Free Republic

The European Central Bank has surprised markets by signalling a rate rise as soon as next month, brushing aside warnings that this may compound damage from the oil shock and push EMU debtor states deeper into crisis. "We are in a posture of strong vigilance: an increase in interest rates at the next meeting is possible," said ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet, following a meeting of the governing council. The code word "vigilance" sent the euro rocketing to almost $1.40 against the dollar. The ECB is the first of the big central banks to signal a rate rise to curb inflation,...

George Soros tells Germany to step up to its responsibilities, or leave EMU Photo: Bloomberg News "German policy is becoming a danger that could destroy the European Project. A collapse of the euro cannot be excluded," he told the German weekly Die Zeit. "Unless Germany changes policy, its withdrawal from the currency union would be helpful for the rest of Europe. At the moment Germany is pushing its neighbours into deflation: this threatens a long phase of stagnation, leading to nationalism, social unrest, and zenophobia. It endangers democracy," he said.

At least three people have died in a burning bank office in central Athens set on fire by demonstrators protesting against proposed austerity measures. According to official souces scores of people are still trapped in the burning building. Developing.

The long-drawn saga in Athens can perhaps be deemed a case apart. Greece lied. Its budget deficit was egregious at 16pc of GDP last year on a cash basis. It wasted its EMU windfall, the final chance to bring public debt back from the brink of a compound spiral. You cannot blame the euro for this, although EMU undoubtedly created a risk-free illusion that lured both Athens and creditors deeper into the trap – and now prevents a solution. Nor would an orderly default under IMF guidance along Uruguayan lines necessarily imperil Europe's banks. The Bundesbank hints that letting Greece...

Portugal, not Greece, poses the greater existential threat to Europe's monetary union. The long-drawn saga in Athens can perhaps be deemed a case apart. Greece lied. Its budget deficit was egregious at 16pc of GDP last year on a cash basis. It wasted its EMU windfall, the final chance to bring public debt back from the brink of a compound spiral. You cannot blame the euro for this, although EMU undoubtedly created a risk-free illusion that lured both Athens and creditors deeper into the trap – and now prevents a solution. Nor would an orderly default under IMF guidance along...

By ABC-7 Reporter Abe Lubetkin EL PASO, Texas - An emu on the loose ruffled the feathers of some morning commuters Tuesday morning on I-10 and Horizon. At 6:45 a.m., drivers originally reported an ostrich on the roadway. Emus look similar to ostriches but they're smaller. El Paso County Sheriff's Deputies on the scene tried to contain the emu but they say the bird attacked a deputy, ripping off a part of his pants. Deputies then worked with people passing by to subdue the bird. The emu died as deputies were transporting it to an animal control center. This incident...

A mad emu gave deputies a Texas-sized hard time. El Paso authorities say the big bird was running loose Tuesday, snarling rush-hour traffic near Interstate 10 and attacking deputies trying to restrain it. Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office tried to prevent the tall, flightless bird from running into traffic. But when deputies neared the emu, it became aggressive and slashed one deputy's pant leg.

Greece Defies Europe As EMU Crisis Turns Deadly Serious Euroland's revolt has begun. Greece has become the first country on the distressed fringes of Europe's monetary union to defy Brussels and reject the Dark Age leech-cure of wage deflation.By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Published: 5:56PM GMT 13 Dec 2009 While premier George Papandreou offered pro forma assurances at Friday's EU summit that Greece would not default on its €298bn (£268bn) debt, his words to reporters afterwards had a different flavour. "Salaried workers will not pay for this situation: we will not proceed with wage freezes or cuts. We did not come to...

FOREST, Miss. — Officers had to use a stun gun and handcuffs to capture an emu running loose on Interstate 20 in central Mississippi on Sunday. Police Officer Kiley Culpepper told WLBT-TV in Jackson that motorists had been calling 911 since Friday to report sightings of two emus on I-20 and nearby U.S. Highway 80.

With her huge furrry ears and long, quivering nose, baby kangaroo Tijana is utterly adorable. But her unarguable cuteness hides a rather unfortunate start to her short life. At just a few weeks old, the tiny creature tumbled from the pouch of her mother, who had been terrified by an emu. Tijana, who lives at Belgrade Zoo, in Serbia, had to be retrieved by staff and is now being handreared. She is still so young she cannot survive outside of a pouch and must stay in a special incubator, where the temperature remains a constant 35C. Biologists have also made...

A RUNAWAY emu was corralled with shopping trolleys by employees of a Wisconsin Wal-Mart today. Myron, the three-year-old Australian native, was thought to have fled his farmyard home after being scared by a coyote, the Associated Press reported. Employees of Wal-Mart in the town of West Bend found the big bird in their carpark and used shopping trolleys to round him up, police said. A manager then fed Myron grapes and apples to calm him down. His owner, Richard Takacs, said he was not surprised when police called him from the store about 3km from his pumpkin farm. "They can...

The body of the slain student, Laura Dickinson, 22, was discovered Dec. 15 in her dorm room. At the time, university officials told her parents and the media that she died of asphyxiation but that there was no sign of foul play, despite evidence to the contrary. It wasn't until another Eastern student was arrested in late February and charged with murder that her family and fellow students learned she had been raped and killed. The accused student, Orange Taylor III, of Southfield, has pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal sexual conduct charges in Dickinson's death. He is scheduled...

CHAPEL HILL - Bill Clinton, a 6-foot emu on the run nearly a week, died Thursday after Carrboro police captured him outside a nursing home.The cause of the flightless bird's death was in dispute: The manager of the Orange County Animal Shelter said police Tasered him. But a police spokesman said officers didn't use a Taser stun gun or tranquilizers. He said the bird injured himself as police tried to load him into a truck to take him to the shelter."My guess is it did something to its neck," Capt. J.G. Booker said.Bill Clinton's flight was the latest and most...

The European Central Bank has raised interest rates a quarter point to 3.75pc despite an unprecedented attack on the "reliablity" of its strategy by the Bank of France and a barrage of attacks by French leaders. Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB acted in part to curb the 9.8pc rise in the M3 money supply, the highest since the creation of the euro. Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB's president, said monetary policy for the 13 countries of the euro-zone was still "accommodative", a coded warning that further tightening is on the way after seven rate rises since December 2005. "Liquidity is ample...

Borg: No euro membership for Sweden Sweden's new finance minister Anders Borg has said that Sweden will not join the euro in the foreseeable future. Borg made set out his position on the single European currency as he attended his first meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg. "I will say that we are prioritizing employment and making it profitable to work," Borg told journalists on his way into the meeting. Borg said he would also tell his European counterparts that the new Swedish government will concentrate on keeping the state finances in good order. Sweden rejected adopting the euro...

BRUSSELS, May 16, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Slovenia today became the first new EU member state to get the green light to join the EU's common currency, the euro. Meeting in Strasbourg, the European Commission ruled the country meets all the necessary criteria and can adopt the euro as of January 1, 2007. The Commission turned down the application of a second candidate for early entry, Lithuania, saying the country's inflation is too high.

TOKYO, May 1 (Reuters) - The dollar struck a seven-month low against the yen and a one-year low against the euro on Monday, extending a slide as the Federal Reserve appears set to soon end a two-year run of credit tightening. A renewed focus on U.S. deficits after last month's meeting of Group of Seven industrialised powers, worries about Iran's nuclear ambitions and deteriorating technical signals have pummeled the dollar across the board. The yen gained across the board on solid buying by foreign hedge funds and investment banks, while some Japanese players squared positions heading into the country's Golden...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar hit a 27-month high against the yen on Monday and edged closer to recent two-year lows versus the euro and sterling as greenback buying on yield advantage gathered momentum after a long U.S. weekend. In the absense of major data on Monday, investors, coming back from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, pushed the dollar higher in anticipation of further rises in U.S. interest rates. The euro kept a low profile as investors awaited European Central Bank speakers including chief Jean-Claude Trichet ahead of a widely-expected 25 basis point rate hike this week. But the outlook beyond...

Technical Overview · British Pound Heads To 1.7000· Swiss Franc Sees 1.3500 In Its Future· New Zealand Dollar Fails To Capture .6900 Traders Corner:Reality or wishful thinking, it’s a very delicate balance when it comes to trading. As a trader I always learned not to let the wishful thinking cloud my judgment. I never let such notions as hopes and dreams distort the reality of the market. At one point when I found myself grasping at straws in a sinking trade I realized that no matter what I think, wish or hope, the market will do what its need to...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar clung close to a two-year high against the euro and a 27-month peak versus the yen on Tuesday as more investors flock to the U.S. currency for its widening yield advantage. The yen came under pressure after Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a rare comment on central bank policy, saying it was too early for the Bank of Japan to end its ultra-loose "quantitative easing" until deflation is defeated. Koizumi's remarks on Monday added to a chorus of government officials calling for the BOJ, which gained political independence just in 1998, to work with...