Sarkozy said the European debt crisis is not over yet

萨尔科齐称欧洲债务危机尚未结束。France's President Nicolas Sarkozy presents his New Year's message to the nation from the Elysee Palace, in this still image taken from video, in Paris December 31, 2011. 

萨尔科齐称欧洲债务危机尚未结束。PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday in his New Year greetings that spiralling debt crisis is not finished, urging more work to boost growth and competitiveness in 2012.

"This unprecedented crisis, probably the worst since the Second World War is not over yet but there are reasons for hope and we must, we can keep confidence in the future. 2012 will be the year of all the risks but also of hopes." French president said.

"The problem is not that of a new package of spending cuts for the coming year. What should be done has been done by the government. Now we need to work primarily for growth, for competitiveness, for the re-industrialization which will enable us to create jobs and purchasing power," the president said in a televised New Year's address.

Sarkozy believed that "in 2012, France's destiny can once again be changed. Emerging from the crisis, creating a new growth model and bringing about a new Europe, these are some of the challenges that lies ahead of us."

He convinced that together with the European partners, they can be stronger enough to address these challenges.

Facing the risk of losing triple-A rating, the French president argued that "I don't underestimate the consequences that the rating agencies, financial markets and our past mistakes can have on our economy. But let me say, it is neither the market nor the rating agencies that will make French policy."

Sarkozy said there are reasons being hopeful. "We must remain confident in the future because if many countries had experienced insurmountable difficulties, France resisted."

He declared that the government will devote higher interest on French job seekers following disappointing job data and pledged to put training of jobless people on top of his agenda at the last four months of his mandate.

"we must change our perspectives of employment to ensure that the training of the jobless become the absolute priority so that everyone can build a secure future for themselves, trained and not just receiving benefit," the president said, "That must be our goal."

Sarkozy planned to meet on January18 representatives of the country' economic and social forces to seek ways to breathe life into the domestic job market.

"On January 18, with prime minster, we will get together to listen to the proposals from representatives of economic and social forces and by the end of January, we will take important decisions because the issues are crucial," Sarkozy noted.

In his last New Year's greeting message, Sarkozy pledges to energise efforts enough to assume his responsibilities in a likely move to regain voters confidence ahead presidential election scheduled next April.

Romania "ice house hotel" cool experience for visitors

罗马尼亚“冰屋子酒店”为游客提供超酷体验。Tourists visit a room inside the Balea Lac Hotel of Ice in the Fagaras mountains, 300km (184 miles) northwest of Bucharest Dec 28, 2011. Entirely made of ice, the hotel offers accommodation in 10 double rooms with king size beds, where the temperature is between -2 and +2 degrees Celsius, at a price of 35 Euro ($45.73) per person.

罗马尼亚“冰屋子酒店”为游客提供超酷体验。A bartender arranges ice glasses inside the Balea Lac Hotel of Ice in the Fagaras mountains.

罗马尼亚“冰屋子酒店”为游客提供超酷体验。Tourists have dinner inside the Balea Lac Hotel of Ice in the Fagaras mountains.

罗马尼亚“冰屋子酒店”为游客提供超酷体验。A child touches the outside wall of the Balea Lac Hotel of Ice in Fagaras mountains.

罗马尼亚“冰屋子酒店”为游客提供超酷体验。Workers cut ice bricks for the Balea Lac Hotel of Ice in the Fagaras mountains.

Russian satellite failed to reach orbit is expected to

俄罗斯卫星未能到达预计的轨道。MOSCOW - The newly-launched Russian communications satellite "Meridian" failed to reach its planned orbit and crashed in the Siberia region on Friday, according to the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The Meridian dual-purpose satellite was launched by a Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket at 16:08 Moscow time (1208 GMT) from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia on Friday.
Spokesman of the Forces Col. Alexei Zolotukhin told reporters that a malfunction occurred at the third stage of the rocket some 7 minutes after the launch.
"An accident occurred at the 421st second of the Meridian satellite launch from the Plesetsk space center in the off-normal work of the propulsion unit of the third stage of the launch vehicle," Zolotukhin said.
"The satellite failed to reach a low orbit," he said, adding that an investigation into the accident has started.
After the crash, Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin promised to probe into the accident and hinted to replace several heads of space plants.
"The space sector is suffering a crisis. We must resolve this situation and give way to the youth....Perhaps it's time for reshuffle," Popovkin said.
The official also slashed Russia's weak engine building industry, saying the cause of the Meridian crash "is the engine problem."
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a source in the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that the Meridian satellite had already fallen to the ground near Russia's Siberian city of Novosibirsk.
"According to preliminary information, there are no casualties or destruction," the source said, adding that search operations have been underway.
The Meridian-series communications satellites are designed to provide communications between vessels, airplanes and coastal stations on the ground.
The Soyuz-2.1b is an upgraded version of Russia's Soyuz rocket, which has been a workhorse of Russia's manned and unmanned space programs since the 1960s.
Since the beginning of the year, Russia has suffered a string of failures in space industry.
On February 1, Russia's Rokot carrier rocket failed to send a military satellite to the designed orbit.
On August 18, a Proton-M rocket carrying an high-power Express- AM4 communications satellite failed to reach the planned orbit. Only one week later, a Progress M-12M cargo ship also failed to reach the International Space Station due to a rocket malfunction.
Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission to Mars that carries China's micro-satellite Yinghuo-1 was launched on November 9 but also failed to reach the intended orbit.

China denies Finland seized the missile has a relationship with China

中国否认芬兰缴获的导弹跟中国有关系。BEIJING - China denied on Friday any link to a batch of 69 Patriot missiles confiscated by Finnish authorities, saying the weapons were destined for the Republic of Korea (ROK).
"As far as we know these goods were made in Germany and were being sent to the Republic of Korea. This is a British ship which left Germany carrying Patriot missiles for the Republic of Korea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a daily news briefing.
Some reports have said the missiles were destined for China, but Liu said that was not the case.  
"I don't see what connection this boat has with China. We think it odd that some people always link certain things to China. The facts are all very clear," he added.
The surface-to-air missiles were found on Wednesday when authorities searched the cargo ship Thor Liberty in Kotka, southern Finland. They also discovered 150 tonnes of explosive material called nitroguanidine, which was not stowed properly.
Finnish authorities have confiscated the missiles found on the ship and arrested its Ukrainian captain and chief officer on suspicion of trying to transport the missiles via Finland without permission.
Finland requires those seeking to transport defence material via its territory to seek permission. In the past six years there have been 20 cases of defence material being transported without the required documentation with the latest incident appearing to be one of the largest consignments.
The ship was sailing under an Isle of Man flag and had stopped to load anchor cables on board.

Panda will become Scotland's new celebrity

熊猫将成为苏格兰的新名人。Yang Guang arrives at Edinburghairport and looks out of a cage on Dec 4, 2011. A pair of giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, arrived in Scotland on Sunday, for the start of their ten year stay in the UK. China announced in January that it would loan two pandas to Britain as part of a 10-year agreement on panda conservation signed by the two countries. Both Yang Guang and Tian Tian were born in 2003 and have been living in Sichuan province ever since. They will be the first giant pandas in the UK for 17 years after Ming Ming was sent back to China from London Zoo in 1994. China sent two pandas Jia Jia and Jing Jing to Britain in 1974.

熊猫将成为苏格兰的新名人。Tian Tian is taken off an flight from China at Edinburgh airport on Dec 4. 

熊猫将成为苏格兰的新名人。A girl holds a cuddly panda toy waiting for the arrival of the real thing at Edinburgh airport on Dec 4. 

熊猫将成为苏格兰的新名人。A giant panda named Yang Guang sits at its new home in the Edinburgh Zoo De 4.

Former British Prime Minister and Chinese assistance to negotiate the euro area

前英国首相和中国交涉欧元区援助问题。Former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is the Middle East Quartet envoy, talks to China Daily reporters on Saturday. 

前英国首相和中国交涉欧元区援助问题。Ex-British PM on China's eurozone aid and secret talks with Gadhafi
BEIJING - European leaders should show a credible commitment to stand behind the single-currency system and resolve the ongoing crisis, a prerequisite for China's help, Tony Blair said on Saturday.
"Now is really the last chance for decisive leadership (in Europe). (It's) time for action," said the former British prime minister in an exclusive interview.
"I have no doubt China is prepared to help, but it only helps if Europe gets its act together. There's no Chinese action that can substitute European action," said Blair, who was visiting Beijing to meet with Vice-Premier Wang Qishan to discuss global economics, eurozone debt and the Middle East crisis.
To preserve the euro, he said leaders must show the "whole weight of the European economic system will stand behind the single currency ... whether that can be done through the European Financial Stability Fund, the European Central Bank or can be done in a number of different ways".
Battered by market jitters, bond yields rose in almost every eurozone country last week, indicating growing investor concerns, while Germany failed to find enough bids for a 10-year bond auction.
As a result, the S&P 500 - an index that tracks the prices of the 500 largest public companies in the United States - saw its worst weekly performance in two months and fell for a second straight week.
"The situation in the eurozone appears to be going from bad to worse," Paul Sheard, global chief economist of Nomura Securities International, wrote in a research note.
"The problem is that the 17 eurozone countries do not appear to have the willingness and capacity to agree upon and implement the right form and necessary amount of fiscal union fast enough to calm markets, and this failure threatens to push the eurozone ... toward disorderly disintegration."
Seeming to answer the markets' call for action, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are reported to be pondering more drastic measures, including a new Stability Pact, to stem the crisis, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag quoted German government sources as saying on Sunday.
Previous reports suggested China would extend a helping hand to Europe, as it has a large pile-up of foreign exchange reserves, as much as $3.2 trillion. However, Chinese officials and policy advisers have expressed concerns that the situation may be too risky if European policymakers fail to devise a workable rescue plan.
"We can't say that we are not 100-percent committed but want Chinese commitment instead," Blair told China Daily. "The Chinese government has to look after the money of the Chinese people, so it has to be careful."
The 58-year-old, who stepped down from power in 2007, also urged China and the West to iron out their differences, such as those surrounding trade frictions, in a more cooperative way to push stable global economic growth.
"We should be seeking to understand each other's problems and trying to work them out," he said. "What is important is not to escalate (trade frictions). That's dangerous."
Gadhafi links
Turning to talk about the Middle East, Blair categorically denied media claims he held secret talks with Muammar Gadhafi before the Libyan leader was ousted this year.
"I did not (hold private talks with Gadhafi)," said the official envoy of the rescue plan Quartet, a group established to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I actually did visit Libya several times after I left office (as prime minister). I think I visited once in the two years before (Gadhafi) fell."
Blair has come under intense fire in Britain over his administration's ties with the Gadhafi family. Several media reports have claimed that the recent capture of Gadhafi's British-educated son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, will result in embarrassing details coming to light about how close the British government was with the former Libyan regime.
"(Saif al-Islam's case) is now in the hands of the Libyan government and the International Criminal Court. They should be allowed to just get on with their work," Blair said without elaborating.
In London last week, Labour's finance spokesman Ed Balls defended his party's actions, saying Blair and his successor Gordon Brown, as well as intelligence experts at the time, considered talks with Gadhafi on disarmament "a positive step forward".
Blair on Saturday said: "I hoped the change in external policy in Libya would be matched by an internal policy change and a reform program, but it didn't happen."
Gadhafi, who stopped Libya's nuclear program shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, ruled for 42 years before he was killed in October during a NATO-backed campaign to overthrow him.
His fall, according to Blair, was due to his refusal to reform.
"When they didn't follow a program for evolution, they ended up with revolution," he said. "So the lesson is very clear to that region: engage and study evolution, because otherwise you'll get revolution."
The peace envoy said he prefers evolution over revolution, explaining that "as we've found out in Egypt and elsewhere, revolution also has its problems".
Egypt is one of several nations that have seen regime changes since the start of the Arab Spring. However, efforts to stage open elections since the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak in February have not gone smoothly, with continued protests over the involvement of the military.
"To change these regimes, you have to ask what will come in their place, which is actually a hard question," Blair said. "We need to be engaged in trying to help the process of change come about in a way that results in the genuine modernization of these countries.
"All over the Middle East, you have elements that are, frankly, very reactionary."
Sources say that during his meeting with Vice-Premier Wang Qishan on Friday, Blair warned of a mounting risk of Israel launching a military campaign against Iran.
Blair refused to comment on the matter on Saturday, saying only that the "risk of a nuclear-armed Iran is significant".
"That's why I hope the actions we're taking in the international community can, by diplomacy, resolve this," he added. "If not, there's going to be some very difficult choices. I still believe it's possible to resolve this peacefully."

Christmas market in Berlin

圣诞市场在柏林开幕。Models pose during the opening of a Christmas market at Schloss Charlottenburg palace in Berlin November 21, 2011.

圣诞市场在柏林开幕。A Ferris wheel and Christmas market lights are reflected in the plexiglass boards of an ice ring as a man skates, in Alexanderplatz, Berlin November 21, 2011.

圣诞市场在柏林开幕。A Ferris wheel and Christmas market lights are reflected in the plexiglass boards of an ice ring as people skate in Alexanderplatz, Berlin November 21, 2011. 

圣诞市场在柏林开幕。People stroll through the Christmas market during its opening day in Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt square, November 21, 2011. 

Happy Hippos

快乐的河马.he unnamed baby hippo is introduced to audiences for the first time with mom Nicole.

快乐的河马.Hippos are semi-aquatic mammals: They live, eat and give birth in the water.

快乐的河马.Unaccustomed to crowds, the calf turns away from onlookers while it naps next to its mother. 

Hu Jintao stressed the importance of the euro's stability

胡锦涛强调欧元稳定的重要性.A security cordon has been thrown up around the French resort of Cannes as world leaders arrive for a critical summit amid pessimism about the global economy.

胡锦涛强调欧元稳定的重要性.CANNES, France - China wants eurozone stability, President Hu Jintao said in an interview published on Wednesday ahead of the G20 summit in the French city of Cannes.
China "sincerely wishes to see stability in the eurozone and the euro", Hu told the French newspaper Le Figaro.
The president also called on G20 leaders to "send a clear message of solidarity" and give priority to economic growth in the face of global economic challenges.
With both the US and EU burdened by heavy debt and a bleak economic outlook, China finds itself under the spotlight to help stabilize the global economy and tackle the eurozone debt crisis. But China is also cautious amid domestic pressure and an ever-changing global economy.
Chinese business officials and experts have repeatedly said that the EU needs to reform its financial institutions before the debt crisis can be tackled.
According to the Le Figaro report, Hu said G20 leaders should strive to "strengthen the coordination of macroeconomic policies (and) press ahead with the reform of the global monetary and financial system".
Hu met with Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Wednesday in Cannes.
The two discussed the global economy, the reform of the international monetary system and the role of the IMF, a foreign ministry official said, without elaborating on details.
Hu's meeting with Lagarde, his first official meeting in Cannes, was interpreted by some Western observers as being solely a discussion on helping to rescue the eurozone.
Yet Chinese diplomats said its timing was purely coincidental and the meeting concentrated on China-IMF cooperation.
EU debt
The September unemployment rate in the eurozone has recorded a fifth consecutive monthly rise to reach 10.2 percent, a eurozone record. October growth figures for the EU service and manufacturing sectors experienced their largest drop in two years, with the market confidence index the lowest since 2009.
European leaders had agreed at the end of October to a $1.4 trillion rescue fund to stop the debt crisis in Greece from bleeding into other shaky eurozone economies.
The governing council of the European Central Bank will meet on Thursday to announce a fresh round of measures to help the fragile banking sector.
Yet stock markets have been rattled over the last two days by the Greek prime minister's decision to hold a referendum on the proposed bailout.
The G20 summit in Cannes, according to Thomas Klau, head of the Paris bureau of the European Council on Foreign Relations, has already, in all probability, been "transmuted into yet another eurozone crisis summit" entrusted with restoring its collective credibility.
Europe is looking to China to foot part of the rescue bill, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). Yet China has legitimate concerns about getting too involved and is seeking fuller operational details. Besides, buying more eurozone debt is not on the G20 agenda.
Hu is scheduled to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy late on Wednesday night, the first bilateral meeting Sarkozy has planned for his G20 schedule.
It has also been reported that the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will meet ahead of the G20 summit to agree a consensus.
Analysts said Hu's remarks convey confidence in the coming summit, as growing global economies also serve the interests of China.
Wang Yizhou, a scholar with the School of International Studies at Peking University, said China's help to the EU might not be limited to buying bonds.
It could be in the form of tariff reduction and enhancing trade, Wang said.
"Given that China is facing slowing economic growth, whatever it agrees cannot be at the expense of its own economy," said Wang Yiming, deputy director of the Institute of Macroeconomics at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Maintaining robust growth itself has been a major contribution to the global economy, Wang said.
Economic restructuring and boosting domestic consumption is, for now, the best help that China can offer the global economy, Wang Yiming said.
Experts also said that the IMF remains a reasonable channel for China to extend its help in stabilizing the world economy.
"I don't think that China should provide money to other channels, for example, the EFSF," said TJ Bond, a senior economist at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who believes that China can work with the existing international financial institutions, such as the IMF, to help the European countries.
Because of the lack of details that leave critical questions unanswered, China should not hurry into the buyers list of the EFSF, said Wang Haifeng, director of the International Cooperation Center affiliated to the NDRC.

Europe crafts debt deal, pleases markets

欧洲工艺品债务处理，取悦市场.France's President Nicolas Sarkozy holds a news conference at the end of a euro zone summit in Brussels, October 27, 2011. Euro zone leaders said on Thursday they had reached agreement on a comprehensive package of measures to tackle the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.

欧洲工艺品债务处理，取悦市场.BRUSSELS - European leaders clinched a deal Thursday they hope will mark a turning point in their two-year debt crisis, agreeing after a night of tense negotiations to have banks take bigger losses on Greece's debts and to boost the region's weapons against the market turmoil.
After months of dawdling and half-baked solutions, the leaders had been under immense pressure to finalize their plan to prevent the crisis from pushing Europe and much of the developed world back into recession and to protect their currency union from unraveling.
World stock markets surged higher Thursday on the news. Oil prices rose above $92 per barrel while the euro gained strongly - a signal investors were relieved at the outcome of the contentious negotiations.
"We have reached an agreement, which I believe lets us give a credible and ambitious and overall response to the Greek crisis," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting ended early Thursday. "Because of the complexity of the issues at stake, it took us a full night. But the results will be a source of huge relief worldwide."
The strategy unveiled after 10 hours of negotiations focused on three key points. These included a significant reduction in Greece's debts, a shoring up of the continent's banks, partially so they could sustain deeper losses on Greek bonds, and a reinforcement of a European bailout fund so it can serve as a euro1 trillion ($1.39 trillion) firewall to prevent larger economies like Italy and Spain from being dragged into the crisis.
After several missed opportunities, hashing out a plan was a success for the 17-nation eurozone, but the strategy's effectiveness will depend on the details, which will have to be finalized in the coming days and weeks.
The most difficult piece of the puzzle proved to be Greece, whose debts the leaders vowed to bring down to 120 percent of its GDP by 2020. Under current conditions, they would have ballooned to 180 percent.
To achieve that massive reduction, private creditors like banks will be asked to accept 50 percent losses on the bonds they hold. The Institute of International Finance, which has been negotiating on behalf of the banks, said it was committed to working out an agreement based on that "haircut," but the challenge now will be to ensure that all private bondholders fall in line.
It said the 50 percent cut equals a contribution of euro100 billion ($139 billion) to a second rescue for Greece, although the eurozone promised to spend some euro30 billion ($42 billion) on guaranteeing the remaining value of the new bonds.
The full program is expected to be finalized by early December and investors are supposed to swap their bonds in January, at which point Greece is likely to become the first euro country ever to be rated at default on its debt.
"We can claim that a new day has come for Greece, and not only for Greece but also for Europe," said Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, whose country's troubles touched off the crisis two years ago. "Let's hope the worst is over."
Since May 2010, Greece has been surviving on rescue loans worth euro110 billion ($150 billion) from the 17 countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund since it can't afford to borrow money directly from markets.
In July, those creditors agreed to extend another euro109 billion - but that plan was widely panned as insufficient.
Now, in addition to euro30 billion in bond guarantees, the eurozone leaders and IMF said they will give Greece euro100 billion ($139 billion) in new loans.
With the banks being asked to shoulder more of the burden, though, there were concerns they needed more money in their rainy-day funds to cushion their losses. So European leaders have asked them to raise euro106 billion ($148 billion) by June.
The last piece in the complicated plan was to increase the firepower of the continent's bailout fund to ensure that other countries with troubled economies - like Italy and Spain - don't get dragged into the crisis. The third- and fourth-largest economies of the eurozone are too large to be bailed out like the smaller euro nations Greece, Portugal and Ireland have already been.
To that end, the euro440 billion ($610 billion) European Financial Stability Facility will be used to insure part of the potential losses on the debt of wobbly eurozone countries like Italy and Spain, rendering its firepower equivalent to around euro1 trillion ($1.39 trillion).
That should make those countries' bonds more attractive investments and thus lower borrowing costs for their governments.
"These are exceptional measures for exceptional times. Europe must never find itself in this situation again," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said after the meetings.
In addition to acting as a direct insurer of bond issues, the EFSF insurance scheme is also supposed to entice big institutional investors to contribute to a special fund that could be used to buy government bonds but also to help states recapitalize weak banks.
Such outside help may be necessary for Italy and Spain, whose banks were facing some of the biggest capital shortfalls.
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