Latest Post

Market Data

Last Updated at 09:49 GMT
Dow Jones12822.57 Down -120.79 -0.93%
Nasdaq 2925.30 Down -40.60 -1.37%
FTSE 100 5555.34 Down -96.43 -1.71%
Dax 6524.59 Down -105.43 -1.59%
Cac 40 3132.55 Down -61.34 -1.92%
BBC Global 30 6191.66 Down -13.88 -0.22%
Markets have fallen on fears Spain's indebted regional governments will push the country into seeking a full national bailout.
On Friday, Valencia, one of the country's 17 regions, asked the central government for a financial lifeline.
On Sunday, a local newspaper in Murcia quoted its government's head as saying it would ask for funding help of up to 300m euros ($363m; £233m).
The yield on Spain's 10-year bonds jumped to 7.55%.
On Friday, the bond yield - which implies the interest rate the government would have to pay to borrow new money, and acts as a measure of investor confidence in Spain's creditworthiness - had been 7.28%.
Spain has already asked for and been granted a 100bn euros bailout for its banks, so far avoiding asking for the same sort of help as did Greece, the Republic of Ireland and Portugal.
Germany's 10-year borrowing costs have fallen to 1.13%, reflecting investors' trust in the country, leaving a record difference between the yield on German and Spanish bonds.
Yen strength Stock markets fell across Europe on Monday morning, averaging losses of 1.5%, while Spain's main market was down 3%.

Start Quote

Spain is heading for a general bailout. It may not happen immediately, but that is what the figures suggest - that sometime in the autumn, maybe sooner, the country will need a full-blown rescue”
Spanish bank shares were down heavily again, with losses of 4%. Bankia was again the worst-hit and was down by 8%, matching Friday's loss.
The price of oil has also fallen by 2%, a sign that markets think there will be waning demand for oil as a result of worsening economic prospects.
In Asian trading overnight, the euro fell to an 11-year low against the Japanese yen - which has acted as a haven currency since the 2008 financial crisis - on worries over the situation in Spain.
The euro fell to 94.37 yen, its lowest level since November 2000.
"The fear now is that, given its debt woes, Spain may eventually need a bailout from the International Monetary Fund or the eurozone's rescue fund," Justin Harper of IG Markets told the BBC.
"That is driving investors away from the euro to other relatively safer-haven assets."
Asia worries Worries that the debt problems in eurozone will hurt growth in Asia hit the regions' stock markets, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index down 1.9% and South Korea's Kospi 1.8% lower.
The eurozone is a key market for Asian exports and there are concerns that demand from the region may decline in the near term.
At the same time, a weaker euro has also added to the woes of Asian exporters, as it makes their goods more expensive for buyers from the region.

A firefighter hoses down a destroyed vehicle at the site of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, some 250km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, on Monday Recent months have seen a resurgence in sectarian violence in Iraq
A string of bomb attacks and shootings in Baghdad and north of the capital has killed at least 82 people, say security and medical officials.
Many of those killed were security forces - who appear to have been a prime target, correspondents say.
One of the worst-hit places was Taji, a Sunni neighbourhood some 20km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, where at least 24 people were killed.
At least 144 people were wounded on one of the bloodiest days of the year.
Deadly car bombings hit Baghdad, and a government building in the Shia district of Sadr city was attacked.
At least seven car bombs hit the northern oil city of Kirkuk.
Dhuluiya, Saadiya, Khan Beni-Saad, Tuz Khurmatu and Dibis were also said to have suffered attacks.

Iraq: Deadliest attacks in 2012

  • 3 July: At least 40 killed and many more wounded in series of attacks across Iraq
  • 13 June: Wave of bombings kills 84 and injures nearly 300 in deadliest day since US troops withdrew last December
  • 4 June: More than 20 people killed in bomb attack in Baghdad
  • 20 March: At least 45 people die in series of co-ordinated attacks including car bombs in Kerbala city that kill at least 13
  • 23 Feb: At least 55 people killed and hundreds injured in wave of bombings and shootings across the country
  • 27 Jan: A suicide car bomb kills at least 32 and injures about 60 in predominantly Shia Muslim district of Baghdad
'Why?'
The security forces suffered badly in Monday's attacks, with several soldiers killed in a single brazen attack on a base in Salaheddin province.
Police checkpoints were hit by car bombs, army bases were struck by mortar fire, and one policeman was even attacked in his home, says the BBC's Rami Ruhayem in Baghdad.
In Taji, a string of five or six explosions killed at least 14 people. When police arrived on the scene to help, another explosion - according to one report, a suicide bomber - struck, killing 10 officers.
Resident Ali Hussein lamented the number of ordinary people killed in Taji.
"What is the guilt of these poor people?" asked resident Ali Hussein.
"They are working to earn a living. It is a poor market and people were here to shop in this market when the blast happened. Why did this happen?"
It is the deadliest day in Iraq since 13 June, when another wave of bombings killed 84 people and injured nearly 300.
On Sunday bombings south of the capital killed at least 17.
Violence dipped in Iraq following the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, but sectarian violence has returned across the country in recent months amid worsening political tensions.
At least 237 people were killed during June, making it one of the bloodiest months since US troops withdrew in December.

An internally displaced persons camp for Rohingya in a school compound in Maungdaw (June 2012) After the violence, some Rohingya took shelter in school compounds such as this one, in Maungdaw
Muslims in Burma's western Rakhine state have been subjected to attacks and arbitrary arrests in the weeks since communal violence erupted, Amnesty International says.
A state of emergency was declared in Rakhine in June after deadly clashes between Buddhists and Muslims.
Since then, hundreds of people have been detained in the areas where Muslim Rohingya people live, a spokesman said.
The government has dismissed the allegations as "groundless and biased".
Win Myaing, a government spokesman for Rakhine state, told the Associated Press news agency that the claims are "totally opposite of what is happening on the ground", adding that the region was calm.
But although communal violence has eased since the unrest in June, violations by the security forces appear to have increased, rights groups say.
'Rohingyas beaten' Amnesty accuses Burmese security forces as well as ethnic Rakhine Buddhist residents of assaults, unlawful killings of Muslims and the destruction of property.
"Most cases have meant targeted attacks on the minority Rohingya population and they were bearing the brunt of most of that communal violence in June and they continue to bear the lion's share of the violations perpetrated by the state security forces," Amnesty researcher Benjamin Zawacki told the BBC's Viv Marsh.
Chris Lewa, director of The Arakan Project, which focuses on Rohingyas in the region, also told our correspondent that hundreds of Rohingya Muslims had been arrested, with allegations that some had been beaten and even tortured.
"Shortly after the main violence... then we start seeing a new phase of, I would say, state-sanctioned abuses, where especially in Maung Daw... we heard on a daily basis about mass arrests of Rohingya," Ms Lewa told the BBC.

Background: Burma unrest

What sparked the violence in June?
The rape and murder of a young Buddhist woman in Rakhine in May set off a chain of deadly religious clashes.
Why was a state of emergency declared?
A state of emergency allows the introduction of martial law, which means the military can take over administrative control of the region.
Who are the Rohingyas?
The United Nations describes Rohingya as a persecuted religious and linguistic minority from western Burma. The Burmese government, on the other hand, says they are relatively recent migrants from the Indian sub-continent. Neighbouring Bangladesh already hosts several hundred thousand refugees from Burma and says it cannot take any more.
Reports from the group's network of sources in the area, mostly Rohingya, also said that authorities allowed Rakhine youth to assault Rohingyas in custody. The group also alleges that Burmese authorities took part in looting of shops and homes belonging to Rohingya.
The Burmese authorities denied similar allegations made by Amnesty International.
Some of the Rohingya Muslims arrested were held in connection with violence that erupted in Rakhine on 8 June, the day on which, observers say, violence was largely carried out by Rohingyas. The Arakan Project also says that some Rakhine, particularly those found with weapons, were arrested.
It is difficult to verify any of the information provided by such sources, as journalists cannot access the area.
Long-standing tension Violence between Buddhists and Muslims flared after the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman in May, followed by an attack on a bus carrying Muslims.
Communal unrest continued in parts of Maung Daw as Muslims attacked Buddhist homes. Reprisal attacks then targeted Muslim homes and communities. The attacks left many dead and forced thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes.
There have been long-standing tensions between Rakhine people, who are Buddhist and make up the majority of the state's population, and Muslims, many of whom are Rohingya.
Many Rakhine Buddhists have said that much of the violence in June was carried out against them by Rohingya groups. Rohingyas say they have been forced to flee because of the violence.
Earlier this month, Burma's President Thein Sein said the "solution" for the Rohingya was deportation or refugee camps.

Unverified footage appears to show protesters taking to the streets despite the risk to their lives
The UN Security Council has unanimously voted to keep its observer mission in Syria for a "final" 30 days.
However, members agreed the mission could be extended further if the use of heavy weapons ends and fighting eases.
The observers - sent to oversee a ceasefire that never took hold - have suspended their work in the face of escalating violence.
With fighting now engulfing areas of Damascus, thousands of Syrians are fleeing into neighbouring countries.
Government forces in the capital are reported to have launched all-out attacks on rebel strongholds.
They have retaken the Midan district and are believed to have launched an assault on the eastern Jubar area.
As President Bashar al-Assad redeploys troops to quell a growing uprising in the capital, rebels have struck at other targets around the country.

At the scene

In the middle of the day, in the scorching heat of a Lebanese summer, a flood of Syrians has slowed to a trickle crossing the border.
Lebanese border guards said 18,000 crossed in the past 48 hours.
Yesterday, as fighting escalated in Damascus, the queue of vehicles waiting to enter stretched into the distance. Today the traffic is still a mix of expensive limousines and large, poorer, families on foot, dragging suitcases.
In an extended family of seven adults and five children, an anxious mother spoke of their fear.
"The children were very scared of loud explosions and shooting. We were prisoners in our home. We didn't know who to trust - the Free Syrian Army or the government," she said.
And then the family cheered at the sight of a pickup arriving to take them to the house of a grandfather in Lebanon.
On Thursday rebel fighters took control of crossings on Syria's Iraq and Turkey borders.
And on Friday, fierce fighting broke out in Syria's second city of Aleppo, activists said.
The latest violence comes after an attack on Wednesday that killed four senior members of the regime, including national security chief Hisham Ikhtiar, who died from his injuries on Friday.
'Final extension' The UN vote came after hours of intense negotiations among security council members.
Russia had threatened to veto the UK-drafted resolution, but Moscow's ambassador Vitaly Churkin finally backed a revised text.
The resolution will end the observer mission in 30 days. The mandate could then be renewed, but only if Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council are able to confirm that both sides are abiding by the terms of the UN-backed ceasefire plan.
Britain's UN ambassador, Mark Lyall Grant, said after the vote: "We have said clearly that it is a final extension unless there is a change in the dynamic on the ground, and in particular that there should be a cessation of use of heavy weapons and that there should be a sufficient reduction in the violence to enable UNSMIS [the observer mission] to carry out its mandate."
US ambassador Susan Rice said it was "unlikely" that the violence in Syria would ease enough to allow a continued UN presence.
She said that Washington's "strong preference" would be for a resolution involving sanctions.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western powers on Friday not to take action against Syria outside of the Security Council.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying: "In the opinion of the Russian president, any attempts to act outside the UN Security Council will be ineffective and only undermine the authority of this international organisation."
On Thursday, Russia - an ally of Damascus - and China had vetoed a resolution on Syria for the third time in nine months.
Syrians cross into Lebanon at the border crossing point in Masnaa Syrians have been crossing into Lebanon at the border crossing point in Masnaa
Under that Western-backed motion, Syria would have been threatened with non-military sanctions - under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter - if it failed to move troops and heavy weapons from populated areas.
As the situation on the ground in Syria worsened, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said that thousands of people were crossing the border into Lebanon.
"The refugee situation has become much more dramatic with the spreading of the violence into Damascus," said UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming.
"We have figures that there could be anywhere from 9,000 to 30,000 that have fled across the border into Lebanon just in the last 48 hours.
"There may be up to a million Syrians displaced within the country and inside Damascus we're seeing people shifting from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, sleeping in parks, in schools."
The UNHCR says there are already 26,900 registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, although activists say the real figure is much higher.
A UNHCR spokesman told AFP news agency that about 2,500 people had arrived in Jordan over the past four days, adding to the 35,000 registered Syrian refugees already there.
A spokesman described it as "a steady flow".
About 140,000 Syrians are believed to have fled to Jordan since the uprising against President Assad began in March last year. The Jordanian government is building several refugee camps for them.
Reports also suggested that more than 3,000 Syrians had crossed into Iraq in the past 24 hours.
Some Iraqis, who were returning from Syria, have told the BBC they had been forced to flee their homes near Damascus because of sectarian violence and intimidation. They said they had been targeted by the rebel Free Syrian Army.
Syria map

Damaged buses at Burgas airport The attack killed a total of seven people, including the suicide bomber
Officials are still struggling to identify a suicide bomber, 48 hours after he killed five Israelis and a local bus driver in Bulgaria.
CCTV footage released earlier from the attack at Burgas airport had shown a white person with long hair.
But a witness said on Friday the suspect was a dark-skinned man with short brown hair and an Arabic accent, and appeared to be wearing a wig.
Fingerprints and DNA samples from the bomber's body are being examined.
The FBI and the CIA are working with Bulgarian investigators on the case.
On Friday, the funerals were held in Israel for the five Israelis - four men in their 20s and a pregnant woman - killed in the bombing.
'Shaven head' Speaking on Friday, Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that 3kg (6.6lb) of TNT powder had been used in the attack.
He said the bomber was not thought to be a Bulgarian citizen, and that investigators had ruled out Mehdi Ghezali, a Swedish citizen and former Guantanamo inmate, who was mentioned earlier as a possible suspect.
The suspect tried to hire a car in the days before the bombing, but was turned down because of doubts about his driving licence photo, according to police and the car rental firm.
The attacker had a fake driving licence from the US state of Michigan. According to the AFP news agency, it was registered under the name of Jacque Felipe Martin of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, born in 1987.
Afrodita Petrova, from the car rental company, said: "He had an almost shaven head... His hair was brown."
The suspect is thought to have been in Bulgaria for up to a week
She said that he was of Arabic appearance, had dark skin and spoke English with an Arabic accent. He also had a lot of money in 500-euro (£390; $610) notes and appeared upset.
Speaking to Bulgarian national TV, she insisted the man was the same person shown in the CCTV footage released by the authorities, and looked like he was wearing a wig.
The footage showed a man going in and out of the terminal, wearing a baseball cap over long blonde hair and carrying a bulky backpack.
Officials believe the backpack carried the bomb which was later placed in the luggage compartment of the tourist bus.
Prosecutors said on Friday that they now believe the man to be short-haired, but that it was unclear whether he was wearing a wig or had a haircut after the footage was taken, AP reported.
Victims buried On Friday, the funerals were held in Israel for the five Israelis killed.
Family and friends mourn as Kochava Shriki, 44, who was killed in an attack in Bulgaria, is buried at a cemetery in Rishon Lezion, near Tel Aviv July 20, 2012 The funeral of Kochava Shriki, who was pregnant with her first child, was held in Rishon Lezion
The victims were childhood friends Yitzik Kolengi, 28, and Amir Menashe, 27; Kochava Shriki, a 42-year-old woman who had recently become pregnant after years of fertility treatments; and friends Maor Harush, 26, and Elior Price, 24.
In a phone call to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, US President Barack Obama called the attack "barbaric" and offered support for the Bulgarian investigation.
Israel blames Iran and the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah for the blast, in which another 30 people were injured.
Iran responded on Thursday by saying it strongly condemned "all terrorist acts". Hezbollah has not publicly commented on the issue.
US Department of Defence spokesman George Little said on Friday that the attack bore "some of the hallmarks of Hezbollah" but that the Pentagon was "not in a position to make any final determination".
However, a US intelligence source quoted by AP said there was "a high degree of confidence" that the group carried out the attack.
The BBC's Jon Donnison, in Jerusalem, says the attack could be part of a covert but violent war between Israel and Iran. There is a view among some analysts that it could be a response to a series of recent attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists.
Israeli officials have stressed that the bombing resembled several recent attempted attacks on Israeli targets in India, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Kenya and Cyprus.
Bulgaria is a popular tourist destination for Israelis.

Rezwan Ferdaus shown in a photograph provided by the US Justice Department and date 28 October 2011 Rezwan Ferdaus could have faced a 35-year prison term
An American supporter of al-Qaeda has pleaded guilty to trying to blow up the Pentagon and US Capitol with explosives-laden remote-controlled model planes.
US citizen Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was arrested after a sting operation in which federal officers posed as al-Qaeda members to supply explosives.
Prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed to recommend a 17-year jail term.
Ferdaus had been planning "jihad" since 2010, according to prosecutors.
He pleaded guilty to two charges: attempting to supply materials to al-Qaeda, and seeking to damage US government buildings with explosives.
Ferdaus said he would accept the 17 years' imprisonment term under a plea deal with the prosecution. He could have faced 35 years for the two charges together if the case had gone to trial.
Under the deal, prosecutors agreed to drop four of the original six charges.
Members of his family present in court were reported to have been distraught.
Sting operation Ferdaus, born in Massachusetts to parents of Bangladeshi descent, is a physics graduate of Northeastern University in Boston.
He was arrested in the city last September after an elaborate undercover investigation by the FBI lasting several months, officials say.
Ferdaus began planning "jihad" (holy war) against the United States in 2010 after jihadist websites and videos convinced him the United States was evil, prosecutors told the Associated Press.
Believing the undercover FBI agents were al-Qaeda members, Ferdaus told them about his plan to organise an attack on the Pentagon, home of the US military, and the Capitol building in Washington DC, seat of the US Congress, prosecutors said.
Remote controlled model of the US Navy 1950s Sabre jet fighter that allegedly belonged to Rezwan Ferdaus. Undercover FBI agents allegedly supplied Ferdaus with a model plane
He described the Pentagon as "the head and heart of the snake" and said he was targeting the "enemies of Allah", according to an affidavit released by the US Justice Department at the time of his arrest.
Asked about the possibility of killing women and children, Mr Ferdaus allegedly said all non-followers of Islam were his enemies.
The FBI agents then supplied him with grenades, six machine guns and plastic explosives, according to the authorities. He is also said to have obtained a remote-controlled plane up to 2m (7ft) in length that could be guided by GPS and fly at 100mph (160km/h).
In June 2011, he allegedly travelled to Washington on a surveillance trip.
The weapons were always under control of the agents and were never a threat to the public, according to prosecutors.
Ferdaus had also plotted to target US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan using improvised explosive devices, according to the prosecution.
In 2011, he allegedly supplied the FBI operatives with 12 mobile phone detonators intended to be used by al-Qaeda operatives to set off bombs in the Middle East.

Natasha Sinha, first torchbearer on Saturday Young swimmer Natasha Sinha was Saturday's first torchbearer, carrying the flame in Greenwich
The Olympic flame has begun its seven day tour of London in the final countdown to the Olympic Games.
Team GB triple jumper Phillips Idowu, former gymnast Nadia Comaneci and ex-basketball star John Amaechi will carry the flame as it travels between Greenwich and Waltham Forest.
Pop star Dizzee Rascal and footballer Fabrice Muamba are also among the day's 143 torchbearers.
The day's 36-mile journey began at the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
The relay is touring five of the six Olympic boroughs on Saturday: Greenwich, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Waltham Forest.
The flame arrived in dramatic fashion at the Tower of London on Friday night, abseiled from a helicopter by a Royal Marine.
Marine Martin Williams abseils down with the flame Marine Martin Williams abseils the flame into London
It spent the night locked in the Jewel House with the Olympic medals before setting off in the week long relay which will see it pass through each of the city's 33 local authority areas and finish at the opening ceremony on 27 July.
Early on Saturday morning it was transferred to Greenwich where, shortly after 07:20, officials lit the torch of the day's first bearer, Natasha Sinha, 15, who was nominated for her dedication to swimming and cross country running.
She took the flame through Greenwich Park into the London 2012 equestrian arena, where it was passed to another 15-year-old, Ella Statham, who was chosen for her volunteer work with the London Football Association.
Ella's route took her past Queen's House and the Old Royal Naval College.
Continuing with the nautical theme, a few minutes later Sir Robin Knox-Johnson - the first person to sail solo around the world - carried the flame on a lap around the newly-restored Cutty Sark.
Sir Robin also founded the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 1995 and has been a Cutty Sark Trustee since 2011.
The 140-year-old ship, which was one of the last tea clippers to be built, was destroyed by fire in 2007 and was only reopened by the Queen in April this year.
Large crowds were out on the streets of Greenwich by 09:00 to see the torch relay pass through.
When it arrives in Woolwich, Jaco Van Gass, a soldier with the First Parachute Regiment, will carry the flame.
The 25-year-old was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while serving in Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of his left arm, a collapsed lung, punctured internal organs, loss of muscle and tissue from the upper left thigh, multiple shrapnel wounds and a fractured knee, fibula and tibia.
Perfect 10 In 2011, Jaco was one of four injured servicemen in the Walking With The Wounded team who set a world record by walking to the North Pole.
At about 09:52 BST legendary gymnast Comaneci - winner of five Olympic gold medals and the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 - will meet ex-basketball star Amaechi on the roof of the North Greenwich Arena, where they will exchange the flame.
The arena is the venue for the London 2012 gymnastics events and basketball finals.
Fauja Singh (second from left) Fauja Singh (second from left) was a star attraction at the 2012 London Marathon
In Newham, British javelin legend Tessa Sanderson-White will carry the flame. She won gold at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and is the only British woman to have done so in an Olympic throwing event.
Saturday's relay also includes stints from London's youngest and oldest torchbearers.
Chester Chambers, 12, was nominated for representing his classmates on the Thomas Tallis School Council, fundraising and helping to develop an anti-bullying campaign. He carried the flame in Greenwich.
At the other end of the age spectrum, centenarian Fauja Singh will carry his torch in Newham. The 101-year-old started his career as a marathon runner at the age of 89 and has now completed nine marathons.
Cardiac arrest His personal best time of 5 hours and 40 minutes was set at the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon and is a world record for the over-90s. This year he completed the London Marathon in 7 hours and 49 minutes.
At about 14:20 BST Tahmina Begum will carry the flame at Stepney Green Park. The 19-year-old was the first qualified Bangladeshi female football referee and has been officiating local league football matches in east London since 2010.
Visits to Clissold Park, Hackney Town Hall and Leyton Cricket Ground will follow before Fabrice Muamba carries the flame as the last torchbearer of the day.
The 24-year-old was playing for Bolton against Tottenham on 17 March when he had a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the pitch. It was later revealed that his heart stopped beating for more than an hour.
He was discharged from hospital on 16 April, having been fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, and has not ruled out the possibility of playing professional football again.
An evening celebration, featuring entertainment from Rizzle Kicks and Twist and Pulse, will be held at Chestnuts Field in Waltham Forest.
The flame will be carried by a total of 8,000 people during its 8,000 mile, 70-day journey to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London on 27 July.

MKRdezign

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Powered by Blogger.
Javascript DisablePlease Enable Javascript To See All Widget