Italy and Spain have managed to raise €9 billion and €12 billion respectively on the sovereign debt market, with lowered interest rates. But Greece still faces difficult negotiations with the banks as it seeks to adjust its debt, a cause for concern for the fate of the single currency.
Euro - hopes and fears – Luxemburger Wort
Vestas, the world's leading manufacturer of wind turbines, has announced 2,335 lay-offs (10% of its total workforce). Orders for wind turbines have dropped and it faces stiff competition from China.
Black clouds over wind turbine giant – Jyllands-Posten
As Moody's downgrades the Valencia region's credit rating, and threatens to do the same for the Spain's nine other regions, the Minister of the Budget has insisted that Madrid will help those in need. Regional government debt threatens Spain with bankruptcy.
"The government will not let any region go bankrupt" – El País
Former ministers in Tony Blair's government are expected to be questioned by police over their alleged role in human rights abuses, in a new Scotland Yard investigation into how dissidents were sent to Libya to be imprisoned and tortured by Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
Police to question Jack Straw over rendition in Libya – The Independent
Hungarian president Pál Schmitt, a former Olympic fencing champion and close associate of Viktor Orbán, is facing question about his doctoral thesis written in 1992. He is accused of plagiarizing the work of a Bulgarian expert on the activities of the International Olympic Committee, of which he is also a member.
Schmitt has not clearly explained himself – Népszava
Following a state visit to Oman, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands told reporters it is "nonsense" to consider the headscarf a symbol of oppression for women. This is considered to be a riposte to far-right PVV leader Geert Wilders, who complained that the sovereign was veiled while visiting mosques.
Queen touches nerve with headscarf remark – Trouw
"Even more dangerous than breast implants: small metal tubes placed in the blood vessels of stroke victims can be fatal but are not yet banned in Germany," complains the alternative Berlin daily.
Deadly brain implants – Die Tageszeitung
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