the UN are responsible for this mess and just to take out one terrorist ruling party to replace it with another is sad and pointless.
It is ALWAYS better the devil you know than the devil you don't and we should have NEVER got involved in Libya unless we were prepared to police the follow through all the way to peace.
We will now have to hold the new regime responsible for its new atrocities committed towards the old regime and its members....
What a mess !   more »

There are plenty of killers and rapists out on bail but this just shows how big business controls the politicians....
This guy only provided a platform for file sharing which supposedly did a lot of harm to the music and film industry.
The copywriting laws are very vague and how mant times have you bought a cd or dvd that has proved to be faulty. Then had to return to the shop and be told that since it has been opened you cannot return or get an exchange etc
The law should force the music and film industry and indeed any seller of cds or dvds to replace for free and to pay for the postage...then and only then the industry might have a leg to stand on...   more »

Sensational news without "cheque book journalism" will be very hard to do.
Creating smoke and hoping that there will be a fire has been the newspaper modus operandum for the last 40 years.
Ever since Murdoch moved his Australian Truth Magazine mentality into Fleet Street and removed all the rules of decency.
Together with Robert Maxwell, Rupert Murdoch has destroyed the respectability of the press.(there used to be unwritten playing rules)
However the general public must also accept its responsibility by continuing to buy the "gutter press"
It should also be noted that the UK has one of the largest readership numbers of paper newspapers in the western world....   more »

It is really sad that the Turkish government wants to continue denying the proven facts.
Give back to the Armenians what the Ottoman empire stole but above all APOLOGISE !   more »

Greece needs to end up with a total debt lower than €50B !
Any more and it will be just delaying the default.
"Default or accept a writedown of 90%"   more »

Nothing new about sex and politcs.
Big deal. Afterall Clinton and Kennedy were busy at it....indeed like us all !
Is the whiter than white image now necessary or just a thing of the past.
Especially with a "black" president of the USA
N.B.Obama isn't really a "black" president anyway since his father came volontarily to the USA unlike the ancestors of the "real blacks"
Anyway his mother was "white" as snow and i keep receiving more and more information about the true whereabouts of his birth
Darker than dark
Blacker than black
Oh well the grass is always greener.......   more »

DON'T EAT RICE if you are in Japan.....i bet that a lot of this rice will be exported
Government cover-ups and lies are just the continuing day by day events of politicians   more »

I find it hard to believe that no senior management members of News Corp were aware of these dirty tactics.
The victims should take out legal cases in the USA against US citizen Rupert Murdoch under the RICO act.
I am sure that there must be a long list of lawyers willing to take this case up for free   more »

Another sad example, but real, of BAD and COMPLACENT management !   more »

More sad proof that we totally over-stepped our mandate from United Nations and are really only bigger thugs and bullies than Gaddafi and his regime.
This is no example to give and the responsible will never be brought to justice after all ; winner takes all.
The end justifies the means !   more »

The day that Congress and the US government voted in that corporations could sponsor political parties and candidates became the day that freedom will never exist again. The word "free" will be struck from the world vocabulary and replaced by the word "profit".
Greed has taken over and corporations will always want a stake of any potential money making idea or area.
This is the sad truth and the world will be overly dominated by the desire to make money out of everything.
The internet is destined to be controlled and exploited for only profit and it is unfortunately only a matter of time before this free source of media and information will be boxed in and girded by greedy controlling corporations using the excuse of "national security" or such to take it over.   more »

Another supporting article for rising gold and defaulting Greece   more »

Comment : Third world countries continue to prove that they are irresponsible to be trusted with treasures from the past. The Taliban already proved that with the giant statues.
The West is also to blame by getting involved for the WRONG reasons.
"Humanitarian reasons" were merely an excuse and NOT the real reason.   more »

Comment : Talk about calling the kettle black !
Most of the Arab League is composed of Royal dictatorships....
Take heed Qatar and company....The writing is on the wall for you soon if you all continue to get sucked into this democratic crusade led by the Western "civilised?" nations....
Democratic ? Yeah sure....Money hungry politicians....   more »

Comment : Wake up Turkey! You are prosecuting the wrong person.
You should be bringing charges against the orphanage responsible for these horrors.   more »

At least he isn't wasting time and money like most other countries do with their elections !   more »

Taxpayers and Shareholders unite !
Take the power and vote   more »

A POINT OF VIEW
 
It seems timely to resurrect this Americanism from the 1930s - one of many evocative ...   more »

Doesn't this remind us all of another scenario from the past?
History always repeats itself.....   more »